Be cautious when using pesticides

On the night of June 26, my 4-year-old female golden retriever was acting strange. My family was planning to go on vacation the next day, so we were reluctant to take her to the pet emergency hospital. I ultimately realized, however, JoJo was in need of emergency care, immediately.

The manuals on my shelves convinced me that something was wrong. Her breathing was shallow. She was lethargic and had lost her appetite. Her gums looked bleached out, and when I pressed, the color did not return quickly. Her abdomen was heavy and swollen. That was all.

She was diagnosed with poisoning. The substance was rat poison, a slow, insidious killer which causes the blood’s clotting mechanism to fail. Her abdomen, her lungs and the sac surrounding her heart were filled with fluid from the internal hemorrhaging that threatened her life.

We own two cats and three dogs. We are meticulous about keeping our home free from things which could cause this. JoJo, fortunately, arrived at the hospital in the nick of time.

She is expected to have a full recovery.

The symptoms, however, were so subtle and so vague that I had doubts that there was anything wrong. She had not eaten anything away from home. The poison somehow entered our yard. The vet proposed a theory that the animal that snatched the poison dropped it there.

That means that someone was using this substance in a way that made it possible for an animal to up and run with it. In that case, it could not have been used correctly. If this threatens an innocent canine, imagine what could potentially happen with a child.

My dog was nearly killed. She is our most beloved friend. Had I waited until morning to take her to the vet, she would have perished. The symptoms were so subtle that it was entirely possible that I was making a mountain out of a molehill.

It is frightening because most people would not recognize the symptoms as life threatening.

I have since heard of other recent cases of such poisonings in the county. It will be several weeks before JoJo is able to resume normal activities. Our vet bills are unthinkably large. My family went to a family reunion without me.

If this letter in any way can help anyone else to save their beloved friend or even a child, good. This substance is widely available in homebuilding and hardware stores. If I can encourage someone who has been careless in the past to take care to use traps instead or to secure the poison so it cannot be carried away, I have accomplished my goal.

Vicki Talbot

Camarillo