Counter Surfers Unlimited
Labsr4U Pawsitive Advice
Cotton Ball Recipe
The following article was composed
by Sandy Brock.
What do you do if your puppy (or mischievous
older dog) gets into your holiday decorations and eats some of the glass
ornaments? This potentially lethal mishap can darken even the brightest
holiday season.
Before the holiday go to a pharmacy & buy a box of cotton balls. Be sure
that you get COTTON balls...not the "cosmetic puffs" that are made from
man-made fibers. Also, buy a quart of half-and-half coffee cream and put
it in the freezer.
Should your dog eat glass ornaments, defrost
the half-and-half and pour some in a bowl. Dip cotton balls into the
cream and feed them to your dog. Dogs under 10 lbs. should eat 2 balls
which you have first torn into smaller pieces. Dogs 10-50 lbs. should
eat 3-5 balls and larger dogs should eat 5-7. You may feed larger dogs
an entire cotton ball at once. Dogs seem to really like these strange
"treats" and eat them readily.
As the cotton works its way through the digestive tract it will find all
the glass pieces and wrap itself around them. Even the teeniest shards
of glass will be caught and wrapped in the cotton fibers and the cotton
will protect the intestines from damage by the glass.
Your dog's stools will be really weird for a few days and you will have
to be careful to check for fresh blood or a tarry appearance to the
stool. If either of the latter symptoms appear you should rush your dog
to the vet for a checkup but, in most cases, the dogs will be just fine.
Copyright reserved to Sandy Brock. Permission is hereby granted for any
non-profit reproduction by any person or group.
And here's an alternative "cotton ball" recipe proposed by Ellen Morris:
I make my cotton balls Italian style with olive oil and Peccorino Romano
cheese. The theory is that the olive oil, only enough to saturate the
cotton balls. The cheese gives them a great flavor so they go down
easier and the olive oil is a good lubricant to make the thorny problem
slip along better. I have only needed it once, and not for my dog, but
it did work. My friend Paul (a vet) says to follow the cotton balls with
a large serving of mashed potatoes to put bulk around the offending
item.
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