How A Beautiful Flower Scared Me To Death Last Night

I was working on my computer early last evening when Julie came rushing down to the basement and told me to google the local emergency vet clinic. What?!

She quickly proceeded to tell me that she had had some Calla Lilly bulbs laying in a saucer on the bathroom floor with the door closed, but that Cooper (our five-year old Sheltie) had gotten in there and licked them, if not worse. She told me she'd put them there to dry out before being put into storage for the winter. Why the worry about Cooper possibly eating them? Julie had googled "Calla Lilly bulbs" and reported that they were poisonous. Panic time.

I quickly got the phone number for her and she proceeded to call & tell the emergency clinic that our dog had licked and possibility ingested one or more of the bulbs. The people at these clinics must hear some real doozies, and this one certainly fit that category.

While Julie was explaining what had happened, I was running around the basement trying to keep Cooper active, as if that would prevent him from dropping over and dying at any moment. Hey, it seemed like the right thing to do.

Julie was told that dogs may get an upset stomach after eating them, which we're still not sure he did. The vet clinic rep suggested we call an emergency line if we had additional concerns.

One other thing we learned last night... the 800 number poison prevention lines for pets aren't actually free. They have fairly substantial fees. Considering Cooper might just get an upset stomach & have a small case of the runs, we decided the price tag wasn't worth the call. So far, he hasn't had either one. Whew...