Someone mentioned beryllium oxide.  I'm wondering about glycerin.
 
Last night, I got in late before I let everyone out for play time (they'd
also been out early in the morning).  Guin is approaching 8 years (I had
thought she was 8.5, but recently found a previous human's vet records from
June 1992 indicating 2.5 years of age).  Guin is not the pepiest, and tends
to play for only ten to thirty minutes before finding a hidey hole and
curling up.
 
But last night, I treated her to some Ferretone.  She was feeling kinda
down.  Then she stole a sock or two and curled up.  Around midnight, I
returned her to her cage and noticed she was kinda limp, and wanted to
stretch out and lay on her side.
 
Guin has been to the vet a number of times over the summer.  She has mast
cell tumors, ultra-sound reveals pancreatic cysts, and a probable melanoma
engulfs her genito-urinary organs.  Therefore she has better days and worse
days, even though she is on Prednisone.  Laying on her side seemed to be an
expression of pain, she has done this before - sometimes I have given her
1/64th of an aspirin (after I was told how dangerous Tylenol was).
 
After lights out, I lay down to sleep, and was awoken at about quarter to
one by gagging and choking sounds.
 
My poor baby was in trouble, and was now limp.  I picked her up and held her
on my chest thinking the existing problems were taking their final toll, in
tears cursing the way of things.  She started to breathe irregularly; after
several seconds she would again breathe normally; she was salivating
heavily.  After five minutes she began breathing fast, with her tongue
protruding and her nose wrinkled.  I was thinking this couldn't last long,
she could easily be dead by the time I reached the emergency clinic twenty
minutes away.  Had she eaten something?  - no she had only been out of the
cage a couple minutes that I was not watching, there was no such thing in
that room.
 
Was the Ferretone contaminated?  - No, Dakota had helped lap it up, too.  I
checked and he was in good shape, other being irrtated about being woken.
Could I call the animal poison control?  - what could I tell them other than
that Guin was gagging?  How fast would my vets respond?
 
After ten minutes her eyes glazed over.  A couple minutes later and she peed
all over me - it seemed like at least 150ccs - about a cup or more out of
her small body.  But good, she was still breathing and in a couple minutes
she started blinking her eyes and closed her mouth.  It seemed like the
worst was passing.
 
It seemed like five minutes later she picked up her head.  I held the bottle
to her and she drank water.  Then she tried to walk away, but only a few
steps.  Her breathing had stayed even so I placed her back in her hammock
and hovered over the cage.  After a while she got down on her own and ate
about half of her food and went back to bed.  I went to bed, but couldn't
sleep, playing back the entire evening in mind.
 
I remember that Guin had had an episode of despondancy on two occasions
before.  In one episode, she simply stopped and lay on her stomach, being
limp and weak; it was months ago.  But before that, maybe last fall, she had
wanted to lay on her side, with a peculiar grimace; that came very soon
after I applied a cream for dry paw-pads to her feet - I never applied it
again because I was suspicious that she had licked it off - one of my vets
had suggested the cream because I asked for vitamin E cream, and the vet had
had good luck with this product for cats and dogs and others.
 
Suddenly it came to me - I had been out earlier, driving with gloves that I
treated with a leather conditioner months ago.  I had also stopped for gas,
and having spilled some, wiped it up with paper towels.  I had not washed my
hands while feeding and watering the dog, picking up some trash neighbors
had thrown in the yard and making notes about other things that need to be
done.  Then I got the ferrets out, and gave Guin and Dakota the Ferretone
*from the palm of my hand* =8-0.
 
The leather conditioner has glycerin in it, and I bet, lanolin.  I think
those are also ingredients of the cream I had put on Guin's paws some moons
ago.  I believe the glycerin has some things in common with glycol (as in
radiator fluid).
 
A toxic reaction?  I dunno... anybody?
 
In hind sight, I feel that this was an anaphylactic reaction and I should
not have hesitated to go after help.  Vets, can you say whether you would
have prescribed a Cortisone injection?  How often do you get woken up with a
call for this sort of thing at 0100 Sunday?
 
It was a very fortunate thing, and I was happy to see, that Guin had
finished her food during the night.  Her nose was pink, if a bit pale, as
she woke right up when I stirred myself this morning.  I was grateful to see
her poke her head out of her hammock, and for the gentle sniff and lap of
the tongue she gave my hand as I filled her food bowl; she gnawed right into
the EXCEL kitten and washed it down promptly with a drink of water.
 
Then she was herself again, shortly, my little sock bandit prancing away
with the juiciest and smelliest members from my dirty-clothes pile!  8)
 
A. & Guiniviere & Dakota & Gilligan & Simon & Mr Dog
[Posted in FML issue 2044]