Messing with Sea Slugs

I've written numerous times (search this blog or click here) about the danger of dogs ingesting sea slugs, sea cucumbers or puffer fish. The neuro-toxins they carry can kill a dog within 24 hours. No one has been able to tell me if that means merely nosing them is lethal, though I do know mouthing (but not swallowing) is.

Having been here about a month now, I've heard many personal reports of the what happens and it went from a vague, yet awful story to horrendous. I also mentioned the lack of success with Bella wearing her muzzle, so since the first couple of days here, she has not been on the beach and thankfully, she does not seem to mind.

The past two weekends there have been huge, local paddle boarding, wind surfing and kite boarding events that followed a Thursday-Sunday schedule. These are large fundraisers for the local areas. In our case, the La Ventana Classic raises money for the local schools and is critical in the community for acquiring much needed educational supplies and fixtures. We attended both and brought Bella, on leash without a muzzle.

In Los Barriles, the beach was spotless and we felt it would be good for her to learn how to deal with a crowd of people, children and dogs. In fact, she was stellar. Calm, curious, but not frantic to leave nor get in the water, which I had initially feared she might want to do seeing it so close. In La Ventana, after first checking out the beach where the event was being held, we determined it was also safe, and brought her there also.

Of course, you know where this is heading. At one point, Bella decided it would be fun to excavate the sand and began digging to China. Out of the hole, popped a dessicated sea slug which she immediately dive-bombed and began rolling on. It took only seconds. I hauled her back, shouted for my husband who was busy volunteering for the event and left. Luckily he had driven there with the dog while I had walked. We didn't know if she had touched the slug with any membranes—edges of her eye or mouth—or if bacteria was on her coat, could she ingest it via licking? We wanted to wash her down immediately.

The bath she received was the longest, must sudsy one she's ever received. We were careful not to spray forward toward her face, though it was also thoroughly and delicately cleaned. My husband performed like a surgeon. He was meticulous in how he handled her, the soap, water and direction in which he scrubbed and rinsed. The towel we dried her with was later bleached in a tub of water, then cleaned and dried.

That evening, we were invited to a friend's house for dinner and although they choose not to have pets and are very strict about shoes off upon entering, they understood the circumstances and allowed Bella inside. We had read and heard the progression of symptoms, so spent the evening watching her closely for jerky movements, unsettled behavior and nausea. Periodically, we'd call her to us from wherever she was in order to monitor her gait.

I had read that in humans, a symptom of neuro-toxin poisoning is a numbness in the mouth. I am a very light sleeper, so in the middle of the night, when I heard Bella licking her lips over and over, I sat bolt upright. We turned on lights, asked her to stand and walk, offered her water. How much was she licking? For how long? Were her eyes tracking? Her gait steady? We were a wreck!

Remember we are miles and miles from the nearest city where there is no emergency vet. If something was wrong we wouldn't have been able to do anything until the morning, then a 45 minute drive into town and fingers crossed we could get in immediately. There was also the very real issue of our rudimentary Spanish not being able to understanding them or them us. It was absolutely nerve-wracking.

Luckily, in the morning, Bella seemed fine although we continued to assiduously monitor her for the next 24 hours. It was a tough lesson, but luckily one where the outcome was positive. It just solidified our desire to keep her off the beach—no matter how clean it might look—as something nasty could be lurking below the surface.