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Pumba plays with his toys after recovering from ingesting a bottle of ibuprofen.
Pumba plays with his toys after recovering from ingesting a bottle of ibuprofen.
NORTH ATTLEBORO — A local man’s quick-thinking is being credited for saving his dog’s life.
Last spring, Ryan Steeves-Kilgallon discovered his 10-month-old husky, Pumba, had accidentally swallowed a bottle of ibuprofen pain-relief pills.
Veterinarians later said it was a potentially fatal dosage, with possibly up to 200 pills ingested.
Steeves-Kilgallon knew he needed help quickly and brought Pumba to Tufts Veterinary Emergency & Treatment Services in Walpole. He also made a call to the ASPCA Animal Poison Control.
The owner said his dog received great care.
However, “Pumba needed more advanced treatment to have a chance at saving his life,” Jennifer Rosenberg, spokeswoman for Tufts University, which runs the Walpole clinic, said in an email Wednesday.
Pumba needed a special type of dialysis treatment available at the Henry and Lois Foster Hospital for Small Animals at Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine in Grafton. It’s also run by Tufts.
“Because he was first seen at Tufts VETS, its staff had called ahead to Foster Hospital, where they were prepared for his arrival,” Rosenberg said.
By that time, Pumba was groggy and starting to lose his gag reflex.
The Cummings School’s dialysis center veterinary team started him on a hemoperfusion treatment — a new dialysis treatment that quickly allows the processing of blood through filters to remove toxins.
Pumba steadily recovered, and after 40 minutes, he was sitting up and eating treats.
After the 80-minute session, Pumba was taken off the machine and he walked out to greet his owner.
The dog, however, stayed another couple of days at the vet hospital so he could be kept well hydrated and monitored.
While the incident happened last spring, Steeves-Kilgallon and Tufts are publicizing it now to stress the importance of getting appropriate care quickly if you think your pet has ingested something lethal.
If he waited any longer to call, Pumba may not have made it, he said.
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