Demonspawn: Escape artist extraordinaire and dangerous gormand

[NoDogNow]

My sister’s crazy BC died this afternoon. Snail bait is VERY BAD.

Demonspawn got into the shed yesterday—it looks like my BIL may have not quite gotten the door latched when he was out there before he took off for his 3 day driving gig this week.  When my sister got home from work last night, she found a horrible mess all over the yard, stuff strewn from h*ll to breakfast.  Included in the mess was a package of snail bait that was chewed open and pieces all over the place.  Demonspawn was acting funny, staggering and hanging his head.  Squig seemed fine, but she decided to take no chances. 

Her Petsmart vet was already closed, so she had to take them to the emergency vet—which is nearly 30 minutes away, at best.  By the time they got there, Demonspawn had started to seizure.

They did everything they could for the little twerp, but he’d apparently eaten too many baits too long before my sister got home.  I’m sure the only reason that Squig is fine is that she’s a finicky eater—she won’t eat anything that’s not either out of your hand or in her bowl—she won’t even lick stuff off the floor. Being a weirdo saved her life this time.

Of course, my sister’s completely devastated; Demonspawn was the puppy she got to replace Zach, who she had to have PTS while my BIL was out of town LAST summer.

Did anyone know that snail baits were that dangerous??  I certainly didn’t. 

Everyone have a glass of lemon iced tea on Demonspawn tonight—it was his favorite. And make sure your sheds are SHUT TIGHT.   

[bigdogs@5501]

I dont have snail bait on the list of what to buy and now it wont be on any list ever, of items to buy. How devastating for your sister - our condolences go out to her.

[jabear]

I'm so sorry for your sister's loss. Last y ear a beautiful Newf died of snail bait and my in-laws dog had to have his stomach pumped due to eating it at their apartment complex. It is really scary stuff.

[shangrila]

Please tell your sister that all of BPO is sorry for her loss 

[Gypsy Jazmine]

I am very sorry ...& ty for the heads up.

[PennyK]

So very sorry for your sister's loss. 

[EllieAndBlu]

awww... I am so sorry to hear about your sister's pup... she is in our thughts here in Atlanta. Thanks for the head's up about snail bait.

[NoDogNow]

Thanks, everyone. She's at least past the hysteria this morning, but she's going to blame herself for a long, long time.

My dad and my brother went out this morning and cleaned up the yard and used one of those lawn sweepers to make sure all the baits were out of the grass before she brings Squig home from my parents' house.

Dad has a plan for the flower beds those of you who are going to avoid baits might be interested in, by the way. A gardener friend of his told him that you can use 'beer pots' for snail/slug control.  The way he was told to do it was to use plastic Dixie cups (the little ones, like you buy for the bathroom dispenser) inset with about a half an inch lip above the ground along the edges of a flower bed in close rows, or buried near the stalks of the plants you want to keep the snails/slugs off. Then pour about an inch to an inch and half of cheap beer in each cup. According to the gardener, the scent of the beer will attract the snails/slugs, they'll crawl into the cup, and be stuck.

The guy has won prizes at fairs for his flowers, so it might be worth a try, if you have a snail/slug problem and think your furkids won't drink the beer. Although I'm sure we all would have preferred an alcoholic insance border collie to a poisoned one.