Killing a Rat...Priceless

If anyone is keeping score...Rat 3 Gilbreath's 0

New Grill....$250 (voted-no)
Professional "wildlife removal"..... $215 (voted-no)
Rat Poison....$8 (voted-yes)
Emergency Vet Appointment....$280
Vitamin K Tablets....appx. $50
Follow Up Visit....$80
Borrowed Rat Trap....$0
Dead Rat....priceless

So, the menacing little creature I guess still lurks...we haven't killed it or seen it since. However, we realized we couldn't pay for the professional wildlife removal. So, Clint got some rat poison. He was going to put it on the outside of the fence where the hole is for the rat. I was inside on the phone/computer and he was outside with the door shut doing his thing. At some point Melanie opened up the door and let Shelby out. Clint had rested the poison on the chair as he was situating it all. (It comes in blocks like a KitKat and you break off bars to put places.) Melanie starts yelling, "Daddy, Daddy, no Shelby." At this point Clint and I both know what has happened and I quickly hang up on my mom and run after the dog. She looks at Clint and I chasing her and immediately swallows the rat poison. Wonderful, lovely, this is turning out just dandy. I rush over to Aileen's and tell her to please watch the girls the dog just ate rat poison. I grab my shoes and Clint grabs his keys and attempts to put Shelby on her leash. I am quickly calling her vet (it is 5:55) and they inform the dr. is gone to go to the emergency vet. Thankfully, a brand new emergency vet has just been built by our house. We call ahead and rush her up there. We had no idea how long it takes for rat poison to kill a dog and we don't really know what to think in the car at this point. We get there and get her checked in within 15 minutes of her eating the poison. The finally after 3 attempts get her to vomit and she vomits up 2 completely whole bars of poison. So, Clint and I had waited the 30-45 minutes for her to finally vomit and they sent us home. Shelby had to stay until the nausea wore off and they pumped her full of charcoal to adhere to any remaining poison in her body and then she can pass it out. However, the charcoal will adhere to anything in her system so no food or water. She came home late in the night and was SO thirsty. We had to pour out her bowls and close the toilets. She was licking all around our bathtub drains poor baby. Then she laid her head on our bed and cried. Well, we couldn't sleep with that so then we had to put the shock collar on her. We never even had to beep her (which you do before you press the shock button and that normally stops the behavior on its own) and she just laid on her bed until the morning. Boy it was a sad night for her. This morning she was sooooo thirsty and just drank and drank. Now she is on Vitamin K 3x a day for 2-3 weeks. Whatever, DRAMA!!! But we love her and it's worth it. So, moral of the story- no poison if you have pets or kids- EVER!