Amitraz Overdose

Do I have a really dumb dog! You have to understand that living down here you have to contend with all these obscure tropical diseases. Things you don't see in the states. And thus I keep a tick collar on the dogs in addition to a topical flea and tick control and an internal heartworm and nematode control.

Saturday sometime Rudder ATE Salty's brand freakin' new $43 tick collar. It's not like he's a puppy and doesn't know any better; he's 5 years old now. Picture me not thrilled.

I didn't know he ate it. I noticed Salty's tick collar was gone a few hours after I put it around her neck. She kinda has a pin head so I figured it just slipped off and it would turn up sooner or later. These are Amitraz collars good for 3 months and the only thing that is effective against the tick on island that carries Ehrlichia canis. While treatable, Ehrilichia is something I'd rather avoid, along with the other miscellaneous tick-borne diseases.

Massive stinky diarrhea in my shower was the first tip I had that Rudder was sick. Disgusted, I cleaned it up. About an hour later the vomiting began. Puke #2 had part (~1 inch) of tick collar in it. I call a few colleagues (ahem, vet students) then the vet on emergency duty. Rudder was obviously ill but not "on death's door" sick, so I didn't want to bring him in and disturb anyone if we could wait it out. Amitraz is rarely fatal in dogs (not so in kitties and bunnies) but clinical signs related to overdose include ataxia, bradycardia, diarrhea, and vomiting. All of which Rudder was displaying (as per Plumb's starting on pg 48).

Tried some hydrogen peroxide to induce vomiting (don't try this at home), which was fruitless since he had already vomited up his stomach contents. Five vomits and 2 diarrhea's later, with the last diarrhea being entirely mucosoid with small clotts, I bring him in to get charcoaled. We also administered a shot of atipamezole (if I remember right) to counter the tick collar's effects just in case. Poor guy looked so sick, not critical, but definitely feeling icky.

We weren't sure if the shot or charcoal would do anything, but by morning Rudder was back to his normal self, so it was well worth the $150EC. We (Rudder, Salty, and I) spent the day at the beach getting a tan. I buried Salty in the sand, with Rudder's help, and turned her into the Sphinx. School starts tomorrow (3rd semester) so I'm heading to bed now.