Two doses of naloxone saved a six-month-old puppy from an overdose after it ingested drugs in Mount Douglas Park.
Veterinarian Helen Rae said Chico was brought to the McKenzie Veterinary Hospital on Friday evening after her owners noticed she was wobbly and appeared to be under the influence of drugs.
The owners knew the puppy had eaten something while on leash in the Saanich park but didn’t know what.
Rae noticed the dog, a pug cross, couldn’t walk straight, seemed sedated and had constricted pupils.
“We thought it was marijuana at first, because we see so many of those [cases], but she didn’t quite fit the picture,” she said.
Rae made the dog vomit and gave her activated charcoal to stop further absorption of the drug, but Chico’s condition continued to deteriorate.
The vet decided to administer two low doses of naloxone. Naloxone reverses the effects of opioid drugs such as heroin, fentanyl, oxycodone and morphine.
“She went from being flat on the table, unable to lift her head, to lifting her head and responding to voice and stimulation,” Rae said.
While pets are often brought to the vet after consuming marijuana, Rae said this is the second time she has seen a dog overdose from opioids in her 18-year career.
A public health crisis has been declared because of a rise in deaths linked to fentanyl, an opioid that is 50 to 100 times more powerful than heroin.
Rae said she did not do any tests to determine exactly what Chico might have ingested.
“We do not know that she ate fentanyl,” she said.
“There is just as high a chance she ate something else in the same family of drugs.”
