Stomach X Ray

[AmyMay]

Thought you lot might be interested in this.

The Border Collie I walk swallowed a small dog tennis ball on the weekend, and had surgery to remove it today.

Just shows how small the stomach, even on a medium sized dog, actually is.

Remember, this is a mini tennis ball.

 

[scats]

Thought you lot might be interested in this.

The Border Collie I walk swallowed a small dog tennis ball on the weekend, and had surgery to remove it today.

Just shows how small the stomach, even on a medium sized dog, actually is.

Remember, this is a mini tennis ball.

View attachment 64698

Blimey, hope he’s ok.

 

[Cinnamontoast]

Omg! It looks huge!

I remember my bil’s dog stole a rib bone as a puppy, the vet said it was like a person swallowing a cricket bat. Somehow, he broke it down.

 

[AmyMay]

His owner thought he’d pass it. It took some persuading to get him to the vet.

 

[Britestar]

This is why tennis balls are a no for dogs. Dangerous, even if they don't swallow them they can choke.

 

[fiwen30]

Good god. Have heard some awful things about dogs not swallowing the ball but it getting lodged in their airways and suffocating to death. It’s so, so important that any ball is of significant size in relation to their jaws, so there’s not a chance of it going further than mid-mouth. Poor collie, hope they come through surgery ok.

 

[SOS]

She was lucky it hadn’t yet attempted to pass through into the gut. Guts really don’t like having blockages and they become very poorly very quickly if their gut starts to bruise and lose life.

This happens more often than you’d think. Balls being a big culprit but I’ve seen lots now... most memorable being whole potato’s, lots of socks, not the wife’s knickers, tights and two kinder egg yellow toy shells.

Never underestimate a dogs will to swallow something once they try (I saw a dog vomit up a large ski glove whole). General rule is if they are a scavenger and can’t keep food down then get them to a vet ASAP.

This is why tennis balls are a no for dogs. Dangerous, even if they don't swallow them they can choke.

Another scary story about a young GSD guard dog who liked to carry multiple tennis balls in his mouth. Got one stuck was rushed into our ECC unit, could barely breathe with the ball lodged at the top of his trachea but still trying to take our heads off if we went anywhere near. More stress and less oxygen meant within a minute of this the dog went blue and collapsed, one of the interns quickly stuck her hand into the dogs mouth and just grabbed the ball out. He survived and she was told off severely for breaking all health and safety rules. But it still makes me cringe when I see large dogs running with tennis balls or carrying multiple.

 

[CorvusCorax]

I bought a packet of 'dog tennis balls' once because they fitted a ball-dropper.
There were five in the packet.
Each time I sent the dog, he came back with a ball squashed completely flat, just held together by the material. Crushed in one go, by the time it took him to run back to me, about 3/4 the length of a football pitch.
Tennis balls are for tennis, they are no good for medium sized dogs and up, or anything with decent bite pressure.
The material on proper ones can also blunt the teeth.

Best bet for balls is to use something outsized, something with a hole through it, or something with a rope attached (a good quality one, not poundshop).

I've known of at least three working dogs that have choked to death on a ball. One where someone was playing tuggy and the rope pulled through, one where the dog had gone and helped itself from the toybox when the owner was doing chores, one a multiple podium placed dog at world level.

 

[FinnishLapphund]

Hope the Border Collie recovers well after the surgery.

I recall that up until maybe 20 years ago, the big open 24 hours small animals hospital in town used to have a display cabinet in their waiting room with 2, possibly 3, shelves inside. For things they'd surgically removed from dog's stomachs.

The bottom shelf was full of different stones in various sizes. I also remember some knickers, socks, and an entire Winter bicycle saddle cover with its fake fur on top.
Never understood why they decided to remove that display cabinet, I always thought it was an excellent warning to dog owners.

 

[Nasicus]

Sister is a SVN. Not that long ago, they had a bulldog puppy in that had swallowed a toy arrow. I wish I could find the photo of the Xray, this Puppy had somehow managed to get this long arrow, intact, down it's gullet and all the way in, the Xray looked like a shish kabob! Vet was able to pull it straight out, and Puppy was absolutely fine, god knows how!

 

[AmyMay]

He’s recovering well, thankfully.

 

[Moobli]

Phew! Lucky it didn't lodge in his throat and suffocate him. I am glad to hear he is recovering.

It gives me the absolute fear to see dogs leaping for small/medium sized balls as I have heard too many horror stories of dogs dying from choking on balls becoming lodged.

 

[DabDab]

Yikes, lucky dog.

Interesting what you say about the material on the balls CC, my parent's old jrt was an avid ball chaser (as in no walk was complete without a tennis ball) and his teeth were really worn down...maybe half of their original length towards the end of his life.

 

[Penny Less]

A man on our morning dog walk practices his golf swing in the park and his dog picks up the balls

 

[splashgirl45]

watched the yorkshire vet the other day and a labrador had eaten a gardening glove and had surgery to remove it.. why would he eat something like that?

 

[fiwen30]

watched the yorkshire vet the other day and a labrador had eaten a gardening glove and had surgery to remove it.. why would he eat something like that?

Opportunity? Or accidental, retrievers are meant to put things in their gobs, after all! My partner’s parents have a golden retriever who ate/swallowed a whole slipper as a young dog. Not for very long though, as he managed to throw up the slipper in it’s entirety a few minutes later!

 

[splashgirl45]

i think he had tried to eat the other glove as well but threw it up....

 

[CorvusCorax]

My old dog ate two pairs of balled-up tights. Vet had a fun time trying to extricate them.

 

[Moobli]

watched the yorkshire vet the other day and a labrador had eaten a gardening glove and had surgery to remove it.. why would he eat something like that?

Because ... Labrador Don't they eat everything and anything? lol

 

[Supertrooper]

In 30 years of vet nursing I’d like to think I’ve seen dogs eat everything they’d ever possibly want to eat but I doubt it

Once had a collie who’d eaten a medium size Kong toy whole, was sat in its stomach

Also two labradors, one of which was pregnant who ate a huge bag of cooking salt. That unfortunately didn’t end well ?

Had dogs that have eaten mouldy food and developed awful seizures

 

[BBP]

Blimey, reading this has made me glad my dog doesn’t play or scavenge! He doesnt really carry much in his mouth, doesn’t chase balls or play tug. He’s a funny thing, will bring me something occasionally, ball, toy, shoe, whatever and snap the air like a piranha, then if I throw the item he just stares at me like I’m a total bloody idiot and walks off the other way! I have no idea what he wants (although the other day when he brought me two shoes and a sock I was starting to get the hint)!

Although that said the one thing he did quite like was the mini tennis balls for the cats and would roll round with them, so this makes me glad I took them away.