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Dogs and cats commonly eat things they shouldn’t. It is one thing if they devour a steak or loaf of bread off the kitchen table. You can take the family out to eat. Other animal’s feces and dead “mystery” carcasses are disgusting but relatively harmless in most cases.
Within my own family circle, we have experienced a dog who ate 26 rubber knobs off a toy ball on one occasion and another time consumed corn cobs. She was assisted by her companion who specialized in toppling trash cans…he was smart enough not to eat the trash.
Both incidents resulted in expensive emergency surgery. My son had a dog who ate a large stick and in spite of immediate vet care, sadly, he perished from peritonitis. Remote controls, pens and hearing aids have also been family pet favorites. In the case of hearing aids and pens, it is another instance of pet teamwork making it happen. The cat knocks these items off the table, plays hockey with them for a while and then the dog gets her turn at the prize.
The problem is that many of these illicitly ingested items cannot be digested or passed through the intestine and result in an obstruction. This is a serious emergency and often requires immediate surgery in order to save the pet’s life. If you suspect that your dog or cat might be obstructed from swallowing a foreign object, seek help from a veterinarian without delay. Significant symptoms of obstruction are: lethargy, vomiting and loss of appetite.
There was a cat who ate 42 (count them!) hair bands. They accumulated in her stomach over a period of time and caused vomiting.
Surgery and removal of the obstruction relieved her problem and relieved her owners of $1400. Many cats cannot be trusted with string, ribbon or similar items.
A Basset hound named Barney was seen by his vet for a foot laceration and was otherwise asymptomatic. During his exam the vet became concerned after palpating his stomach and suggested an X-Ray. It revealed the presence of 7 tennis balls in his stomach. The owners commented that his tennis balls did seem to disappear a lot! Surgery was done to remove the items and Barney went on to live a long healthy life with no further access to tennis balls.
We wonder why our pets seem to have the desire to eat almost anything. Some conjecture that they use their mouths to explore their world…similar to the way an infant will put everything in their mouth. Another speculation is that they are inquisitive and since they don’t wear socks or underwear, they are curious about them! It is clear that bright and sensible as our pets are, they have no sense about controlling these urges no matter how noxious or unattractive the thing may be.
Dogs and cats commonly eat things they shouldn’t. It is one thing if they devour a steak or loaf of bread off the kitchen table. You can take the family out to eat. Other animal’s feces and dead “mystery” carcasses are disgusting but relatively harmless in most cases.
Within my own family circle, we have experienced a dog who ate 26 rubber knobs off a toy ball on one occasion and another time consumed corn cobs. She was assisted by her companion who specialized in toppling trash cans…he was smart enough not to eat the trash.
Both incidents resulted in expensive emergency surgery. My son had a dog who ate a large stick and in spite of immediate vet care, sadly, he perished from peritonitis. Remote controls, pens and hearing aids have also been family pet favorites. In the case of hearing aids and pens, it is another instance of pet teamwork making it happen. The cat knocks these items off the table, plays hockey with them for a while and then the dog gets her turn at the prize.
The problem is that many of these illicitly ingested items cannot be digested or passed through the intestine and result in an obstruction. This is a serious emergency and often requires immediate surgery in order to save the pet’s life. If you suspect that your dog or cat might be obstructed from swallowing a foreign object, seek help from a veterinarian without delay. Significant symptoms of obstruction are: lethargy, vomiting and loss of appetite.
There was a cat who ate 42 (count them!) hair bands. They accumulated in her stomach over a period of time and caused vomiting.
Surgery and removal of the obstruction relieved her problem and relieved her owners of $1400. Many cats cannot be trusted with string, ribbon or similar items.
A Basset hound named Barney was seen by his vet for a foot laceration and was otherwise asymptomatic. During his exam the vet became concerned after palpating his stomach and suggested an X-Ray. It revealed the presence of 7 tennis balls in his stomach. The owners commented that his tennis balls did seem to disappear a lot! Surgery was done to remove the items and Barney went on to live a long healthy life with no further access to tennis balls.
We wonder why our pets seem to have the desire to eat almost anything. Some conjecture that they use their mouths to explore their world…similar to the way an infant will put everything in their mouth. Another speculation is that they are inquisitive and since they don’t wear socks or underwear, they are curious about them! It is clear that bright and sensible as our pets are, they have no sense about controlling these urges no matter how noxious or unattractive the thing may be.
The top ten surgically removed items from pets stomachs are socks, underwear, panty hose, rocks, balls, chew toys, corn cobs, bones, hair ties/ribbons and sticks. The average cost varies from practice to practice but $1200 to $2200 is the usual range.
Veterinary Pet Insurance (VPI) is a large pet insurance company. Their data from 2010 shows that they provided coverage for around 2000 foreign body ingestions cases.
More than three million dollars was spent on these surgeries.
The consequences of foreign object ingestion can be expensive and devastating.
Pets, especially puppies, get into all kinds of things. It is important to monitor their activities and be alert to the possibility of intestinal obstruction.
Anne Divine is a long time member of LAWS and has volunteered at Animal Control for 18 years. She can be reached at: adivine@kc.rr.com.
