By Kristy Welsh
I recently became the very lucky owner of two beautiful Border Collies, Benny and Belle.I had moved into a house with a big backyard with lots of plants for them to hide and play amongst.
Little did I know that a Daffodil bulb would be the fate of my beloved Benny.
One normal morning I left them at the usual time to go to work, I remember looking out the window and seeing them play 'chase' around a tree in the yard, they were both very happy and having a great time.
I returned home at 1.30pm for lunch. After calling them and having only Belle greet me, I automatically knew something was wrong. I found Benny laying under a tree, unresponsive, making whimpering noises, very hot and unable to stand or move. I sped him straight to the vets. Whilst they worked on him I went back home to try and find the culprit that had made Benny so sick. Initially I thought it must have been a snake bite. But when I found a dug up Daffodil bulb and took it into the vet, they informed me that Daffodils, the leaves, flowers and especially the bulbs were extremely toxic to dogs.
Benny spent 7 hours fighting for his little life. Unfortunately the toxins were too strong and his body went into shutdown. Benny passed away on the 7 May at 9.30pm.
I am sharing Benny's story to hopefully create awareness about pets and toxic plants - especially Daffodils.
For a full grown dog, only 15g of a Daffodil plant needs to be digested for it to be fatal. 50% of dogs who ingest any part of a Daffodil plant will die. It can be very tricky to diagnose as symptoms present much like those of a snake bite.
Symptoms include: diarrhoea, vomiting,staggering, collapse, coma and death within a few hours.
Benny's death won’t be in vain, and his story can help to save another dog's life and their owners a lot of heartache.
Benny was only with me for one week, but in that one week he filled my heart with so much joy and love. I miss him so much everyday.