# Rey's Coffee Cautionary Tale



## Ginams (Jan 20, 2015)

I've introduced Rey on the rescue/adoption part of the forum, but wanted to share her latest escapade separately in the event that someone deals with it in the future.

I spend my days talking with students about pet topics, including foods that we eat that are harmful for our pets. Coffee is always something that tops my list because it is in so many households. In my home, we are careful with used coffee grounds because our GSD loved to eat them. Trash cans have always been kept up high and foods that are not ok have always been kept out of reach, or so I thought.

I always head home at lunchtime to check on the dogs and give them a potty break/play session. Today, Storm was still gated in the kitchen, but Rey had jumped the two(!) baby gates and made it into my bedroom. Coffee was all over the kitchen. Storm was her usual self, mellow-ish and ready to potty. Rey was pretty much vibrating with energy. It was quickly apparent who had gotten into the coffee. 

Our coffee bags are kept up in a cabinet, but our brewing cups for the Keurig have been kept in a holder next to the machine. Somehow the holder made it onto the floor (I'm suspecting one of our cats knocked it off) and all but 2 of the 10 or so pods were emptied. In cleaning up, there was probably about 2 - 3 pods worth of coffee on the floor, so the conclusion was that the rest was in Rey's stomach. 

I quickly called our vet and they advised that based on the amount, she would likely be fine, but they could see her in the office if I felt it was necessary. I would prefer to be on the cautious side, so I took the appointment and off to the vet we went. *Luckily*, all checked out ok with Rey. She has a TON more energy than normal and is thirsty, but her heart rate and breathing aren't too elevated and we're going to monitor her for the evening to make sure everything leaves her system ok. 

We really got lucky. The vet estimates that the amount Rey got is about 1/10th of what could be fatal, but dogs can still have tremors and seizures with the amount she got. They offered to keep her and start fluids/monitoring, but since she is drinking well, they sent us home with a sedative in case anything develops.

All this to say, just be aware of all the things we have in our lives that can be harmful to our pups even if it is not at the forefront all the time. For some reason I never thought to put our coffee pods up and away, but our caffeinated beverages will now be in a child locked cabinet (because cats) to hopefully avoid anything like this in the future.

And because pictures make the world a better place: Guess who had the coffee


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## B and G Mom (Oct 29, 2014)

Oh Rey!!!!! Thankfully she didn't get any more than she did! And what's with those kitties, they're not supposed to be helping the doggies get in trouble!


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## Siandvm (Jun 22, 2016)

Because cats! That's the story of my life!


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## wdadswell (Dec 17, 2015)

Me too!! Dogs don't counter surf, but the cats do!! Good reminder, as I don't think about, what the cats can knock over onto the floor. Hope you and Rey have a good sleep tonight and she's back to herself in the morning!


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## jennretz (Jul 24, 2013)

Boy Rey! You sure are keeping your mom on her toes


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## Ginams (Jan 20, 2015)

Well, we survived the 8+ hours of coffee induced chaos and have come through on the other side!

Thanks everyone for your replies and well wishes. Rey slept soundly last night and is back to normal today. We even got lucky (so far) with none of the diarrhea that our vet expected. 

We've realized Frankie is a common denominator in quite a few Rey escapades, so their friendship is going a little too well at times. All coffee is now secure and we went through double checking child locks on the cabintets last night just to be sure the cat can't get them open since he's so resourceful.


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