I came home from work later than usual that evening. I found the bottle of horse medicine open on the bed. Reeka, my dog, had got on the counter, opened the cupboard, got out the bottle, opened the child-proof cap and ate 42 Equinoxx (prescription NSAID) pills, meant for one a day for a 1,300 pound horse. I live in the country, but rushed her to the emergency vet, it was a long 30 minutes to get there. When I arrived they let me know that with such as overdose, there be almost no chance of survival and the treatment would cost thousands of dollars. I responded “I have to try”. I left Reeka in the ICU, hooked up to IVs and looking sad, scared and alone. My heart was breaking, but I said goodbye to Reeka that evening, telling her to fight with everything she had and I would see her the next day. I went home and recounted the pills remaining. They are prescription, I knew when I bought them and how many had been given to the horse; sadly 42 pills were re-confirmed as missing. I hardly ate or slept the next four days, visiting Reeka in the ICU and telling her she would pull through and be that 1% chance of survival. As the days went by, I visited her daily and she slowly improved. Finally the day came when her blood panel came back with no internal organ damage and she came home. The vet said there are only a handful of cases in the world where a dog survived such a bad overdose of NSAIDs, but Reeka beat the odds and is my miracle dog. The Equinoxx is now locked up and I put child- proof locks in all my cupboards.

Mandy
SILVER SPRINGS, NV