Piling On

Our writing and packing plans went a little awry yesterday as Beatrice nosed her way into Jennifer’s purse, and found a package of Orbit gum (up till now, the official chewing gum of the gum-chewers in our family). Bea scoffed down seven to ten chunks of gum before we noticed and stopped her, but since Orbit is sweetened with Xylitol, we had to take Bea to the New Jersey equivalent of Animal 911 (yes, this is the same dog that ate two blocks of Mexican drinking chocolate almost exactly two years ago).
 
Xylitol evidently can throw a dog’s blood sugar off, so we raced the hour to our nearest all-night emergency room, and Dr. Motley induced her to regurgitate the gum, we called the Animal Poison Control Center, and left Bea at the clinic overnight. ( The staff at VSDS were all very helpful, solicitous, and professional — we recommend them highly, though we would prefer that you not need their help.)
 
This morning, the doc reported that her blood sugar is all right, and they just need to keep her another twelve hours to check her blood for signs of liver damage. This is all very good news, and though we’re vexed that Bea persists in eating stuff that’ll kill her, we rejoice that she seems to be recovering satisfactorily, and we’ll probably have her home tonight.

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