Veterinarian uses pure vodka drip to save puppy's life

A nine-week-old puppy has been saved by an unusual treatment.

The American Staffordshire was put on a vodka drip after being poisoned by anti-freeze.

Just two weeks ago, Cleo, a cute Christmas present, was hours away from fatal kidney failure, after licking anti-freeze from a car part.

“She was giving us a bit of a scare because she was really disorientated,” said Cleo’s owner, Stacy Zammit. “She couldn't stand straight, she'd fall over.”

During the night, Cleo got worse, refusing food and constantly crying. Panicked, Zammit rushed her to a vet.

The only cure for coolant poisoning - another staff member's Christmas present: Pure alcohol.

“There's toxins in that called etholyn-glycol and they're very, very harmful to the kidneys so what we need to do is give them alcohol,” veterinarian Matt Pascall explained, “and in this case, we gave her vodka to try and mop up some of those toxins.”

The vodka was fed via a drip through her nose and into her stomach.

“It was quite funny, to be honest,” Zammit admitted. “Flushing her with vodka to make her better!”

Over two days, the boozy pup consumed more than a third of the bottle.

“If we put it in human terms,” Pascall said, “for me it would be the equivalent of having 7 or 8 shots every four hours.”

The Christmas vodka's since been replaced and cleo's back to full health, now that the hangover's gone.