LET me tell you about Skip and Lily – Skip is a jack russell terrier and Lily is a llewellin setter.

They came in to see my colleague Hilary in a terrible state two weekends ago – both of them had eaten slug bait. Their owners were mystified as to how they had gained access to the poison but the signs in the dogs were all too clear.

The poison in slug bait is called metaldehyde, it causes signs such as sickness and diarrhoea, anxiety, panting and uncoordination leading to muscle tremors and convulsions. There is no specific antidote and so our treatment methods are to control the signs that we see in the poisoned animals – essentially giving them life support while the poison runs its course. Inevitably the more a dog has eaten the worse the signs.

It was soon obvious that Lily had eaten significantly more poison than Skip. Within 24 hours of admission Skip was well enough to go home but the same could not be said for Lily.

The poison produces convulsions in dogs and Lily's were so severe that it was necessary to keep her constantly sedated to control the seizures.

Lily spent two days and two nights being medicated this way. She needed 24-hour observation so this was not a weekend when Hilary or our trainee nurse Charlotte were going to get much sleep....more of how Lily got on next week.