Vet warns dog owners about beach risks as dog rushed to emergency clinic
As it's the summer holidays, many pet owners will no doubt be planning a few beach trips for their dogs to run around and splash in the water - especially if the weather decides to heat up. But vets have now issued a warning to owners after a dog was rushed to the emergency clinic following a trip to the seaside.
Denver, an adorable cocker spaniel, who likes chewing the cardboard from toilet rolls, wolfed down some fish bones he had scavenged at the beach when his owner's back was turned for a couple of seconds. Terrifyingly, the bones were lodged in the pooch's stomach and wouldn't budge, leaving him at risk of a perforated colon and toxic shock.
Denver swallowed fish bones at the beach (Supplied)
They were stuck in his tummy (Supplied)Owner Samantha, from Worthing, West Sussex, told The Mirror: "Denver has become ravenously hungry all the time – it's a side effect of the medication he's been taking for his epilepsy. Anything at all he can scavenge he's in at straight away – including, for some strange reason, the inside tubes from toilet rolls.
"With the fish bone incident, we were at Worthing beach for our usual walk and he literally bit off more than he could chew. He started chewing a lump of compacted fish bones and then spat it straight back out - but what we didn't realise was that he'd somehow managed to swallow some of it as well. He was okay to start with – and he did manage to go to the loo the next morning.
"But after that his tummy just completely seized up and he was in the garden whimpering, which is not like him at all and that’s when we realised we needed to get him seen straightaway." Samantha rushed Denver, who is five-and-a-half years old, to the emergency clinic Vets Now. The vets put Denver, who was diagnosed with epilepsy last year after having two seizures, onto a drip so as to avoid him getting dehydrated.
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Denver was rushed to hospital (Supplied)They also gave him laxatives in the hope of getting his bowel to move - but unfortunately, the fish bones were lodged too tightly, and Denver was getting visibly anxious and distressed. They were keen to avoid the potential risk of a surgery, so the team took a series of x-rays to have a closer look at the blockage. Luckily, after Denver was sedated and given stronger laxatives, the fish vertebrae which were clogging his intestines finally moved, and 48 hours later he was back to his normal self.
Vet nurse at Vets Now Worthing, Amy Webster, said: "Denver was very brave, and our team were able to unblock him without sedation. We're delighted he's made a full recovery and is back to his normal self. Samantha did absolutely the right thing bringing him and was incredibly patient, understanding and calm throughout the whole procedure. Clogged intestines can have really serious and – sometimes – fatal consequences for a dog. Fish bones can be particularly sharp – much shaper, for example, than a cattle bone - and that leads to a much higher risk of essential organs being punctured."
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