But Will You Die If You Drink After Your Dog?
Have you ever read an article or heard tell of a news headline declaring, “Human Died After Sharing Bottle of Water with Dog”???
I haven’t been reading long, but I’ve never heard such. Now I will admit, I have heard of stories where humans have gotten extremely sick and even dying after being licked by their dog.
Advantageous Disclaimer: This is VERY VERY VERY VERY EXTREMELY rare. A minuscule amount of people out of the current 7 billion have the genetic predisposition to react negatively or have any type of adverse reaction to dogs saliva.
As a matter of fact, I think there has been two cases in total as I am writing this post.
The odds are definitely in your favor.
What If Your Dog Takes a Sip Out of Your Water Bottle?
Sharing water with your dog is normal – assuming your dog is completely healthy.
Scientific data aside, how many times have you been hiking and bore witness to a dog sucking down half of a liter of water directly from their human’s bottle?
This is a regular occurrence for me. I quite literally see this on a daily basis.
Or how many of you feed your dog directly from your spoon or fork? Same concept right?
Let’s break this down a bit further and get a little personal for some folks out there.
I’ve seen some pretty gross looking kids with boogers in their nose and dirt on their lips come up and grab their mom’s cup and go to pound town on that drink, only to leave particles of half chewed animal crackers floating in the bottom when they’re done.
Now that warrants an ‘ew’ in my book!
I literally NEVER leave food particles in my mom’s glass when I get a sip.
Then if we take the reference from above into consideration, having your little booger filled toddler chug from your cup is actually nastier, “bacteria-erly” speaking, that is.
I’m a dog. I’m allowed to make up words like ‘bacteria-erly’.
Find food that fits your pet’s needs
You wake up one morning to see that the half-full glass of wine you accidentally left out the night before is now empty, and no one is at home except for you and your pup — its clear that your dog is the likely culprit that drank the alcohol. Questions race through your mind: Is your dog intoxicated? Does he have alcohol poisoning? Do you need to bring him to the veterinarian?
Hopefully, youll never be in this situation, but knowing the risks involved and the steps to take if your dog were to ever sneak a sip can help keep your pup safe.
Can Dogs get Drunk? What happens when you Feed Alcohol to your Dog?
Most responsible pet owners know that animals and booze don’t mix, but with the Christmas season upon us, many of us will be drinking a little more than usual.
While most pets aren’t generally interested in alcohol itself, rich treats like cream liqueurs, brandy-soaked puddings, and eggnog might tempt their palate. Your pets can get tipsy without you noticing, so it’s worth knowing the risks (and symptoms) of alcohol poisoning.
For many domestic animals, alcohol is toxic. Ethanol poisoning can result in depression of the central nervous system. The animal becomes drowsy and uncoordinated, progressing to loss of consciousness, respiratory failure, and potentially death.
There is relatively little research on acute alcohol poisoning in animals, although it’s possibly under-reported by owners who fear being judged or aren’t aware of the source of their pet’s distress.
Unintentional alcohol poisoning is illustrated by a case study presented in the Australian Veterinary Journal. A 4-year-old male dachshund was taken to a veterinary hospital with symptoms including continuous whining, coupled with uncoordinated running, and bumping into walls. Poisoning was suspected and the dog was given general treatment for an unknown poison as he lapsed into unconsciousness.
The owners returned home and discovered their other dog, a 4-year-old female dachshund, suffering similar symptoms. During treatment, both dogs vomited a creamy yellow substance, which the owners later realized was their homemade Advocaat (alcoholic eggnog) that had been stored in a milk bottle and fed to the dogs by mistake.
Had it not been for the distinctive vomit, alcohol poisoning would not have been diagnosed. Luckily, both dogs recovered after intensive veterinary care.
Alcohol on its own is not likely to be attractive to our pets. However, as in the case of the drunk dachshunds, when coupled with other ingredients like egg yolks, sugar, and cream, the concoction proved too tempting to resist.