# Dog owners take note! (and cat owners for that matter)



## Paph_LdyMacBeth (Apr 8, 2009)

Hi everyone,
I work as a veterinarian's assistant and I wanted to pass along some warnings to you all, because while I love my job, there are certainly times I would rather not see patients (you'll understand as you read further). 

Tonight we operated on a year old dog who had ingested a foreign body...rubber & string, probably from a kids toy. The dog started vomiting over the weekend and came to see us Monday. We did all the standard things and xrays which were shown to be inconclusive (happens some times). Puppy was no longer vomiting, so he went home. Well, today he was back, more xrays that showed a strange gas pattern indicating he needed exploratory surgery. 
It was a long sturgery & the dog is in recovery and looks good, but he did loose a part of his bowel to damage cause by the obstruction, so hes at greater risk that he may have complications. 

Last week, a 12 (yes 12) year old dog presented with similar symptoms. She had never been known to eat things at home, but had large amounts of tea bags, string, and stuff in her intestine that wasn't coming out without our help. She's doing great! Thank goodness! 

Anyway, my message is to just remember to keep things out of our pets way. Although, we'd all love to thing they are rational (myself included) and won't eat things they shouldn't as these cases demonstrate (especially the 12 year old!!!) this isn't always the case. It happens with cats too (hem hem...Phineas my gray tabby ate a syringe stopper)

So take care of your fuzzies because I'm sure your veterinary team would rather not see them in such a situation  

Christine


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## Candace (Apr 8, 2009)

We spent over a thousand $ on our siamese cat for exactly this reason. He'd eat anything in his way....the doctor warned us that some animals have an obsession with eating things and would likely do it again. Especially if they start off young with it. Sadly, within 6 months he got another blockage and we had to put him to sleep. He was only 2 years old. This cat would eat shoestrings off of shoes left by the door, legos, toys etc. The bag of 'stuff' the vet took out of him was amazing. Sometimes these animals are plain mental and no one can pick up enough to save them.


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## Paph Wrangler (Apr 8, 2009)

It's not just toys that you have to be worried about. I had a dachshund that swallowed a half of a pecan. Didn't show up on x-rays or mri. Vet poured a dye down his throat and saw that the dye stopped at a certain point in his intestine. The vet opened him up, ran the bowel with his hand, and voila.....half of a pecan. The pecan had a jagged edge and had perforated his intestine causing a near fatal infection. Christine's advice should be heeded!!


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## Heather (Apr 9, 2009)

We're dealing with this now. Our almost year old puppy has a penchant for running down the stairs after me and with me moving, there are things on the floor. We caught her with a safety pin (closed and removed thank goodness) the other day. We're working very hard on STAY and she is learning but it is worrysome. Our last dog did have a blockage due to a rawhide chew toy so my mother is very aware and concerned.

I'm hoping to make time to vacuum this weekend!


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## goldenrose (Apr 9, 2009)

Sometimes, sadly, no matter how many warnings people are given, they don't listen to them or think it wouldn't or couldn't happen to their dog. I train & show a Bouvier des Flandres in agility for it's 75 year old owner. The dog will stay with me for a few days at a time & when the owner is out of town. She has had a problem with getting in the garbage & counter surfing as long as I care to remember, simply because the owner & her 57 year old daughter can't/won't be trained! 2 calls to poison control in the past 30 days, the latest thing she did was - the owner bought a 500 tablet container of a stop stool eating product, as her daughter's dog has this lovely habit too. So while the owner was gone, the dog dragged the sealed, never opened container off the counter, chewed the container up enough to get the lid off & proceeded to eat about 250 tablets! My response - ..... and why is it you still will not bring the cage back out & use it when you're not home? ...... but if she's in a cage, how is she going to be a watch dog? .......
WHAAAT! she's the biggest coward one will ever meet! :crazy:


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## Orchidzrule (Apr 9, 2009)

goldenrose said:


> Sometimes, sadly, no matter how many warnings people are given, they don't listen to them or think it wouldn't or couldn't happen to their dog....She has had a problem with getting in the garbage & counter surfing as long as I care to remember, simply because the owner & her 57 year old daughter can't/won't be trained! :crazy:




Boy, ain't that the truth! I've heard it said there is no such thing as a bad dog, just a bad owner. I don't quite subscribe to that theory because I know a family who has had successive Dobermans and all but one were sweet & gentle. The exception was a real problem they couldn't solve. Fortuately, they found someone who was willing to take it. He reported back to them after some time had passed and said although progress had been made "That dog has issues!" I'm digressing a bit here--my point was prevention will go a long way. It won't eliminate all problems, but it will reduce them. Unfortunately, it sounds like Rose's friends are part of the problem.


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## Paph_LdyMacBeth (Apr 9, 2009)

Yea, you just have to be aware, keep reminding yourself that they aren't perfect (although super cute). They are like your kids in so many ways...you can't protect them from everything, but you can try. And boy can some pets be persistent! 
We were thinking about getting another puppy, but these surgeries have made me think twice. I like my house the way it is...my cats like to leave their toys ALL OVER...my backyard is too full of sticks and stones. 

But just as an update...the dog is doing GREAT today. We weren't sure he'd make it through the night so it was so great when I got a call from my boss this am saying he did well!!! If all goes fantastic he'll get real food tomorrow, & home on Saturday!!!


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## Candace (Apr 9, 2009)

Here's a link about PICA http://www.pets.ca/pettips/pet-tip-151.htm


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## Paph_LdyMacBeth (Apr 9, 2009)

I actually have seen a dog and a cat who suffered from Pica at work. 
The dog would come into the office and begin chewing on the chair, or the metal table...then the vets shoe while it was on his foot. 
This is certainly different than dogs being dogs and cats being cats.


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