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Michaela Strachan’s dogs suffer seizures after being poisoned by crystal meth in human poo
Michaela’s dogs gave her quite the scare (Picture: Rex / Instagram @strachan.michaela
Michaela Strachan’s two dogs are recovering after being poisoned by crystal meth on a walk in Cape Town.
In an Instagram post shared on Sunday, Springwatch presenter Michaela revealed that her dogs Rio and Timmy began to suffer seizures after apparently eating human faeces laced with the drug methamphetamine, more commonly known as crystal meth.
The host posted a picture of the two dogs bundled up in blankets and resting on the floor, and wrote: ‘It’s been a rough night. After walking my dogs through a ruined fort on the mountain yesterday, a few hours later they looked like they were both having seizures and couldn’t stand up.
‘We rushed them to the vet and she recognised the symptoms as an overdose of a drug called Tik, Crystal meth, apparently the ruined fort is where a lot of homeless people hang out and take tik so the dogs must’ve eaten human poo with tik in it!
‘Extraordinarily The vet has come across the problem before. Spent the night nursing them through their hectic trips as they shook, twitched, vomited and peed. Waking up confused, disorientated, paranoid and spaced out. Fortunately they seem to be through the worst of it this morning. Seriously, you couldn’t make it up!’
Followers shared their shock and well wishes for the pooches, with one comment reading: ‘This is awful, it never occurred to me something like that could happen. I’m so sorry, I hope they are through the worst and don’t have any after effects.’
Another person wrote: ‘Ah no bless them, that’s an ordeal and a half. Hopefully they’ll be right as rain in no time.’
Later, Michaela shared a video of Rio and Timmy running on the beach, proving that they were back to full health.
The 55-year-old wrote: ‘Rio and Timmy on the beach and back to their old selves. Tails wagging, noses wet, tongues out and chasing seaweed. Seemingly none the worse for their guest appearance in Breaking Bad!
‘Thank you for all your comments and support. Weird experience!!’
Use of crystal meth, known locally as tik, exploded in Cape Town in 2008 and remains an issue, with South Africa being home to the largest and most established meth consumption market in East and southern Africa.
The highly addictive drug can cause psychosis, breakdown of skeletal muscle, seizures and bleeding in the brain.
Famously, the AMC drama Breaking Bad focused on a chemistry teacher, Walter White, who begins producing meth to secure his family’s financial future after he is diagnosed with cancer.
Former Countryfile host Michaela lives in Cape Town, the legislative capital of South Africa, with her long-term partner Nick Chevallier, their 15-year-old son Oliver and their two dogs, having relocated in 2002.
Rio and Timmy are both rescue dogs, and Michaela previously criticised the trend for ‘designer dogs’.
More: Dogs
Speaking to the Paw Post, the star said: ‘I just think it’s really sad the way that pedigree dogs are going. That people are breeding dogs that can’t even breathe without surgery. It’s complete nuts and madness. A lot of people do get a dog for an accessory and then they, maybe they don’t know how to look after it properly. Or they’ve done all the reading about what they want their dog to look like, but maybe not how to properly look after a dog. I mean, keep it healthy and well.
‘Whereas when you get a dog from a dogs home and it’s a pavement special, you don’t know what it’s going to turn out to be. But as long as it’s got a face that looks like a dog then that’s fine.’
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