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Published by: American College of Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care
For "Saved: 20 Tales of Emergency Room Heroics"
In September of 2009, Jeffery Renick who is confined to a wheelchair, lost his faithful companion service dog, Howard, after a valiant fight with cancer. Bereft, with a golden retriever sized hole in his heart, Jeffery searched for new friend and companion and found Lucy, a happy energetic labradoodle that he hoped to place in training for Howard’s job.
In March of 2010, Lucy’s boisterous and inquisitive nature got her into serious trouble and very nearly cost her life. She ingested an overdose of her owner’s medication, baclofen, which is a strong muscle relaxer used to treat certain muscle disorders and spinal cord injuries. An overdose of the medication can cause extreme muscle weakness including paralysis of the muscles used for breathing, coma, and even death.
When Lucy was presented to the emergency service she was already weak and unable to walk , was vocalizing and was unaware of her surroundings. The emergency doctor, Jennifer Marretta , started supportive care and then called the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Hotline in Urbana IL. Experienced toxicologists there are available 24 hours a day to give vital information and advice on any cases involving a toxin. Dr. Marretta discovered that Lucy had ingested a lethal dose of baclofen and immediate , aggressive treatment was needed to save her life. The toxicologist suggested an experimental medication called intralipid, which is a thick fatty liquid given intravenously to act as a trap for any of the medication still circulating in Lucy’s system. It was her only hope.
Unfortunately this medication is not readily available and to complicate matters this was all happening in the middle of the night. Dr Marretta made frantic phone calls, finally finding help from a human hospital willing to provide the intralipid to try to save Lucy. The medication was started but Lucy’s condition worsened rapidly. Lipid treatment for this type of poisoning is new and experimental. No one knew if it would work and we had certainly seen other cases with baclofen toxicity lose this battle. The mood in the ER was tense. Everyone knew it was a race against time.
By morning Lucy was in a coma and her respiratory muscles were weakening rapidly. Emergency and Critical Care Specialist Dr Amy Carr, evaluated her and performed some tests on her respiratory capabilities. Lucy failed those tests and it was obvious that she would need to be placed on a ventilator. Lucy’s life hung in the balance for over 24 hours as the machine breathed for her and a dedicated team of emergency doctors and technicians provided intensive care.
The first sign that we were winning the battle came the following day when Lucy started to blink slightly and there was a very tiny tail wag when we called her name. A huge cheer went up through the ICU and everyone was clapping and hugging. Some of us were crying .Over the next three days Lucy continued to improve. She became fully alert and was frustrated with herself that she did not have full coordination of her limb movements because she wanted to play.
Today Lucy is her normal exuberant self and Jeffery reports that she has just completed her basic obedience training and is getting ready to start the next phase. It looks like they will make a great team after such a rough beginning.