A simple game in the snow turned into a nightmare for an American woman living in Nova Scotia, Canada. Her eight-year-old Australian Shepherd had a brush with death after eating some mouldy coffee creamer he found outside.
On 11th February, Kylie Dixon was enjoying a special moment with her dog, Remi, when everything took a turn for the worse. While digging in a thick blanket of snow, the dog unearthed a carton of coffee creamer that had clearly been thrown there some time ago and then covered by recent snowfall. She immediately pulled the packaging from his mouth. But upon examining it, she noticed black mould.
Less than an hour later, the first symptoms appeared.
A terrifying ordeal
Remi began to tremble, his eyes started moving uncontrollably, and he lost his balance. The tremors quickly intensified, turning into full-blown generalised seizures.
Panicked, his owner rushed him to the vet. There, the team gave him an anti-sickness treatment, Diazepam to control the seizures, and activated charcoal to limit the absorption of toxins. The dog was then sent home to be monitored.
But as the hours went by, his condition worsened. He suffered from continuous seizures for long periods. Kylie Dixon had no choice but to put him back in his travel crate and get back on the road while he was still convulsing. For nearly two days, Remi remained largely unresponsive.
During this second admission, he received further doses of Diazepam, was put on an IV drip, and was closely monitored to bring his temperature down. His condition required round-the-clock care, which his usual clinic couldn't provide overnight. He was therefore transferred to a 24-hour emergency veterinary hospital, a three-hour journey away.
A serious diagnosis and the road to recovery
At the specialist hospital, Remi was put on anti-seizure medication, an intravenous drip, a urinary catheter, and a nasogastric tube. An electrocardiogram was also performed.
The vets diagnosed him with mycotoxicosis, a potentially fatal condition caused by ingesting, inhaling, or absorbing toxic moulds. Certain toxins produced by these fungi can attack the nervous system and cause severe neurological problems, like those seen in the Australian Shepherd. Gradually, he began to show signs of improvement. The seizures stopped, and the dog's neurological condition stabilised.
A few days later, Remi was able to go home. He is still a little unsteady on his paws and his pupils are not dilating properly, but the vets explained that a full recovery could take several weeks.
Despite everything, he has already returned to some of his old habits, including chasing his favourite herding ball. And he is already doing much better.
