If you have a dog that will eat just about anything, the goat may be its spirit animal. Why? Because goats are notorious for chewing and eating things, they shouldn’t.
Whether your dog is motivated by curiosity, boredom, the desire to chew, or hunger, some dogs ingest some pretty bizarre things.
Never Trust Your Dog to Not Eat Something They Shouldn’t
Get your dog to the vet if you suspect they’ve eaten something they shouldn’t have. The longer you wait, the more internal damage can be done, and it can be harder to remove the item.
We have scrubbed the internet and found some odd things dogs have eaten and lived to bark and wag another day thanks to concerned pawrents and skilled veterinarians.
Seeing the Light
Photo Credit: Peter Lysakowski, DVM, MS, Rand Road Animal Hospital, Palatine, IL.
A stray 5-month-old German Shepherd was treated at the Rand Road Animal Hospital in Palatine, Illinois. The GSD was severely underweight and straining to defecate.
X-rays revealed an intact light bulb, rubber tubing, and a plastic stopper in the stomach and lower digestive tract.
The German Shepherd pup was adopted and had no permanent damage from the foreign objects removed from her stomach.
Sock Fetish
Photo Credit: VeterinaryPracticeNews.com
A 3-year-old male Great Dane spent a day repeatedly retching and throwing up. X-rays showed a distended stomach and a large quantity of unknown material.
Surgery removed 43 ½ socks. The big boy went home one day after surgery and had a successful recovery.
Anyone Missing a Hippo?
Photo Credit: Joshua Hower, VMD, College Road Animal Hospital, Wilmington, N.C.
Ava was brought to the vet showing no signs of illness. However, she had skipped two meals that her owner stated she never, ever does and insisted something was wrong.
A physical examination revealed nothing, labs came back normal, and no parasites in a fecal test.
An x-ray revealed something foreign inside Ava, but the vet staff was initially stumped. Could it be a hippo?
When the owner was asked if the object on the x-ray could be a hippo, his face went from concern to confusion to astonishment.
After the owner called his wife, who did a quick inventory at home, the vet staff was confident in their guess.
The hippo was surgically removed without issue, and Ava became a College Road Animal Hospital legend.
Does Anyone Have Change?
Photo Credit: Yvette Rozmarynowski, LVT, of Rugby Veterinary Service, Rugby, N.D.
A 16-month-old Labrador became a piggy bank when he swallowed coins from the console of his owner’s vehicle, 152 coins in total which added up to $14.13. The owner declined to put the coins towards his vet bill.
2 Month Old Kabab Stick Traveled to Leg
Photo Credit: MyFamilyVets.co.uk
Bear, a 10-month-old female German Shepherd puppy, was limping on a rear leg for reasons unknown. Dad took her to the vet when she stopped putting weight on her leg and couldn’t walk.
Bear’s leg was swollen, but an x-ray found no fractures. However, an ultrasound scan detected a foreign object.
With no entry point wound in Bear’s leg, everyone was initially stumped how the object found its way into the pup’s leg.
Through surgery, a wooden kabob stick was removed from Bear’s leg. Bear’s owner realized the kabob stick was from barbecuing two months prior. He had no idea Bear had stolen and eaten the kabob stick.
The incident and surgery could have been fatal, but luckily the stick missed vital organs and passed through the intestine before settling in the leg.
Bear’s surgery was a success, and she made a full recovery.
If It Looks Like a Duck
Photo Credit: Tucker Barton, DVM, Boulder City Animal Hospital, Boulder City, Nevada
Bella was brought into Boulder City Animal Hospital after vomiting on and off for a week. As the story developed, Bella had spent a week with relatives who thought they had removed toys that Bella could chew on a month prior.
It turns out Bella was quackers for ducks. After studying the x-rays, the staff counted the ducks’ heads, similar to what you would do on a pregnant female, to know how many duckies to expect during surgery.
The animal hospital staff removed Seven rubber ducks from Bella’s stomach, and she made a quick recovery.
Hair Tie Bandit
Photo Credit: Michelle Robeck, of Rosehill Veterinary Clinic, Tomball, Texas
A black lab had no symptoms of illness except for a bloated stomach that was firm to the touch. X-rays determined hair ties and a lot of them.
The owner, who has four daughters, admitted the lab had been caught stealing hair ties and would vomit them occasionally.
Surgery successfully removed eight pounds of hair ties.
Coffee with Your Cream?
Photo Credit: Crystal Fricks, DVM, Commerce Veterinary Hospital, Commerce, Georgia
A young boxer named Riley visited the vet after not eating for one week. X-rays showed a full tummy of something.
Surgery revealed 75 small coffee creamer cups. Riley’s owner realized the creamers had been in a bag on top of the dryer.
Riley recovered and is now banned from the laundry room.
h/t VeterinaryPracticeNews.com, MyFamilyVets.co.uk
