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Owner of dog who ate 15 Jell-O shots on New Year’s Eve has this advice

“He was legit stumbling drunk. We were panicked.”
Red ate red Jello shots last New Year’s Eve but survived with veterinary care.
Red ate red Jello shots last New Year’s Eve but survived with veterinary care. Cheryl Larsen Photography
/ Source: TODAY

A Minnesota couple resolved to keep alcohol away from their dog after he ate at least 15 Jell-O shots last New Year’s Eve.

Around midnight, Tyler Kronstedt and his fiancée, Megan Strong, had returned to Duluth after spending the holidays visiting their families in the Twin Cities. They headed to bed exhausted and accidentally left out some leftover vodka Jell-O shots they’d made and brought to various festivities.

In the wee hours of the morning, Kronstedt woke up when he heard a noise downstairs. The first thing he saw were red Jell-O shots strewn around the living room and kitchen. He briefly thought it was blood, but then he saw their dog, Red, slurping down a Jell-O shot.

“I grabbed it from him and he slowly got up,” Kronstedt, 29, tells TODAY.com. “Then when I yelled for Megan, he started going up the stairs and was literally going back and forth, running into the walls. He was legit stumbling drunk. We were panicked.”

Kronstedt called a local emergency veterinary hospital, where someone on the staff suggested he call the Pet Poison Helpline for immediate assistance. When he described the situation and exactly what Red had ingested, they urged him to go to the emergency room.

So he carried his 85-pound dog down the stairs and put the pedal to the metal to rush to BluePearl Pet Hospital in Duluth.

“They were pretty much waiting for us to get there,” he recalls. “They were probably in there for an hour (with Red) before the vet even came to see us. She told us he had consumed three times the lethal amount.”

Red consumed about three times the lethal limit of alcohol for a dog his size.
Red consumed about three times the lethal limit of alcohol for a dog his size. Courtesy Tyler Kronstedt

The alcohol caused hypoglycemia in Red, so the veterinary team treated him for the low blood sugar levels and gave him IV fluids and anti-nausea medication. They wanted to hospitalize him overnight, but the couple couldn’t afford it. So they took him home and, on advice from their veterinary team, closely monitored Red all night.

“I slept on the living room floor with him and set an alarm on my phone for every 45 minutes,” Kronstedt says. “I got up, gave him water, gave him a little food, took him on a lap outside to get some fresh air and see if he would go to the bathroom.”

Luckily, Red didn’t have any issues and was totally back to normal by the next evening. Kronstedt is grateful the year didn’t start with the tragic loss of their dog and hopes other pet owners will learn from their experience and keep alcohol away from pets.

“With the holidays, everybody’s traveling and doing a million different things, and sometimes the last thing you want to do is clean or unpack — you just want to go to bed. But at least take a couple minutes to make sure the food and alcohol that a dog can get into is at least put away,” he says. “Or leave it in the car — just keep it away from them so it’s not enticing.”

Red survived eating at least 15 Jell-O shots thanks to veterinary care.
Red survived eating at least 15 Jell-O shots thanks to veterinary care. Cheryl Larsen Photography

Dr. Renee Schmid, a board-certified veterinary toxicologist at Pet Poison Helpline, says Red is lucky to be alive and that alcohol is toxic and potentially lethal for both dogs and cats.

“Symptoms of alcohol poisoning are going to be sluggishness or lethargy, some ataxia — difficulty walking and stumbling around,” Schmid tells TODAY.com. “The owners will say they look like they’re drunk.”

What’s going on internally is worse. A drop in blood sugar can intensify the ataxia, which can lead to body tremors and seizures. Metabolic changes can cause body damage like neurologic depression, slower breathing and a low body temperature depending on how much they get into, according to Schmid.

“It can certainly be fatal to them, especially if they’re not getting treated,” she cautions.

It’s also fortunate that the Jell-O used in the shots Red ate was a regular flavor instead of a sugar-free version that contains xylitol, a sugar substitute that is extremely toxic to dogs and can cause liver failure, she notes.

Red is lucky that the Jell-O shots he ate didn’t contain xylitol, a common sugar substitute in sugar-free gum and food products.
Red is lucky that the Jell-O shots he ate didn’t contain xylitol, a common sugar substitute in sugar-free gum and food products. Courtesy Tyler Kronstedt

The bottom line: Keep alcohol away from pets.

“You definitely never want to willingly give your pet alcohol just for the fun of seeing their effects,” Schmid says. “And if you do notice that they did get into something, it’s important to call your veterinarian right away or an animal poison control center.”

That certainly led to a happy ending for Red, who recently had his annual veterinary checkup and got a clean bill of health. Kronstedt and Strong only adopted him about a month and a half before the Jell-O shot incident, and in the past year, he’s joined them on many hiking and camping adventures. The three have grown so close that next year, Red will likely be part of the couple's wedding ceremony.

Red has shared many outdoor adventures with his adoring adopters.
Red has shared many outdoor adventures with his adoring adopters. Cheryl Larsen Photography

“Looking back, I don’t know what we would do or how we would’ve done it all without him. He’s a part of the family,” Kronstedt says, before adding, “We told our whole family on both sides that we’re not making or bringing Jell-O shots this year.”

Pet Poison Helpline is open 24/7 at (855) 764-7661 and costs $75 per incident. For more information, visit: PetPoisonHelpline.com