Labrador nearly dies after eating mouldy bread left on Ilkley Moor

A vets has issued a warning to pet owners to be wary of what their dogs eat while on walks across Yorkshire following the incident.

Indy, a previously strong and healthy six-year-old Labrador, was taken to Ashlands Veterinary Centre in Ilkley after eating the mouldy bread from an abandoned rubbish bag on Ilkley Moor.

Within half an hour of eating the bread, he began shaking and almost collapsed. Owner Kerry Gibbons rushed him to the vets where he was treated for tremorgenic mycotoxicosis (mycotoxins), caused by fungi which causes neurotoxicosis in dogs. The life-threatening condition causes symptoms such as vomiting, loss of co-ordination and seizures.

Because of the severity of Indy’s seizures, he was given one-to-one care and kept anaesthetised for 72 hours. After his seizures were under control, he was then nursed back to health, and was finally allowed to return home after 10 days.

Kerry and her husband Paul have paid tribute to the team, led by veterinary surgeon Stuart Black, for their dedicated care. She said: “A lot of dog owners were surprised to hear that eating mouldy bread could be so devastating and life threatening.

“I retraced our steps to where Indy had disappeared and found a dustbin liner-sized bag full of very mouldy bread. I phoned Ashlands straight away and Stuart, the vet who looked after him the most, said it was that without a shadow of a doubt. The mould is very toxic.

“Indy had such a large quantity, that’s why he was so poorly. If he had been a very small dog, or a dog already poorly with existing health conditions, it could have been a very different outcome.

“Indy was extremely poorly for a very long time. The vets were amazing with the care they gave him and keeping us up to date - it is when you are kept in the dark that you start to panic. They were really level-headed in what must have been a very stressful situation. Indy was having severe seizures so they had to keep him in an induced coma for a good few days.

“It took time for the toxins to work through the system and the team supported his body while that was happening. He was too weak to eat despite being a Labrador. He had no energy. He didn’t have any food for about a week. When we visited, he didn’t react to us at all. The vets couldn’t give us reassurance that he would pull through; they hadn’t seen a case this bad before.

“It was one of the worst times of my life. Indy is a very much-loved member of the family. It was such a huge gap in the house with him not being here, knowing he was so poorly. We brought him home after 10 days. We had to carry him around in a blanket initially. We were worried about that but Indy has now made a full recovery.”