- If you ever needed a reason to not allow pets on the bed, here you go.
The life of a pet owner can be full of surprises. Usually, though, your pets don’t earn you extended hospital stays.
Unless, of course, they happen to take a dump in your mouth.
That’s what happened to British mother Amanda Gommo who happens to sleep with her mouth open. Her chihuahua Belle had a nasty stomach bug, lost control of her bowels, and hit the bullseye.
As if that’s not gross enough, Gommo’s experience only got worse from there. The 51-year-old quickly developed explosive diarrhea — the exact same condition her dog had.
The difference was that Gommo’s symptoms were much, much worse. She ended up staying in a hospital for several days as the doctors pumped fluids into her and tried to kickstart her kidneys.
In the end, she got better and got to go home. But we can bet she’ll be more cautious around Belle.
Still Time for a Selfie
Gommo’s poop incident took place earlier this month. At the time, she was at her Bristol home and settled down for a nap.
Belle, as always, was snuggled up next to her owner. But suddenly, the chihuahua felt her stomach churn.
Belle had no time to run for the backdoor as the violent bout of diarrhea knocked on her backdoor. The poor dog could only open the floodgates — right into her owner’s snoring face.
“I was having my afternoon nap with Belle, like I always do, when I suddenly felt something squirt in my mouth,” Gommo recalled for Indy100.
The mother-of-three reacted much in the same way as we’d imagine everyone would — she ran off to throw up aggressively. But she still had time for a selfie.
“I rushed to the bathroom and my son was in the shower, so before I washed [the poop] out I had time to take a quick snap!” she said.
Not sure why she’d want a photo of herself with dog s*** all over her face. But to each their own — suppose it’s a memory.
When Gommo finally got to throw up, it wasn’t a one-and-done deal.
“It was disgusting, and I was hurling violently for hours after. I just couldn’t get the taste out of my mouth,” Gommo said.
While she was preoccupied in the bathroom, Gommo’s daughter took Belle to the vet. The animal doctor diagnosed the pooch with a gastrointestinal infection and prescribed her antibiotics.
Here Come the Cramps
The vet visit got Belle the help she needed. But Gommo soon took a turn for the worse.
Over the rest of the day, she began showing much of the same symptoms as Belle had. Namely, she suffered from loose bowels and horrendous stomach cramps.
She called the U.K.’s 111 non-emergency number and paramedics showed up at her house. They gave her strong painkillers to fight the agony and told her to drink plenty of water while her body flushed out the grossness on its own.
Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. Gommo’s condition got gradually worse over the next 48 hours, with the cramps spreading from her stomach to the rest of her body.
“The cramps got worse and worse until I could feel them all over my body — even in my legs,” said Gommo.
At this point, Gommo and her family figured it was time to go to the hospital. This time, they called the 999 emergency number and an ambulance sped her to Bristol Royal Infirmary.
‘My Kidneys Had Shriveled to Half Their Size’
At the hospital, doctors determined Gommo indeed had the same gastrointestinal infection that Belle had. The problem was that, unlike her dog who got help immediately, Gommo waited two days before going to the hospital.
“From the moment I got ill to when I was put on the drip, I couldn’t eat a thing … I was so dehydrated from being sick and having diarrhea that my kidneys had shriveled to half their size,” Gommo said.
Gommo got hooked to an IV so the doctors could rehydrate her electrolytes and glucose. Her condition was that much worse because she also suffers from Crohn’s disease.
“I was kept in hospital for three days until they’d flushed the infection out through a drip. My discharge note said that I’d suffered a gastrointestinal infection caused by a dog defecating in my mouth — something doctors had never witnessed before,” recalled Gommo.
Fortunately, her kidneys, and Gommo herself, survived. Although she’s now home, Gommo still has to drink a couple of bottles of sports drinks, alongside other fluids, while she’s on the mend.
As to Belle, Gommo doesn’t carry a grudge.
“I’ve forgiven Belle for her little accident. I still love her with all my heart, but I will definitely be more mindful of what position we sleep in in the future!”
Hits: 0
