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| Choking hazard due to the flatness, silky smooth faux fur and squeakers located in the head and tail. This toy was purchased at Harris Teeter, which is where I went to take this photo, but likely available at other retailers. |
I rushed her to the vet and the x-ray showed a mass, which was thought to be food and/or shredded and chewed parts of the toy and the 2 squeakers. After 2 failed attempts to induce vomiting to bring up whatever was in her stomach, I was told she could be sedated and have a tube and camera inserted down her throat to try and locate/remove what was in it, but depending on what else was in the stomach there was no guarantee of success.
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| My dogs stomach with mystery mass and 2 squeakers. |
The recommendation of our vet after consulting 2 other vets and a specialist was to take her home, monitor her breathing and bring her back first thing Thursday morning to see if a new x-ray yielded any change before admitting her to surgery to open her stomach and remove the objects.
Needless to say it was a sleepless night and thank god, because sometime after 2am I heard her vomiting. The pile left on the laundry room floor was so large, it could have been elephant dropping.
Warning: the next two pictures are incredibly gross.
I really had no idea what I was looking at or if the squeakers were in this- no choice but to put on gloves and and go through the mess.
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| The contents of my dogs stomach. |
I was in complete shock when I realized my dog had swallowed the toy whole and it was the length of a cookie sheet!
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| The whole toy and some carrots. |
The vet was equally surprised when I showed up with the contents in a bag- there was clapping and cheering literally from everyone on duty the night before. She said we truly dodged a bullet because rarely will a dog vomit 6 hours later with no food or injection administered. This toy would be the human equivalent of mixing chewing gum and spaghetti together and giving it to a child!
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| Lady Remington, aka Remy, exhausted, but on the mend. |
I share all of this with you so that others can avoid going through such a scary ordeal. Our vets office is also posting warnings in their office.
I'm hoping February brings a whole lot of this:
I am so glad your precious dog is ok! I also have a golden retriever and she has the SAME toy! Luckily she just carries and plays with her soft toys. When she chews on things, she chooses hard things for her teeth. I am definitely keeping a closer eye on her now. Thanks for the warning!
ReplyDelete-Shelley
Shelley,
ReplyDeleteOur dog has ripped a few toys open just from playing with them, but nothing like has ever happend before. The vet said once it started sliding down her throat,she likely couldn't get it up and just tryed to push it down by swallowing it so she could breathe.
Oh- Rebecca- I am so glad that came up by itself. Can you imagine vomiting that up? Poor baby-it must have felt like she was choking when it came up! I am glad she is okay and thanks for the warning!!!! I hope you contacted the company and let them know- xo Diana
ReplyDeleteOMG I have 3 of them in my house right now. I thought they were better because of the no stuffing. I will be tossing them tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteGood heavens. thank you. These toys are sold everywhere and I have even considered buying one. So glad your dog is okay.
ReplyDeleteI have just shared this with our Twitter dog friends. You will be bombarded with hits!
ReplyDeleteOMG your poor thing. We had a friend's dog here the other day and she tore through three of COnnor's stuffed toys. He doesn't care about them, so that wasn't the issue, but she left a huge mess, and I was worried she'd swallow the squeeker.
ReplyDeleteHope all is well with your dog. Good to know. Wow, how blessed that your dog is fine after all that. Thank you for posting this. Blessings, Sandy
ReplyDeleteHow scary. That is so frightening. I have to say I have bought these before..NO MORE. I am going to go see if there are any left in his arsenal of play toys and take it away immediately. Hope hes doing OK after his ordeal (and you too)! Hope you have a restful and uneventful weekend, thanks for the advice, and sorry you had to learn the hard way.
ReplyDeleteAs I was reading this horror story I was wondering if you have a golden. they have an amazing propensity to eat anything. Then I saw that you do. I'm on my third right now and I thank you so much for the warning. I'm so happy she is alright! I know you we're scared and so was Remy! Bless your family including all pets, they make our lives so much more fulfilling!
ReplyDeleteXo Nancy
Powellbrower.com
Thank goodness you posted this story. Possibly saving the lives of many more dogs. Hope your dog is feeling better. -Al
ReplyDeleteR, I'm so glad your sweet pup is ok, and thank you for posting this so that other dog owners can avoid what could have been a tragedy for you all. Sending lots of zen thoughts your way!
ReplyDeletexo Kat
Thank you so much for this post. My Beau would probably do the exact same thing. I do not let him play with anything furry. Target has a line of toys from Planet Dog that are indestructible and we stick to those. I am so glad your adorable dog is okay
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness!! I'm so so glad your baby pup is on the mend. Thank you for the warning!
ReplyDeleteOmgosh Rebecca, that is amazing that he was able to get that thing back up! Poor baby, he must have been so miserable. Wow!! You have been thru the mill lately. Hang in there dear friend. Spring will bring brighter days!
ReplyDeletexo Kathysue
OH thank God. My dog used to chew the squeekers out of all of his toys. So dangerous. Thanks for the warning. Rocky died recently of old age...but I will be careful if I get another puppy.
ReplyDeleteOMgosh...I cant believe she swallowed the hole thing! Poor thing...so glad shes OK!
ReplyDeleteWow, the whole thing! So awesome it came out like this; very lucky. Jasmine once swallowed a sock by accident, when she was a pup. We didn't even know it happened, until she, luckily, also threw it up.
ReplyDeleteRebecca I'm so thrilled Remy is going to be fine. I don't buy anything with squeakers in it for Dylan since he seems to go right for them and tries to get them out. I only buy toys for him that are bigger then his head for this reason. Give Remy a big hug and I hope she has a much easier month that poor thing.
ReplyDeleteI hope Mommy is doing ok too!
XXX
Debra~
I just happened to read this a minute ago...and, well, I bought that very same toy at HT and gave it to a small terrier friend. She immediately was able to get the squeaker out, and just played with the "body" for a while. Actually, she didn't have much interest in this toy! good thing....
ReplyDeleteOur dog swallowed a catnip mouse, whole, that was in a basket at the vets! They gave her medicine to throw up, but no luck. I took her home and yes, about three hours later, she threw it all up. But at the vets we had tested another one, and it had totally liquified when put in water. Well,not so in my dog's stomach! It came back up whole!! But, she was ok.
Glad all is well now with all of you!
Oh my gosh, Rebecca....that is incredible. I can't believe she could swallow that awful thing, but thank goodness she knew it had to come out.
ReplyDeleteHoping you and your sweet pup have lots of zen in the year ahead.
xoxo Elizabeth
Hi All,
ReplyDeleteFirst, thank you all for the well wishes, Remy seems to be back to her normal goofy self! She got her stitches out from her surgery on Monday and is back on a regular food schedule, which makes her very happy. I think the lesson here is to know our dogs various personalities and be very mindful of what toys are appropriate for them specifically.
Lindaraxa, Thank you so much for putting this out on Twitter, the more people that can avoid this potentially deadly situation, the better.
To Gina who emailed me annoyed that I showed the contents of my dogs stomach asking if was really necessary? Yes, and since I already needed to photo it for the vet, I thought it would provide hope for another dog owner that there is the possibility a dog can bring something up this large before having their stomach opened up- all info any pet owner and vet would want to weigh. And, I did after all issue a warning that the pictures were gross!
My granddog (lab) swallowed a small stuffed bear when he was about a year old. No one realized it at the time and he was acting normally. We found out when a week later he was playing and stopped suddenly and vomited. It was one of my dogs stuffed bears. He was lucky because he had been eating normally and they were shocked to see what he had swallowed because he had not been to my house in a week so we knew how long it had been him. Scary.
ReplyDeleteHi Rebecca, I had a similar experience with my labradoodle Dash. He ate the squeekie from his favorite toy--the vet xrayed and we waited--but in the end he needed the surgery which was extensive. Two surgeons and a hugh incesion on his belly--they got the toy out and he was on a feeding tube for a month. That was two years ago--no squeekie toys here--lots of bully bones! Glad your dog is feeling better :)
ReplyDeleteOh my Rebecca...you are off to a grand start of 2013...hope it gets better...quick. You have been on my mind, will call to catch up soon. So glad your puppy is better too, I didn't think the pix was too gross. Amazing that she got rid of all of that and so good of her not to deposit it on the rug!
ReplyDeletexo
We certainly can related. Our miniature dachshund ate a pair of my underwear (how embarrassing!) when he was around a year old. It did not come back up and our vet ended up operating to remove the underwear. He did survive, but it was an expensive lesson to us to make sure we keep everything out of reach of a puppy! Judy :)
ReplyDeleteYikes! I'm so glad your dog is ok and doing better. How scary that must be - our dog is so small so we never have to worry about tearing up toys or eating them the way larger dogs do and especially puppies when they are in their playful stage. OUr neighbors golden was over the other day and ate through half Gingers toys and I can see how this could occur. It's really scary and I'm so glad the dog was able to vomit that up - thank God it didn't require surgery but how scary for you. I can't imagine. So happy to hear that he is ok - only solid toys for him LOL! xo
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for the post and so glad to know that Remy is on the mend!! I have two Jack Russell's - Miss Peabody (10 1/2) and her little brother, Sherman (3). I am sure that either of them could gobble a '56 Chevy ... It is a miracle that Shermanator made it to 3 because I have scooped up who knows what from who knows where - including light bulbs that he devoured after destroying the heavy plastic packaging! He can destroy a toy in a matter of seconds and so we are pretty limited as to what will hold up to him. The guy is an escape artist, too, and his sleeping quarters are gated like Alcatraz or as if I'm containing a wild animal. I have had to be very careful about filler material found in dog bedding and cushions, too.
ReplyDeleteOh, Rebecca, my heart
ReplyDeletewas in my throat as I
read this post. Thank
you for sharing this
experience ~ the good,
the bad and the ugly ~
to help save other dogs!
So glad Remy is on the
mend. I hope that you
are, too.
Have a peaceful weekend!
xo Suzanne
Horrifying! My little cavalier King Charles spaniels often eat the ears of toys but I never thought a dog would manage to eat the whole toy whole! Good heavens! They do say on the pacakges that dogs should be supervised when playing with toys, and I am now heading over to the toy basket to hide ALL of them. No more playing without their Mother's careful eye watching! Oh glory, you were so lucky to have a good outcome and thank you for sharing - it might save some lives!!!
ReplyDeleteWe love these beings so much that when something so scary happens we are in great distress. I am glad your story had a good ending. Thank goodness Remy was able to "reject" this foreign object. (I had a Golden who ate someone's glove she left lying on the ground in the park and he vomited it as well - she insisted I reimburse her for her gloves!)
ReplyDeleteA little late to the party, but I gave my new shelter rescue kitty those little leather covered mice (about an inch long with a leather strip for a tail), and he seemed to love them. And they kept disappearing, so I would get him more. He was eating them. Three difficult days at the vet to get him to pass them them thru. Months of watching him like a hawk to make sure he doesn't get blocked up again due to permanent changes wrought by that kind of impaction. He is quite happy now and we don't do leather toys anymore. Glad to see your furry friend is well.
ReplyDelete