We've had a long weekend here at our house. Our youngest dog got into a situation that ultimately ended up with her requiring a pretty serious operation and extended hospitalization. She ingested something (string from an unraveled rope toy) that got hung up in her stomach and intestine. By the time I picked up on any outward indication it had probably been a couple days. During this time the intestine, by trying to pass it through, actually harmed itself by creating a situation where the string actually sawed through it in multiple places. She ended up having to have a couple feet of her intestine removed do to the damage in a surgery Saturday night.
Just talked to the vet this morning and thankfully she has recovered very well and he feels she is probably out of the woods in terms of survival. Time will tell if the loss of intestine will have effect on her bowel function. Worst case she could have issues with loose stools or even chronic diarrhea for the rest of her life. The thought is she should be fine. Fingers crossed.
So the warning. My dogs have always had those long, knotted rope toys you see in all the major pet stores. They love to play tug of war with them. Eventually when a couple dogs chew and yank on them they end up fraying. This results in lengths of string coming off. This is what my pup ate. As much as they love them they will not have them anymore. I could promise to supervise their play and put the ropes away, etc. but the reality is one day I will forget or get complacent and it could happen again. Not worth the risk. The same thing happens all too frequently with dogs ingesting socks left laying about, etc. So don't introduce such toys into the house and pick up your socks!
Just talked to the vet this morning and thankfully she has recovered very well and he feels she is probably out of the woods in terms of survival. Time will tell if the loss of intestine will have effect on her bowel function. Worst case she could have issues with loose stools or even chronic diarrhea for the rest of her life. The thought is she should be fine. Fingers crossed.
So the warning. My dogs have always had those long, knotted rope toys you see in all the major pet stores. They love to play tug of war with them. Eventually when a couple dogs chew and yank on them they end up fraying. This results in lengths of string coming off. This is what my pup ate. As much as they love them they will not have them anymore. I could promise to supervise their play and put the ropes away, etc. but the reality is one day I will forget or get complacent and it could happen again. Not worth the risk. The same thing happens all too frequently with dogs ingesting socks left laying about, etc. So don't introduce such toys into the house and pick up your socks!