Photo Credit: GK Hart/Vikki Hart / Getty Images
We hope that as a devoted and loving pet parent, you would never give your dog alcohol. But what if your pup stole some booze right out from under your nose? That’s what happened to a pair of dog parents in Minnesota whose fur baby suffered from alcohol poisoning after eating 15 Jell-O shots last New Year’s Eve.
Not-So-Happy Hour
It all started around midnight, when Tyler Kronstedt and his fiancée, Megan Strong, came back to their Duluth home after visiting family in the Twin Cities. They went to bed, unaware that some leftover vodka Jell-O shots were placed within reach of their dog, Red.
Some hours later, Kronstedt heard a noise downstairs. When he went to investigate, he found the Jell-O shots all over the kitchen and living room. Because the shots were red, he momentarily thought it was blood. Then he spotted Red devouring a Jell-O shot.
“I grabbed it from him and he slowly got up,” the 29-year-old dog dad told Today. “Then when I yelled for Megan, he started going up the stairs and was literally going back and forth, running into the walls. He was legit stumbling drunk. We were panicked.”
Kronstedt contacted an emergency veterinary hospital, which directed him to the Pet Poison Helpline. They recommended a trip to the emergency room.
Kronstedt loaded the 85-pound pup into the car and sped to the BluePearl Pet Hospital in Duluth. There, the dog dad learned that Red had consumed three times the lethal amount of alcohol. He was treated with IV fluids and anti-nausea medication. The couple didn’t have enough money to hospitalize the dog overnight, so they monitored him at home, checking on him every 45 minutes and providing water, food, and fresh air to restore his sobriety.
Word of Warning About Alcohol Poisoning
Thankfully, Red made a quick and full recovery. His parents are sharing his story as a cautionary tale for other dog parents.
“With the holidays, everybody’s traveling and doing a million different things, and sometimes the last thing you want to do is clean or unpack — you just want to go to bed. But at least take a couple minutes to make sure the food and alcohol that a dog can get into is at least put away,” Kronstedt told Today. “Or leave it in the car — just keep it away from them so it’s not enticing.”
Red’s story could have ended very differently, but thanks to his parents’ swift actions and the veterinary team that treated him, the pup is here to ring in another new year — without alcohol this time.
“Looking back, I don’t know what we would do or how we would’ve done it all without him,” Kronstedt said. “He’s a part of the family.”
