My Dog Ate a Box of Tea Bags at 9PM—Here’s the Call That Saved Me a Midnight Vet Visit

In 25 years of caring for pets, I’ve seen just about every emergency you can imagine.

The sudden limp.

The mystery diarrhea on the living room rug.

The “did he just eat that?” moment.

And somehow, these things always happen late at night, on weekends, or during holidays—when your only option feels like a frantic (and expensive) trip to the emergency vet.

But there’s one resource I’ve used over and over again that has saved me time, stress, and unnecessary vet visits:

The Poison Control Hotline. If you’ve never heard of it, you’ll want to save this number right now.

The Night Gertrude Ate Tea Bags

I was house sitting for an 8-month-old Greater Swiss Mountain Dog named Gertrude.

One evening, she decided to help herself to the kitchen counter—and ate an entire box of black tea bags.

Of course, this happened at night.

My first thought: Do I need to throw her in the car and find a 24-hour emergency vet?

Instead, I called Poison Control.

I’ll admit—I hesitated at the $75 upfront fee.

But by the end of the call, I would have paid it ten times over.

They walked me through everything: her weight, her age, how much she likely consumed.

Then they calculated the actual risk.

The verdict? She would most likely be fine—and no emergency vet visit was needed unless symptoms appeared.

Huge relief.

What They Didn’t Tell Me…

What they didn’t mention… Caffeine.

That already energetic puppy spent the entire night bouncing off the walls like she’d just discovered espresso shots.

Nobody slept.

Lesson learned.

Poison Control gives you real-time expert guidance, case-specific risk assessment, and clear next steps of whether to the vet or not.

The people on the other end aren’t guessing—they’re trained professionals.

1 Veterinary toxicologists

2 Veterinarians

3 Certified veterinary technicians

What You Need to Know Before You Call

Cost: Typically $85–$100 per consultation

1. Your dog’s weight and age

2. The product, plant, or substance ingested

4 An estimate of how much was consumed

Save This Number Now

ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center

(888) 426-4435 Available 24/7

Save the number now before you need it!

This is the kind of real-life situation I navigate regularly when caring for clients’ pets—and why having someone experienced can make all the difference.