Hello Fellow RT's everywhere,
Having served in this profession since the invention of oxygen, I always felt that I had all the information I needed about Albuterol... apparently not!
My wife got home on Monday to find that our black lab/doberman-cross dog was quite ill, having emptied both ends of his digestive system in various parts of the house.
Upon investigation, she found her Albuterol inhaler on the floor near his blanket and there was a nice little tooth hole where he had chewed into it.
We're thinking that this was an assasination attempt from the cats who probably knocked it onto the floor for him to find, but I digress.
He was one sick dog, lethargic and anxious at the same time.
My wife called me and I told her to get him to the vet and I would meet her there.
At the vets, his heart rate was well over 180/min. The vet didn't really know what to do, but some blood work revealed a low patassium. An IV was started and he was given diazapam to help him relax.
He got to spend the night just to monitor his potassium and he came home the next day, still exhausted but alive and as bouncy as he could be.
The assasination team seemed a little distressed, but got over it.
So, just a thought: an overdose of Albuterol can pretty much kill your dog. The fact that it's in a metal tube doesn't mean a thing.