14 DAY TRIAL // Vets at the Melbourne Animal Accident and Emergency hospital have saved the life of a Maltese terrier feeding him vodka.
The curious canine, called Charlie, was rushed to the vet in critical condition after having licked car coolant in his owner's garage. The doctors quickly deduced the pet had ethylene glycol poisoning and the only helpful treatment in such cases is to get the animal drunk.
So Charlie was given 700ml (0.18 gallons) of vodka over two days via a tube which led the liquid from his nose into his stomach.
Ethylene glycol poisoning can cause kidney failure within hours and, left untreated, it can be lethal. However, pure alcohol can alter the chemical reaction and allow the coolant to be flushed out of an animal’s body.
The unusual treatment definitely saved the little dog's life, but also let him with a terrible hangover.
“He was definitely drunk. He was stumbling around, I’d go to pat him and he’d push me away like a normal drunk person, he was vomiting a little, whining like a drunk,” owner Jacinta Rosewarne said, according to the Telegraph.
It seems that this vodka cure has done miracles in the past, as in January last year, a 10-week-old puppy was given the same treatment after drinking radiator fluid.