Dogs and Inhalers
I am feeling incredibly anxious about a pet sitting situation that happened today, and I thought I would just channel that anxiety into a PSA for sitters/owners.
I was watching a dog earlier today, left for about an hour, and when I came back the dog had gotten into my bag and made a bit of a mess. It wasn't a big deal, I just cleaned everything up, and a couple hours later I was done with the sit. The owner texted me tonight asking how the dog had been with the fireworks this week, bc her heart was beating really fast tonight. I realized when I was looking through my bag that the dog had punctured my inhaler, so I called the owner and let her know.
It wasn't until after I called the owner that I really started googling, and I learned that inhalers are SUPER dangerous for dogs, that an albuterol overdose can quickly be fatal. I have been crying all night feeling so horrible that I let this happen. They're taking the dog to the vet and I have nothing to do except sit here and imagine all the worst case scenarios.
Sitters and owners! If you use an inhaler, PLEASE always keep it out of reach from dogs! I had no idea that it was so dangerous. Hopefully someone sees this post and will be able to prevent a situation like this in the future.