In my office I have a packet of paper tacked to my cork board that has little over one hundred food and plant items that are toxic to dogs. Many of these items I didn’t know were toxic before I got Isabella even though I’ve had a dog in my life for more than a decade (did they not distribute this information in the past?)

When I first brought Izzie home, I reviewed this list and tried to remember this as much as possible and I am usually very careful with what I feed her. For instance, she has a horrible allergy to wheat, and if she eats anything containing it, she breaks out in hives and won’t stop biting herself where she flares up. I don’t feed her table scraps and I scold Adam whenever he feeds her from the table.

That being said, she IS a corgi, and they are well-know for their insatiable appetite and will do anything short of killing you to get a piece of food. Last night, I was finishing up a plate of Thai fried rice and pulled out a bunch of onions that I didn’t want to eat. I had to run to the restroom and left the plate out. From the back of the house, I could hear Izzie jump on the couch and audible gulp the remaining morsels from my dinner plate. No volume of screaming from the restroom would halt her in her food reverie and a few moments later she waltz into the bedroom licking the stay food particles from her lips.

It was then a race around the house trying to find out exactly how much onions were toxic to dogs and who I should contact at 10:30 at night in case it was going to be an emergency.

My first call was to the Animal Poison Control Line run by the ASPCA. After waiting on hold for a few minutes and giving them all my information on the incident, the operator then told me that it would be a charge of $65 before they could even give me advice. This wouldn’t count any time of actual emergency intervention, just advice.

I quickly hung up and dialed my veterinarian. Unsurprisingly, they were closed but gave me numbers to two 24-hour emergency animal hospitals in Brooklyn and I gave them a call. The first hospital was already dealing with an emergency but did tell me that I needed to get her attention soon. I called the second hospital and they too confirmed that she needed to throw up the onions. I could either give her hydrogen peroxide (not the stuff you use on your hair) or bring her to the hospital. I had none of the hydrogen peroxide at home and it would take probably 20 minutes to pick some up at the local CVS and even then it wouldn’t be a sure bet that she would actually vomit.

All the while I am freaking out running around the house, Izzie had since plopped herself down on the carpet and was already ready for bed. I decided to tell her we were going for a walk and quickly shuffled her to the car so I could speed down 4th Avenue to the animal hospital.

When she was finally seen by a technician, they alerted me that onions are particularly harmful to dogs because it causes anemia, which makes them lethargic and prevent oxygen from getting into their red blood cells. If she isn’t treated, the worst that could happen to her was that she would need a full blood transfusion otherwise she would die. Soon that $200 vet bill didn’t sound too bad.

They gave her an injection of a medication that would make her nauseous, but she was still quite stubborn before she gave up those onions! The process made her pretty loopy and I had to take turns with Adam to carry her back home from the car and she spent the rest of the evening curled up in her bed.

The Take-away

If you have fur-children, be sure to keep a list of toxic foods/plants in your house for reference and be careful what you have laying out that your pets could possibly get into.

Also keep an emergency veterinarian number in your mobile phone. And if there isn’t a 24-hour hospital in your area to call, at least get the ASPCA number in your phone, you might be out $65 for advice but better than burying your loved-one.

A lot of people know about how chocolate is toxic to dogs, but the reality is that most chocolate has a high milk content and dogs (depending on weight) need a LOT of chocolate in order to get to toxicity. Usually, chocolate is not as bad as you may think unless they decide to gorge on a pound of 85% cacao. Onions, and other surprising food items, are actually a lot worse.

For a list of toxic food and plants for your fur-child, download a copy of this list to keep around the house. http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/poison-control/plants/

When I moved away from college, of course I would miss my parents, but the hardest thing and the most that I missed was Lily. She couldn’t talk on the phone like my mom or come to visit like my dad would. Whenever I did go home during vacation times, I always felt that Lily held some kind of grudge over me like I had abandoned her. I was arguably the most attached to her whenever she was a puppy and was always eager to take care of her and do the “doggie” chores. I’m sure I probably over-state how she treated me when I got home because I am not sure dogs have resentment or complex feelings like that, and it was more likely it was my own guilt of leaving her behind. After a few days, she would likely come and cuddle back up with me and we’d be best friends again.

I’ll never forget the way she was always there for me whenever I went through my most trying times growing up, like heartbreak and my paralyzing loneliness that no human could have healed. Even with Isabella, my new dog, even though we’re best friends, I still don’t have that level of understanding and uncompromising loyalty that Lily displayed to me.

While I was home over Christmas, there was an evening where the whole family sat in the family and watched the movie “Inception.” For more reasons than one, that night was the nicest for me. We had a low-key Christmas and it wasn’t about the presents or whatever we were eating for dinner. We all had tough 2010s and needed to spend and do less over the vacation. That night Isabella was especially restless and was cranky over not being able to sit with me and Adam on the couch. I then relented and snuggled up on the floor on a blanket with her. Slowly Lily made a rare entrance and plopped herself down on the blanket on my other side and let me hold her. I wish I would have had someone take a quick snapshot of the setting because I’ll never forget this moment and when it happened I told myself to hold on to it because it might be the last time I saw Lily. It turned out that I was right.

When I got a message on my cell phone and then a message left for me on my work phone from my mother for me to call her right away, I knew immediately it was pertaining to Lily. She had been especially sick the past week and had stopped moving and eating. When my mom told me they had made the decision to put her to sleep, I started to bawl right in the office. Obviously, I knew it was coming, it was hard to not see what was coming, it just weighed on me so heavily that my best friend was leaving me and I couldn’t be with her to help her on her way and see her through.

So here’s to Lily, the best friend a woman could have, made of endless love.

I’ll see you at the Rainbow Bridge.

Lily and Rachel

The following was found posted very low on a refrigerator door.

Dear Dogs and Cats: The dishes with the paw prints are yours and contain your food. The other dishes are mine and contain my food. Placing a paw print in the middle of my plate and food does not stake a claim for it becoming your food and dish, nor do I find that aesthetically pleasing in the slightest.

The stairway was not designed by NASCAR and is not a racetrack.. Racing me to the bottom is not the object. Tripping me doesn’t help because I fall faster than you can run.

I cannot buy anything bigger than a king sized bed. I am very sorry about this. Do not think I will continue sleeping on the couch to ensure your comfort, however. Dogs and cats can actually curl up in a ball when they sleep. It is not necessary to sleep perpendicular to each other, stretched out to the fullest extent possible. I also know that sticking tails straight out and having tongues hanging out on the other end to maximize space is nothing but sarcasm.

For the last time, there is no secret exit from the bathroom! If, by some miracle, I beat you there and manage to get the door shut, it is not necessary to claw, whine, meow, try to turn the knob or get your paw under the edge in an attempt to open the door. I must exit through the same door I entered. Also, I have been using the bathroom for years – canine/feline attendance is not required.

The proper order for kissing is: Kiss me first, then go smell the other dog or cat’s butt. I cannot stress this enough.

Finally, in fairness, dear pets, I have posted the following message on the front door:

TO ALL NON-PET OWNERS WHO VISIT AND LIKE TO COMPLAIN ABOUT OUR PETS:

(1) They live here. You don’t.
(2) If you don’t want their hair on your clothes, stay off the furniture. That’s why they call it ‘fur’-niture.
(3) I like my pets a lot better than I like most people.
(4) To you, they are animals. To me, they are adopted sons/daughters who are short, hairy, walk on all fours and don’t speak clearly.

Remember, dogs and cats are better than kids because they:
(1) eat less,
(2) don’t ask for money all the time,
(3) are easier to train,
(4) normally come when called,
(5) never ask to drive the car,
(6) don’t smoke or drink,
(7) don’t want to wear your clothes,
(8) don’t have to buy the latest fashions,
(9) don’t need a gazillion dollars for college and
(10) if they get pregnant, you can sell their children …

With it being so damn cold this winter, the thing about the bed hits close to home since Izzie has taken up jumping on the bed to sleep with me again. She, of course, demands the prime position on the bed, usually at the foot of the bed on MY side or crawls on to my lap to sleep. The other night we got into a growling match because I picked her up and moved her to the other side of the bed so I could stretch out. Um, dog! Who do you think gives you your food? It doesn’t just appear out of nowhere!

What happens to me in an emergency?

Yes, it seems every stupid thing out in the world has its own holiday, but today’s “day” made me think.

I subscribe to the American Kennel Club newsletter and was alerted that today was “Pet Fire Safety Day.” What does it mean to have a Fire Safety Day? For humans, it’s easy. We teach kids to feel doors and door knobs to see if they are hot before you open a door and to crouch low when there is smoke, but how do we protect our fury friends who (as far as I can tell) are lost on the finer details of the English language.

I’ve thought about it before whenever I first moved into my own apartment almost a year ago. I’ve been good about keeping Isabella in the front room in her kennel so as to not let her wander around while I am gone until she is a bit older (she likes to chew on things and I have this fear she’s going to chew a wire and electrocute herself if left alone.) I also keep her leash right next to the door so I always know where it is, especially in the case of an emergency. I will now have to see about getting myself one of those nifty “Rescue Pets Inside!” stickers for my front window (I remember having something like that on my bedroom window when I was a kid.)

AKC.org posted a nice page on their website dealing with some of the helpful things owners can do.

• Extinguish Open Flames – Pets are generally curious and will investigate cooking appliances, candles, or even a fire in your fireplace. Ensure your pet is not left unattended around an open flame and make sure to thoroughly extinguish any open flame before leaving your home.
• Pet Proof the Home – Take a walk around your home and look for areas where pets might start fires inadvertently, such as the stove knobs, loose wires and other potential hazards.
• Secure Young Pets – Especially with young puppies, keep them confined away from potential fire-starting hazards when you are away from home.
• Keep Pets Near Entrances – When leaving pets home alone, keep them in areas or rooms near entrances where firefighters can easily find them.
• Practicing Escape Routes with Pets – Keep collars and leashes at the ready in case you have to evacuate quickly with your pet or firefighters need to rescue your pet.
• Affix a Pet Alert Window Cling – Write down the number of pets inside your house and attach the static cling to a front window. This critical information saves rescuers time when locating your pets. You can obtain a free window cling here or at AKC Responsible Dog Ownership Days events.
• Keep Your Information Updated – Firefighters are familiar with pet alert window clings so keep the number of pets listed on them updated. Knowing the accurate number of pets in the house aids rescuers in finding all of your pets.
• Use Monitored Smoke Detection Services – As an added layer of protection beyond battery-operated smoke alarms, smoke detectors connected to a monitoring center help save pets who can’t escape when left home alone.

Since I know many of the blogenning bloggers have dogs and/or cats, I thought this would be helpful information.