Cotton Ball Remedy
What do you do if your puppy (or mischievous older dog) gets into your holiday
decorations and eats some of the glass ornaments? This potentially lethal mishap can
darken even the brightest holiday season.
THE PROCEDURE
BEFORE the holiday go to a pharmacy and buy a box of cotton balls. Be sure that you
get COTTON balls...not the cosmetic puffs that are made from man-made fibers.
Also, buy a quart of half-and-half coffee cream and put it in the freezer. Should your
dog eat glass ornaments defrost the half-and-half and pour some in a bowl. Dip cotton
balls into the cream and feed them to your dog.
Dogs under 10 lbs should eat 2 balls which you have first torn into smaller pieces.
Dogs 10-50 lbs should eat 3-5 balls and larger dogs should eat 5-7. You may feed
larger dogs an entire cotton ball at once. Dogs seem to really like these strange treats
and eat them readily. As the cotton works its way through the digestive tract it will
find all the glass pieces and wrap itself around them. Even the teeniest shards of glass
will be caught and wrapped in the cotton fibers and the cotton will protect the
intestines from damage by the glass. Your dog's stools will be really weird for a few
days and you will have to be careful to check for fresh blood or a tarry appearance to
the stool. If either of the latter symptoms appear you should rush your dog to the vet
for a checkup but, in most cases, the dogs will be just fine.
An actual experience: I can personally vouch for the cotton ball treatment. While I
was at the vet waiting for him to return from lunch a terrified woman ran in with a
litter of puppies who had demolished a wooden crate along with large open staples.
The young vet had taken x-rays which did show each of the puppies had swallowed
several open staples. He was preparing them for surgery when my wonderful vet
came in and said no surgery. I watched him wet several cotton balls, squeeze out the
water and pop them down their throats. Within 24 hours every staple was accounted
for. This was a lesson I learned in the mid-1960s and have had to use several times on
my brats. I wet the cotton balls and smear on some liverwurst and they bolt it down
and ask for more. The cotton always comes out with the object safely embedded.
Copyright reserved to Sandy Brock. Permission is hereby granted for any nonprofit
reproduction by any person or group
| Cotton Ball Remedy What to do if your dog gets into your holiday decorations By Sandy Brock |