An elderly dog with a sweet tooth and a penchant for Coca-Cola has had to have twelve teeth removed.
The ageing pet called Lady fell in love with the fizzy drink after taking a sneaky sip from her owner’s glass.
Despite Coca-Cola being strictly for human consumption, Lady then spent a year having a drink of Coke every day.
Her owner, Kate Snook, said the drink made her hyperactive, ‘just like a kid’.
Snook, 46, eventually took steps to wean the Jack Russell off the sugary drink before going ‘cold turkey’.
Despite her unhealthy diet, Lady celebrated her 20th birthday on January 29, just a few months after she had 12 of her 16 teeth removed by a vet in October.
Secondary school teacher Kate, from Trowbridge, Wilts explains her dog’s fondness for the fizzy drink, saying: ‘The glass was on the bedside table and she was just nosey. It was normal full-fat Coke.
‘She got really hyper like a kid would. She loved it, she was so alert.
‘She wouldn’t drink a whole glass, it was the little bit at the bottom of the glass – around an inch.
‘She was getting a bit hyper and I thought it was a bit weird for a dog to be drinking [so I stopped it] but when she went cold turkey she was shaking like she needed it.
‘She went to bed every night with a glass of Coke, when I stopped giving it to her she got very upset and was very grouchy.’
The mum-of-one added: ‘I don’t want people thinking I am a bad owner, far from it. She is spoilt.
‘Her teeth were not very good anyway. I hope it’s not because of drinking Coke. I think it was just old age.
‘The teeth they took out I keep in a pot – there are 12 of them. She has a couple at the back but that’s about it. She is really gummy.’
Lady stopped drinking cola around three years ago but still enjoys white chocolate buttons, flapjacks and cups of tea.
Not ideal, according to the RSPCA.
A spokesperson for the animal charity told Metro.co.uk: ‘Water is the only drink which dogs need. Giving them sugary drinks or food risks causing them health problems.’
Lady had been suffering terribly with her teeth and was in a lot of pain, so Kate, who has another Jack Russell called Ted, four, decided surgery was the best way forward.
It was a big decision to go ahead with the op for a dog of her age, with fears she may not have come out of the anaesthetic.
‘She’s like a different dog, far more playful and bright, she is a lovely dog and I can’t bear the thought of losing her,’ added Kate.
‘She was in a lot of pain and she had to have the op, but I was very nervous for her.’
Kate has kept all Lady’s 12 removed teeth in a jar at home.
Vet Dr Clara Greenwood from Ashman Jones Vets in Bath, who carried out the operation, said: ’20 is a fantastic age for a dog.
‘Lady was a very brave little doggy and recovered well from her anaesthetic.
‘She is doing really well after the op and enjoying life much better, it definitely was the best thing for her.’
