Warning to Leeds dog owners as vets save life of labrador after pet ate 'mouldy bread'

Dog owners are being warned to be extra vigilant about dogs wolfing down discarded food after a much-loved family pet nearly died.
Watch more of our videos on Shots! 
and live on Freeview channel 276
Visit Shots! now

Ashlands Veterinary Centre in Ilkley saved Indy - a previously healthy and strong six-year-old black Labrador - from the brink of death after he ate mouldy bread found in an abandoned rubbish bag on Ilkley Moor.

Indy had briefly disappeared into some bracken during one of his walks but reappeared soon afterwards to join his owner, Kerry Gibbons, as she returned home.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

But 30 minutes later, Indy started shaking and almost collapsed. Kerry immediately rang Ashlands Vets in Leeds Road.

Kerry Gibbon and her Labrador Indy, at Ashlands Veterinary Centre in Ilkley with veterinary nurse Megan Fowler and vet Stuart Black, who helped saved his life.  Picture: Ashlands Veterinary PracticeKerry Gibbon and her Labrador Indy, at Ashlands Veterinary Centre in Ilkley with veterinary nurse Megan Fowler and vet Stuart Black, who helped saved his life.  Picture: Ashlands Veterinary Practice
Kerry Gibbon and her Labrador Indy, at Ashlands Veterinary Centre in Ilkley with veterinary nurse Megan Fowler and vet Stuart Black, who helped saved his life. Picture: Ashlands Veterinary Practice

Indy was hospitalised and kept anaesthetised for 72 hours, with one-to-one nursing care throughout the weekend by veterinary nurses, Steph Ellis and Samantha Holmes, because of the severity of his seizures.

Indy’s condition suggested he was suffering from tremorgenic mycotoxicosis (Mycotoxins), caused by fungi which causes neurotoxicosis in dogs.

The life-threatening condition causes symptoms such as vomiting, loss of co-ordination and seizures.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The whole team at Ashlands gave Indy intensive, round-the-clock nursing care, including regular repositioning to prevent bed sores, a complex medication schedule, maintaining bodily functions and intravenous fluid therapy, bed washing, physiotherapy and massaging.

Once Indy’s seizures were under control, the team worked on his recovery, initially feeding him through a nasogastric tube until he was well enough to be tempted to eat and drink on his own.

After 10 days, Indy returned home to build on his recovery as an outpatient.

Kerry and her husband Paul now want to warn others to be aware of the dangers for dogs scavenging food, and are urging picnic-makers to take their rubbish home with them.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Kerry said: “A lot of dog owners were surprised to hear that eating mouldy bread could be so devastating and life threatening.

“I retraced our steps to where Indy had disappeared and found a dustbin liner-sized bag full of very mouldy bread. I phoned Ashlands straight away and Stuart, the vet who looked after him the most, said it was that without a shadow of a doubt – the mould is very toxic.

“If he had been a very small dog, or a dog already poorly with existing health conditions, it could have been a very different outcome.

Read More
'Our dreams died with him': Leeds family launch desperate plea after father's de...

“Indy was extremely poorly for a very long time. The vets were amazing with the care they gave him and keeping us up to date - it is when you are kept in the dark that you start to panic.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“He didn’t have any food for about a week. When we visited, he didn’t react to us at all. The vets couldn’t give us reassurance that he would pull through; they hadn’t seen a case this bad before.

“The vets treated him as if he was their own dog. They were amazing and went above and beyond.

“It was one of the worst times of my life. Indy is a very much-loved member of the family. It was such a huge gap in the house with him not being here, knowing he was so poorly.

“We brought him home after 10 days. We had to carry him around in a blanket initially. We were worried about that but Indy has now made a full recovery.”

Related topics: