Pet Poison Control Number 888-299-2973

Recently I was sitting downstairs with the Yellow Dog, enjoying a fine Wisconsin IPA and watching Pulp Fiction.  The dog was at my feet, working on a bone.  All was good with the world.

The dog got up and headed off to an unfinished area of the basement where I keep her water dish.  That area also serves as storage for my wife and me as well.

The dog came on back and sat at my feet again and started to work on the bone.  Again, all was good with the world.  Until 5 minutes later when a commercial came on, and I looked down at the dog to see that she was not working on a bone.  When she had gone into the other room, she picked up a small canister of spackle, forced off the top, and had been licking at the contents inside.

I screamed at her, picked up the spackle, and immediately read the big red WARNING on the front.  "Oh no, " I thought immediately, "What have I done?"  

I turned the jar around to get details on the warning.  For ingestion, the warning stated to not induce vomiting, but get the victim to emergency medical treatment right away.

Immediately I screamed for my wife and had the dog in the crate in the back of the truck, driving like a madman to the pet emergency hospital for our third visit there in three years.  They took all my information, and then handed me a sheet which had a number for pet poison control.  The nurse explained that they could call for me, but they'd charge me for it.

It wasn't free - there's a standard $65 fee per call - but I got through right away.  Their database must be extremely robust, as when I was reading the title of the spackle off the label the person on the other line actually finished my sentence.  Armed with the information at his end on what was in the spackle and how much the Yellow Dog had ingested, he put me on quick hold to perform some calculations.  He came back on, and stated that the dog would be fine - maybe a little sick, but certainly she was not in a life threatening state.

Considering the dire warning label, I was thrilled with the prognosis, and indeed the dog is just fine.  I was also thrilled with the service.  So much so, I have added it to my contacts on my phone.  I hope I'll never need to use it again, but in the event I do, I'll have it with me.

The number is 888-299-2973.  Again, there is a $65 fee for the call, regardless of what transpires.  But in an emergency like we had, it was money well spent.