If your dog eats life threatening crap come hither

[DishingOutDone]

I started a thread on Saturday and no one wanted to talk to me! But the issue is still going on so I thought I'd expand a bit. (link to original: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/the_doghouse/3721482-Dog-eaten-a-piece-of-a-plastic-yoghurt-pot-decisions)

So the dog - 3 year old cockerpoo ate a bit of hard sharp plastic, he has a lot of form for eating crap. At the weekend the vet took X-ray (using weights to hold him still!!) said she thought she saw something but not enough evidence to either repeat x-ray or do ultrasound (both of which would need to be done under anaethestic). She said if he gets worse they can do the ultrasound, but at the moment he is simply not quite right, and was sick again this morning (first time since Saturday).

I've been thinking of all the other times he's eaten stuff like this, which I never see coming out in his poo and its making me think what IS in his stomach? You see those terrible pictures of sea birds and whales with stomachs full of plastic - I can remember a dozen times when we think he's had something like part of a plastic bottle top etc., over the 3 years. I also remembered last week before the plastic he chewed a hole in his blanket and ate the resulting circle of fabric.

Our last dog died aged 5 after exploratory surgery (not due to eating rubbish) so we are on hyper alert thinking could it happen again. I've booked him in with the vet I like for Friday but the way its going I reckon we might have to take him in earlier. (poo is normal just the occasional vomiting since we saw him eat the plastic)

What experiences have other dog owners had?

My 7 month old Mini Labradoodle has had this thing about my Persian rug ever since I brought her home from the breeder. I'm not sure just how much she's actually digested but it's certainly diminished somewhat in size. I pick small pieces of it up and throw away but I guess some of it has ended up in her gut. Of course, it's not hard and sharp so it's unlikely to do any internal damage and I'm hoping that the majority of it would just pass through into her poop. I've also bought rubber bones and kong toys which she's bitten chunks off and has merrily been chomping away at. Fortunately, I think she passes on any stuff that could really do some damage but she's a little too keen on chewing things at the moment. I'm hoping it's just a stage she's going through.

When mine was that age dgc4arter he favoured building materials

As a puppy, he liked to chew things - but he only ever swallowed a couple of small bits. He preferred to leave chewed plastic all over my floor instead

We always have loads of chews around for him and that seems to have worked, and we rotate them too. He's nearly 2 now and doesn't really chew anymore, though he will steal socks and carry them around like some kind of prize

When our now old dog was a very young puppy he'd eaten a sock, off to the vets who advised soft mushy weetabix to try and flush it out!....low and behold he passed 2 socks. He was and still is a fruit bat 🤪

Our boy previously ate a zinc tablet and some grapes as a puppy (both required emergency vet) but since then, the past 2.5 years, its been more hardcore - literally. When the builders were in he'd have paint, filler, brick etc. Every toy has to be removed minus a part that he's scoffed, he particularly likes rope toys so I don't buy them any more as I did actually know that string like stuff is the worst for intestinal blockage. But I stupidly didn't realise plastic sits in their stomachs

Fortunately mine doesn't anymore but due to medication making him hungry and loopy he once ate a rag which had to be removed as an emergency. We have no idea when he ate it and didn't even recognise the rag but the vet did say it could have been there for a while, rattling around his stomach, until it eventually moved and blocked the intestine

My pup eats everything!! My favourite was when he ate a nerf bullet and when he pooped it out the orange rubber end was stuck on the end of a long poop and looked like a poo nerf bullet 😂

Dark chocolate 😱 he could sniff it out no matter where it was hidden. He even broke into a bedroom and got it from a box stashed on top of the wardrobe.
He was rushed down to the vets three times. He was nuts! I miss him and his crazy shenanigans so much. 😪

My poor boy has been back to the vet he didn't like that at all; I feel so worried after the way my last dog died. Anyway, going in for an ultrasound tomorrow morning.

I have a 14 month old dog who should've been named Dyson; if it's not fastened down it's fair game.

I can often be found on walks with his head tipped back and my fingers in his throat.

Just tonight I though he was eating a mouse.... it was a pom pom off my slipper

Top spider catcher.

But I've saved the best for last......

3 weeks ago we came home to find he had destroyed the plastic tray that lined his crate, literally in a thousand small pieces and we had no idea how much he had eaten, if any.

The next morning he sicked up a load, cur trip to vet, sedation and X-ray.

Nope, couldn't see anything or any pockets of gas so hoorah he's brought it all up!

Wrong.

Over the past 3 weeks he has periodically left "deposits" in the kitchen. He's pooping like normal, eating like normal and no signs of any blockages the bits obviously just can't pass so they're coming back up sporadically.

In one deposit there were prices of a blanket we threw away FOUR MONTHS AGO!

Vet says leave him to it unless he starts to show signs of illness.

I dread to think what's actually inside him.

Picture of a deposit attached.

I had a lab who ate whole big box of milk tray. I didn't get a single one but lived to tell the tale and eat lots of other things dogs should not eat and not even a terrible poo.

@FrangipanBlue - wow. What sort of dog is it and what size? I thought that if there was something in the dog's stomach it had to come out in case it moved into the intestine? Did your vet not offer ultrasound?

That's where my Boo dog is now, booked him in this morning - so he was sick all day yesterday until the vet gave the anti-nausea drug last night, then he managed some poached fish; he's clearly v. hungry. Anyway more x-ray and the ultrasound, wonder what on earth is going on.

Glad I've found this post as I brought my puppy home at the weekend. Since yesterday he's really exploring the garden and is chewing on the shrubs, eating leaves and chewing small pebbles! Should I be panicking if he swallows any small pebbles? Or assume if they're small enough that he can swallow them easily he can poo them easily?!

Our Cockapoo has eaten loads of crap in the past and as a pup had a particular penchant for discarded cigarette butts and chewing gum. Our vet reassured us that most dogs are able to pass the majority of hard objects and he'd previously treated a dog who successfully passed the stem of a wine glass without any injury. Try not to worry, they can be very sturdy creatures and are likely to cry, go off food and be out of sorts due to abdominal pain if there was a blockage.

An old dog (mongrel - back when that's what they were called) used to climb anything to get chocolate.

He once ate a whole box of chocolate liquers that he climbed up 3 rows of shelving to get to. He had the constitution of an ox, though. Once ate a dead and rancid mole which made him very ill but he lived to tell the tale.

Other than that, he was the world's most perfect dog.

My current ate glass as a puppy. It was a very scary 48 hours that involved xrays, ultrasounds and a stomach pump.

@mammaplay he is in pain the vet reckons, they have pressed his stomach and he goes ape they reckon its not normal. Anyway I am glad we have gone for the ultrasound will update later.

@LaidbackLibra, personally, stones would be an issue for me esp.in a puppy so definitely stop him doing it - as he is so small he's more vulnerable to things getting stuck. I think learn from my mistakes -prevention is better than cure!

Thank you op, I'm doing my best. When toileting at night his favourite new game is running through all the mud and shrubs in the dark instead of actually getting the job done!

How is he OP? My puppy has a penchant for flowerpots. In fact anything that can be chewed into lethal shards.
Touch wood he's ok thus far, we manage to stop him swallowing the bits we think.

Oh yes, mine likes flowerpots too!! As you say, lethal shards are a favourite.

He's very quiet today, has a little burst of energy then has to sleep for a while. He's on that special food that stinks like fish, he has eaten a little. But not been sick. So its just waiting and seeing. The ultrasound showed inflammation apparently, but that's not particularly helpful as we don't know why. Vet said it might just be a bizarre coincidence?

Fingers crossed he feels better soon OP x

I've spent a small fortune on heavily branded puppy-appropriate toys that are just gathering dust in a corner whilst the milk bottles, flowerpots, DVD cases, cardboard boxes and sweet potatoes are getting an absolute hammering.
But his absolute favourite is the detachable tail from DD's cat onesie...

wow. What sort of dog is it and what size? I thought that if there was something in the dog's stomach it had to come out in case it moved into the intestine? Did your vet not offer ultrasound?

@Finchy19 he's an English Bull Terrier, weighs 25kg and they're renowned for being pretty hardy!

Vet said ultrasound wouldn't show anything if the X-ray didn't so only options were cut him open or camera down his throat - she said both are pretty extreme and given that he's not sick and still passing they'd rather leave him be?!

She said if anything gets blocked we'd know before there's time for damage because he'll stop pooping and eating in which case he's to go in straight away.

We've gone a whole week now with nothing coming back up so fingers crossed it's all out

Goodness where do I begin....

As a child I had a lab/GSD that ate one of those huge boxes of chocolate liqueurs at a Christmas and then all my Easter eggs the following Easter. He was probably only about 4 or 5 at the time and lived to the grand old age of 12.

Another childhood dog, American Bulldog/Mastiff that ate a whole army boot. Sole n’ all. She only left the metal eyelets. She wasn’t very well for a a couple of days but she’s still here to tell the tale and beautiful.

Again, childhood Springerdore, something wrapped in cling film... had to help him with that one

Our Heinz57 ate a scouring sponge she scavenged from the bin as a puppy . Emergency vet called and she passed the lot eventually.

Our old Springer was a nightmare for eating stuff he shouldn’t

He had a thing for stealing clothes out of the washing basket and once we stopped that, he learnt to open the washing machine door and nick stuff.

He had to have a pair of my daughter’s leggings removed from his intestine and I was forever pulling socks and knickers out of his arse.

He ate a batch of chocolate brownies that I’d stashed on top of the microwave to cool. He was an old man by then and had arthritis so god knows how he got up there. The brownies had a tonne of chocolate (dark, milk and white) and cocoa powder in so we went to the vet pretty sharpish

He also ate a dead seagull that he found on the beach before I could get it off him. He was really sick but no long lasting effects

Our dog now is pretty good, trashes her toys but doesn’t really eat stuff she shouldn’t

I just found a chewed battery 😲. Cockapoo also. She seems ok for now but I'm monitoring closely

My dog eats anything. She snatches things discreetly and disappears off with it concealed in her mouth. Her list of destruction is endless and appalling. Plastic flower pots, sticklebacks, Lego, pretend play food, any food wrappers, cardboard boxes, plastic bags, anything the toddler drops including beakers, plastic toddler cutlery, crayons pencils...

I love my dog to pieces but honestly I wish she’d kerb the habit. When I clean up her poo I pretty much stand there looking at it first going ‘wtf has she eaten now’

My life is spent worrying more about what the dogs up too than the toddler!