# jake ate gaviscon!!



## Leah84 (Jun 22, 2009)

waiting on a call back from the vet but thought i`d ask on here in the meantime. he must have eaten around 10 of the strawberry chewable tablets as i`ve just found the empty strip in his bed. i can only think my bag fell off the hook and that`s how he got to them as they were i my bag hanging up 

anyone know if it`s harmful? the leaflet says 'if you take too much of this product you may feel bloated, it is unlikely to cause you any harm, but please consult your doctor or pharmacist' soooo i`ve got in touch with the vet who are gonna look it up for me to see if he needs to go in and get back but in the meantime i`m super paranoid (also a bit miffed with the vet as they argues with me that jake was only 19kg when he was in being neutered 2 months ago which i know is a total lie and makes me question their competency considering he`s not been that weight since he was a tiny pup!)


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## MizzPooch (Jun 16, 2011)

Oh no! I don't know much about Gaviscon - never used it myself, never mind the affects on a dog. As you have already done - my first thought too would be to seek a vet's opinion on your next course of action. How is he in himself?


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## Zayna (Apr 19, 2009)

ive no idea if they would be harmful or not, youve done the right thing contacting the vet. hope everything turns out ok.... if you arent happy with their answer you can always contact a 2nd vet. ive visited 3 vets before with the same problem. keep us posted!


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## Leah84 (Jun 22, 2009)

he`s fine in himself right now, still running round wanting to play and lazing out on the windowsill sunbathing etc still no phone call yet - why does it always seem to take forever  i`m hoping they get back soon as i`d just put hair dye on before discovering he`d ate it and am too scared to wash it off now in case they ring back as there`s no one else to answer the phone  there is a vet right at the end of my street i could rush him down to if he started seeming off (mine is nearly an hour walk away) but i would only use them as a last resort if he needed in right away as i had a bad experience with them in the past


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## mysticmel (Jun 27, 2011)

i dont know the affects on dogs, but i had tons of that stuff when i was pregnant, (it is allowed) so cant see it would be too harmful xx hope hes ok let us know x


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## MizzPooch (Jun 16, 2011)

I don't know what the contents is, but I cant imagine that there is anything too harmful in Gaviscon as its a non-prescriptive medicine, but then he is a dog not an adult human and has eaten maybe 10 of them. If he seems his usual self then that is a good sign. Fingers crossed the vet's ring you back asap to allay your fears and also so you can rinse.


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## Leah84 (Jun 22, 2009)

well they just rang back and said from what they can see he should be fine but as there`s no real records of dogs taking too much they can`t be 100% although the main factor would be the amount of salt in gaviscon  they said they can ring up the animal poison line (at a cost of £30 to me just for a phone call) to see if they know anymore but that gaviscon wasn`t on the list of poison/toxic substances they have. tbh i wouldn`t grudge paying for the phone call if they`d give me the number and let me ring myself but they won`t do that and i`m not willing to pay them for making a phone call i could make myself. will need to keep an eye on him over the next few days which means probably cancelling the holiday tomorrow. i just dunno what to do, they left it so bloody long to get back to me (around 1.5hours after i rang) that it was too late to stick some soda crystals in him and induce vomiting which i wish i had done now an am so annoyed now cause anything that`s gonna happen can`t really be prevented now as it`s been too long since he swallowed them although they said there`s a high possibility he`ll be fine


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## Guest (Jul 14, 2011)

wouldn`t worry, many, many great dane people use this for their dogs.


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## Bex190 (Jun 30, 2009)

Glad it sounds like he'll be OK.

£30 for a phone call?!! Did you ask them to call or did they just do it?


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## Mistyweather (Jan 11, 2009)

What a silly dog, didn't he read the label?

Actually when my Stormy ate some calciium tablets of mine, the vet called the poison people but never charged me a thing for the call. What they did charge me for, was the appointment they made, just so they could tell me thee would not be any harmful effects !!! But, you would do anything wouldn't you?


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## Leah84 (Jun 22, 2009)

Bex190 said:


> Glad it sounds like he'll be OK.
> 
> £30 for a phone call?!! Did you ask them to call or did they just do it?


no they rang me to ask if they should call and i said no but if they gave me the number i`d ring myself - if i`m gonna pay £30 i`d wanna speak to them directly as it`s my dog and my money but they refused to give me the number. i spoke to another vet who wasn`t sure what they were on about but said that they`d imagine he`ll be fine but just to keep an eye again due to the sodium. i`m so worried though i can`t stop crying, i wish the cats would stop knocking things over i`ve had to lock them out so many rooms cause of it already and all my meds are kept under lock except these as i`ve been getting bad heartburn with this pregnancy, i shouldn`t have been keeping them in my bag


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## Goblin (Jun 21, 2011)

Leah84 said:


> i shouldn`t have been keeping them in my bag


Ah, the good old if only. Don't feel too bad about it. At the end of the day you can't allow for everything happening which could potentially be bad. Main thing is you learn from the experience. Putting the things in your bag is not necessarily a bad idea. Maybe if there is a internal zip compartment...

I do hope Jake is OK and it sounds as though there's no real harm done. If we had to think of all possibilities we'd never do anything.


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## 5rivers79 (Mar 28, 2011)

The only animal poison line i can find on the web is this one:

Animal Poison Control Center - Pet Poison Helpline - Pet Poisoning Call Center

Its based over the pond i think and they charge 30 dollars to your credit card before giving you the advice..but that is much less than 30 quid.

If your very worried maybe you can give them a ring using a international calling number? That will usually make the charge of the call 1p a min if its to the USA.


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## Leah84 (Jun 22, 2009)

Mistyweather said:


> What a silly dog, didn't he read the label?
> 
> Actually when my Stormy ate some calciium tablets of mine, *the vet called the poison people but never charged me a thing for the call.* What they did charge me for, was the appointment they made, just so they could tell me thee would not be any harmful effects !!! But, you would do anything wouldn't you?


that`s quite interesting, makes me wonder if the money they were trying to charge was for them making the call which is why i wasn`t willing to pay it, plus i`d much rather speak directly to people myself!

it was definitely a uk number, the american one won`t really be able to help as gaviscon is a uk product i`m sure so they won`t have any info on it.

there wasn`t a zip compartment in the bag they were in but it was clipped shut with a popper button which i can only imagine he popped open when the smelly of salty strawberry became irresistible to him. he had a bit of a sleep with me constantly fussing over him but is back to running round like a loony now!


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## 5rivers79 (Mar 28, 2011)

Its true about Gaviscon being a UK product but they probably have something similar over there and you'd just need to tell them the ingredients. But if he seems well with no adverse effects then he'l probably be ok.


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## Cassia (May 28, 2011)

I know it sounds really disgusting but could you possibly try and make your dog throw up? That way it'll get some of it out of her system... 
I'm not sure how one would make a dog vomit though... has anyone had to do this before?


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## rottiemum (Apr 12, 2011)

I think he'll be ok. I used to give my old rottie antacid tablets. 

Why don't you see if there's a product info number on the packet that you can call? Maybe the company will know?


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## 5rivers79 (Mar 28, 2011)

Cassia said:


> I know it sounds really disgusting but could you possibly try and make your dog throw up? That way it'll get some of it out of her system...
> I'm not sure how one would make a dog vomit though... has anyone had to do this before?


Iv had to do this when Sammy ate a slice of cake with raisins in it. Thankfully he gets travel sick so i just have to drive him around a few roundabouts and job done


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## Shrap (Nov 22, 2010)

I really wouldn't worry too much. I'm sure LOADS of dogs have eaten gaviscon before. It's something that people leave lying around all the time.

It's already passed through the stomach so too late to induce vomitting.

Perhaps don't feed him until bed time though?
If it's the sodium then surely he'd just need to drink+pee more?

Honestly don't worry, just keep an eye on him xx


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## Guest (Jul 14, 2011)

gavisgon won`t hurt the dog, it is what many great dane owners treat their dogs with before rushing to the vet regarding treatment for bloat. many dane owners keep bottles handy just incase.



> BLOAT PHASES AND RECOMMENDED ACTIONS
> 
> PHASE 1 (This phase may last between 1-2 hours. It also may not - DONT DELAY)
> 
> ...


taken from Apollodane Great Danes » Bloat

hope this helps, he will be okay.


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## Leah84 (Jun 22, 2009)

Cassia said:


> I know it sounds really disgusting but could you possibly try and make your dog throw up? That way it'll get some of it out of her system...
> I'm not sure how one would make a dog vomit though... has anyone had to do this before?


i wish i had made him sick before ringing the vet, i have the soda crystals here that i was given recommended to use in such situations but thought i`d ring the vet first....took them over 1.5 hours to get back to me and he`d also eaten them a while before i rang meaning by the time they got in touch with their useless help it was too late to induce vomiting and could have cause more harm and stress than good 

i`m not gonna feed him tonight, not sure of the sodium content of their food but i don`t wanna risk it all the same so he`s sulking and following me around huffing and puffing. they said it`d be at least a few days before any side effects would show up so just cause he looks fine now that means nothing (takes a while for the salt OD to effect his kidneys they said) i dunno, just gonna keep trying to get him to drink to flush it out to try and minimise any potential damage i guess but surely if it was harmful to OD on then it`d say on the gaviscon website given that a salt OD would be just as harmful to humans as it is to dogs?


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## MizzPooch (Jun 16, 2011)

Just checking in to see how Jake is now. As you say if the sodium content was a huge issue you would expect it to be mentioned on the website. Either way I should imagine it may make him thirstier, but drinking plenty of water as you say it may help flush things through. Maybe later you could try giving him a little bit of wholemeal bread? Only last week we thought that Ramsay had eaten some glass (later turned out he definitely hadn't but I had already panicked big style  ) and the vet said a little bread is a good 'binder' in the stomach to help pass things through in these situations. 

Hope he is in good spirits x


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## GoldenShadow (Jun 15, 2009)

Naughty Jake..! Right before your birthday as well 

I would imagine he'd be OK, just spy on him and maybe be prepared to let him out to the loo sharpish!


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## Cassia (May 28, 2011)

5rivers79 said:


> Iv had to do this when Sammy ate a slice of cake with raisins in it. Thankfully he gets travel sick so i just have to drive him around a few roundabouts and job done


My mums Staffie ate a whole 18 person chocolate cake and had to be rushed to the vets to have her stomach pumped.... ugh! lol


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## Jonesey (Dec 30, 2010)

You can buy gaviscon in Canada. I got this from their website;

# What is the source of Alginic Acid in Gaviscon® Tablets?
Alginic acid in Gaviscon tablets is derived from extract of brown seaweed. The raw material source is 100% natural and is safe for human consumption and poses no threat of toxicity.Back to top 

Hope he's stays okay.


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## Leah84 (Jun 22, 2009)

thanks 

in the 1.5 hours it took the vets to ring me back i had sat googling it all and had come to the conclusion he`d be fine (which is also why i`d assumed the vets had taken so long to get back as it wasn`t important) then they had to go and tell me about sodium poisoning and kidney failure :frown2: he seems absolutely fine - has toileted normally and is still his silly self so i guess only time will tell but i`m hoping the vets were just trying to scaremonger me into giving them more money


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## Leah84 (Jun 22, 2009)

Just thought I'd update this to let you know Jake seems fine, I'm assuming if the salt was gonna cause damage it'd have shown by now as it's 3 days after he ingested it!! He's staying with his gramps this week while we're away so he's having a ball as he loves it when his gramps is back home lol


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