I can’t believe our time in Florida is over. We had some wonderful times here this winter! We met some amazing people that I hope will remain lifelong friends. And visits to the Keys from family and friends made our time away just a little more special!!
Our stay ends on a little bit of a sour note but we are fortunate it did not end in total sadness. Ty was the lucky one because we were able to identify the bright green lump of stuff he was eating as rat poison and get him the help he needed. He thought he found a tasty peanut butter treat while we were walking him in the dog walk area outside of VO. I never saw him get anything but thought he had picked up a bone because of the sounds he was making trying to chew it. If he had not spit out the last couple of green pieces we would not have known he had ingested rat poison and needed to get to the vet right away. Because of his old age and our inability to identify what type of rat poison he ate, we were not sure if he would survive. The vet told us there might not be any effective treatment depending on which of the 3 types of poison he got into. One causes internal bleeding, one causes kidney damage and one attacks the brain. The vet induced vomiting to get 3 large chunks out of him and started him on a combination of drugs to counteract the poison. He had to stay at the vets for a couple of days but fortunately the treatment appears to be working!! The people at the Marathon Veterinary Hospital were great! We are stopping there on our way North this morning for a final blood test, but I think Ty will be ok. He is not as lethargic as he was the first couple of days after he got home from the vets, and he has started eating again. It was good to see him play a little last night before we went to bed. Zoom, zoom!!
We are still not sure where the rat poison came from but assume either some sick person that does not like dogs intentionally put it out in the dog walk area or someone just irresponsibly used rat poison that somehow managed to get in that area. It’s tough for me to think someone did this intentionally but there are lots of sick people out there. While I am out quite a bit of money, all that matters is that Ty is feeling better and thanks to the quick help from one of the security guards that picked up the pieces that Ty missed, I don’t think any other dogs are in danger.
It has been a stressful couple of days. Both because of Ty’s health scare and the packing needed to get us back on the road. It will feel good to be home for a little while before we start our next adventure!!