As most of you experienced dog and cat owners likely already know, pets eat the darnedest things.
We’ve all used “the dog ate my homework” excuse at least once in our lives, or 10-15 times if you are me, but who’s counting. (I ask you, how is the teacher going to know which kids have pets and which don’t unless you come to school covered with cat hair each morning?) Well, it’s a good thing I don’t teach grade school because after our recent run of foreign bodies (that’s vet speak for dogs and cats doing what dogs and cats will do when left unattended, or not, and the wrong thing(s) get swallowed) ‘cause I’d believe most animals would eat almost anything, and several do.
Fortunately, many of the things that go down will come back up, either on their own or with a bit of emetic medication. Take the sock that readily came back up after a dose of apomorphine last Friday. For some reason, even though they had its mate, the owners declined its partner’s return after it was successfully, albeit a tad messily, retrieved. This was a lucky situation. In this case, our client witnessed the act of consumption and sought immediate veterinary medical care. Often times we have decent success with early intervention. The problem arises when the patient is not caught in the act or if owners elect to wait and see. Sometimes conservative action work, but sometimes it doesn’t.
So what does a “foreign body” patient look like? Not surprisingly, most are less than 2 years of age, have a history of putting things into their mouths and have destructive tendencies when it comes to walls, furniture, yarn/string, toys, clothing or any inanimate object. During the holidays, ribbons and tinsel pose a seasonal hazard as they are of special interest to playful cats, kittens and puppies who view these objects as prey (or toys) to be chased, pounced on, chewed and, quite often, ingested. The resultant “linear foreign body” can catch in the gastrointestinal tract as a drawstring does in an athletic pant and causes bunching of the intestines as the bowel tries to move the material from one end to the other. Surgical intervention is often necessary.
The clinical appearance of these patients varies. Early on, most, depending upon what was ingested and whether or not a complete bowel obstruction exists, show no or little sign that there is an impending problem. Patients with a longer duration problem or who have developed complete blockage are often acutely vomiting, have decreased gut sounds, are acting depressed/lethargic, will not eat and have reduced or little fecal production.
In the past month I have removed underwear, parts of a rubber garden hose’s interior mesh with a bit of plastic as an added bonus, a needle and thread, and part of a kong.
So what is the solution? Supervision. Confinement. Inaccessibility. In 90% of cases, preventative measures such as making sure that pets are denied access to ingestible materials either through close monitoring, keeping them confined to areas that they can’t/won’t chew out of and placing small things out of reach, can the need for emergency and life-saving surgical intervention.
Until next time, dear Readers, stay cool and have fun!
Dr. Hunter
Posted September 15, 2010
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