My pup is probably fine, right?

August 3, 2022 12:04 PM

My sweet potato dog may or may not have ingested some of my prescription amphetamine about an hour ago. Gave activated charcoal about 20 minutes ago. No signs of distress. She would find a vet visit for this pretty triggering so I just want to verify that we are probably fine.

My 20lb, 8yo terrier mix may have had 10mg methylphenidate (short acting Ritalin). I can't find it, but didn't see her eat it either. She's not the kind of dog that gets into stuff much as she truly hates getting in trouble so she's the most compliant pet I've ever seen.

I found info that some vets actually prescribe methylphenidate up to 5g for her size, so she had double the high end of a single dose for clinical indications.

No signs of increased heart rate, agitation, distress, etc 1.5 hours after the potential ingestion. Gave 10g of activated charcoal about 10 minutes ago. She's still her slow, sweet rub-my-belly self. Vet wanted her brought in for an emergent visit. I didn't want to put the dog through all of that unless absolutely necessary. I'm guessing based on her behavior now, it's probably fine?

Here is my pet tax.

posted by crunchy potato to Health & Fitness (8 answers total)

If you are in the US you can call a pet poison control line! It is not free but it is reasonable, like $30-$60, and they will give you a case control number in case you decide to later go to a vet so the vet can consult as well.

https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/animal-poison-control

[phone]

Other countries may have similar!
posted by muddgirl at 12:11 PM on August 3, 2022 [8 favorites]

I have called both veterinary and human poison control in the past and both were very knowledgeable, understanding, and reassuring.
posted by muddgirl at 12:12 PM on August 3, 2022 [1 favorite]

Best answer: If it was going to cause the normal human reactions to taking too much I'd think it would have already.

If you hadn't said that it is sometimes prescribed for dogs, I'd want to verify that it isn't poisonous to them, but since it isn't I'd probably also be in the wait and see camp unless doggo has underlying conditions like heart problems.
posted by wierdo at 12:30 PM on August 3, 2022 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: Thanks, I tried to use the ASPCA line but saw it would be $100 just to ask so I contacted her vet. The vet wanted me to bring her in to induce vomiting, and wanted her there within the next 30 minutes or we would miss our "window" to get it out of her system.

But my cursory research suggested that might be a lot to put doggo through if she may not have even eaten it so I got the activated charcoal instead with plans to rush her there if she had any unusual symptoms. And then I came here since this place often has experts in surprisingly niche areas, hoping for someone to reassure me that if something was going to go sideways, it would have by now so I could relax a little.
posted by crunchy potato at 12:34 PM on August 3, 2022

Best answer: I am not a vet. All I learned was by watching Bondi Vet. :) IMHO, if you don't see panting, agitation, tremors, or otherwise distress, I doubt anything would happen.

Basically they rubbed a drug on the dog's gums, and in a few moments, the dog would want to throw up. Then we'll see what happens.
posted by kschang at 12:34 PM on August 3, 2022 [2 favorites]

Best answer: Hoping and betting your sweet girl will be fine. IANAV. In the future, hydrogen peroxide is what my vet (+ my best friend who's an internal medicine specialist vet) recommends giving to induce vomiting. We keep it on hand because chocolate. We've had to do this once to our 30lb dog with good results: Give a couple of TBS of hydrogen peroxide in something the dog will want to eat (ice cream, yogurt, anything it'll mix into). Get them outside in like 30 seconds or less, because they will vomit until they're empty. **Double check this advice with your own vet.**
posted by ImproviseOrDie at 1:02 PM on August 3, 2022 [7 favorites]

Sometimes our doggos defy the general expectations. My dog chewed up a container of sugar-free gum, which was so old we didn't know how much gum, if any, was in it. There was no trace of gum remaining and xylitol is toxic to dogs, so we rushed her to the emergency vet. They monitored, tried to induce vomiting (didn't work) but she never showed any symptoms from eating it. I can't imagine we would have held on to an empty gum container, so there must have been SOME pieces in there, but she's a larger dog and it must not have been that much. I think you're probably ok to monitor closely.
posted by misskaz at 1:08 PM on August 3, 2022 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Decided to do some more research. According to a real vet, 10 mg / 20 lbs (your pup's weight) = 0.5 mg/lb which is 1/10th of the usual lethal dose (4.5 to 10 mg / lb) ... if he indeed took the pill. So you're fine either way. The only question is how sick will your pup get. As you said, no sign of aggression or distress, I doubt he took it.

The vet suggested a bit of sedative to calm the pet (ritalin is a stimulant) and maybe some beta-blockers, but that case was a 75 lb dog that DEFINITELY took the pill and was acting hyper. Doesn't seem to apply to your case.
posted by kschang at 1:18 PM on August 3, 2022 [4 favorites]