pet connection

The show doesn’t start until tomorrow (well, now it’s today), but there are plenty of events surrounding it beforehand. I arrived in New York late Saturday afternoon and struggled into Manhattan on the train to Penn Station–now I know why they call it lug-gage. The next morning, I persuaded myself out of bed at 7:30 and headed down to the Affinia, across the street from The Garden, where Dog Writers Association of America members were meeting for a buffet breakfast. The draw was a talk by Steven Hansen, DVM, vice president of the ASPCA’s Animal Poison Control Center.

When pet owners or veterinarians call the PCC, the case is handled by one of 30 veterinarians employed there, 13 of whom are board-certified toxicologists. They take detailed notes, all the while feeding the information into their computers. Specially designed software helps them instantly rule out some concerns and then make appropriate recommendations once they have enough details.

Pesticides used to make up the bulk of the calls received by the PCC, but these days they’re outnumbered by poisonings from human medications. Apparently, it takes dogs a whopping 15 seconds or so to break into a childproof bottle, at least according to the test Dr. Hansen performed at home with his German Wirehaired Pointer puppy and a pill bottle filled with candy. (Hmm, now I’m second-guessing myself. I’m pretty sure it was a GWP, but it might have been a Wirehaired Pointing Griffon.)

Some drug companies help subsidize the PCC, so if a case involves one of the medications covered by a company, there’s no charge for the consultation. It seems obvious that pet owners should keep all medications out of a dog’s reach, but apparently the message doesn’t always sink in. Remind guests, especially if they take a lot of medications, to put them up high.

Cats weren’t ignored. It’s not uncommon for cats to be poisoned when they’re treated with, say, flea and tick control products made for dogs. If people realize immediately that they’ve made that error, they should bathe the cat with dishwashing soap such as Dawn or Ivory, Dr. Hansen says. Unlike high-quality pet shampoos, they rough up the fur, which helps remove the toxic substances.

Gratuitous Darcy blogging: That evening, at the 73rd annual DWAA awards banquet, my article A Dog Like Darcy, which appeared in the Cavalier breed magazine Royal Dispatch, won a Maxwell for best feature in a club publication, as well as a special award from Petaholica for best dog memoir. The latter came with a cash award, which I’ll be forwarding on to the Darcy Fund. They were bittersweet wins, and I cried a lot, but I just imagined that the wetness was from Darcy washing my face.

Tomorrow I’ll be checking out some of the hounds, the Belgian Tervurens, and maybe a terrier or two, and I hope to preview the dog art and paraphernalia that will be auctioned by Bonham’s on Tuesday.