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So - I've heard that drywall is nontoxic, but this is what just happened to me:
I have a wall in my house that my son ran into on a scooter and he damaged our wall, putting a small crack in our drywall.
Apparently, my 5 month old St. Bernard saw that crack, and he bit into it, swallowing down a mouthful of drywall.
He was dead 4 days later.
My dog swallowed this dry wall 4 days ago. I watched him carefully for the first day, hoping he'd be Ok.
On day 2, he stopped eating, became lethargic, and I could tell he wasn't doing well...but he was still drinking water, and ate a treat with gusto, so I was still hopeful he'd be Ok.
By day 3 (yesterday) he wasn't doing any better. Still hasn't eating. But now he was drinking less and seemed to have trouble breathing, so off to the Animal Hospital we went.
Chest and Esophagus x-rays ruled out any obstructions that needed surgery, but his stomache and entire intestines were severly swollen and inflamed to the point where his doctor recommended he be hospitalized.
11.5 hours later, I got a call from the hospital that he needed to be put into an oxygen tank, as he wasn't getting any oxygen into his system.
.5 hours after that, I got a call stating that he'd gone into cardiac arrest and died.
Now I'm sitting here utterly dismayed - did not see this coming. I figured the drywall would make him very sick until we could get him over it, but I really didn't think he'd die over it.
Totally upset - my kids don't know, yet, but they are going to be even more upset. He was an incredible dog...absolutely perfect disposition and physical beauty.
I guess my point is...drywall must be pretty bad stuff!
I was working on some drywall projects in my house when I first got my dog and had a spare piece sitting out in the open. One time, I was in my spare room working on something and I heard a scratching sound and found my dog munching on a piece of drywall just like he would a bone. He was fine. I don't think he got more than a few tiny pieces.
Location: Visitation between Wal-Mart & Home Depot
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MAtheBanker
I was working on some drywall projects in my house when I first got my dog and had a spare piece sitting out in the open. One time, I was in my spare room working on something and I heard a scratching sound and found my dog munching on a piece of drywall just like he would a bone. He was fine. I don't think he got more than a few tiny pieces.
I think it's pretty commonplace for dogs to get through ingesting mouthfull sized portions of drywall with nothing more than a hiccup and a fart. Drywall is pretty irritating to the digestive system, but it shouldn't be fatal unless there is an obstruction, the dog was sensitive to one of the constituent chemicals or the dog was prone to bloat.
Are you sure your house doesn't have Chinese drywall?
This website says that Chinese drywall has a chemical in it called melamine, an ingredient that was put in Chinese manufactured dog food that killed dogs almost instantly after eating it.
Such a tragedy! Makes me so sad to read about it, and I'm so sorry for the OP.
Hopes, the Chinese drywall was my first thought, too. My other thought was to wonder about obstructions (although the OP says the X-rays revealed no obstructions). Regardless, just very sad.
I know dogs eat stuff, but I admit I'm pretty anal and restrictive when it comes to my dogs. The people at the dog park probably think I'm insane, because I won't let Bandit chew sticks -- which he rarely does anyway -- and I'll even take sticks away from other dogs. When I do it, I always say "Off! No vet bills!" Ha! I just dread what COULD happen, I guess, so I try to keep it from happening at all.
I am so sorry for your loss. How terrible for you and your family.
My pup tried to eat some drywall too during a remodel so I had it moved where he had no access. I don't know what it is in drywall that makes it appealing to them but this attraction to eating drywal is common from the stories my contractors told me.
Thanks for the heads up about your dog's tragedy in an effort to save others. Again, I'm so sorry for your loss.
Thank you all for the kind words. It took me a day to process that our dog was actually dead. I knew he was sick when I took him to the animal hospital...but I really didn't consider his death a real possibility. Just seemed like a bad situation we had to get him over, when it took a turn for the worst possible scenario.
We'd only had the puppy for a few months, but certainly long enough to get bonded, and he was really a great dog. He was HUGE - was going to be big as a horse, and I was so looking forward to him becoming a mature dog. This was him when we brought him home in November, '10 (and I've personally never seen a cuter puppy! )
Amazingly - he really did only have a single bite of the drywall. It wasn't even a huge bite, but it sure tore up his insides.
We waited until last night to tell our kids (6 & 4). They were devastated, as you can imagine. Very sad for all of us.
This was just one of those really bizarre experiences that can happen, when you are a pet owner.
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