When in question...take them to the vet ASAP

[Hunter and Daisy's Doodle Mom]

I had quite the experience last Tuesday. My Daisy has had a reputation for getting into things she's not supposed to. I had posted not too far back how she literally ate 1/2 of my sandal and we had a little fun with "who done it" when I didn't know if it was Hunter or Daisy.

Well, last week, I came home and there was a huge mess all over the living room. I had accidently left the storage bin with my hair accessories open. There were scrunchies, hair ties, and bits and pieces of a couple of plastic hair clips all over the place...and some toilet paper. I knew it was my own fault so I didn't get too upset, I just started to clean up. As I was picking up pieces of red plastic that used to be a hair clip, something wacked me on the back of my head and said, "there's a part of this missing". That piece is a metal spring that works the mechanism of the hair clip. I have put in pictures to show just what it was that all of a sudden got me into a panic. I started to tear the house apart, looking for this vital piece of metal and I couldn't find anything. I quickly checked both of their mouths for any scratch marks or punctures and nothing. That voice kept saying, "one of them ate it". I quickly called the vet to let them know I was on my way with both dogs and needed x-rays ASAP. I thought it was Hunter, so we got his stomach x-rayed first, but they found nothing. Well, Daisy had hers next and the technician came in and said they found it.

I have posted the pictures of what he got out of her stomach, but that piece of metal...it was already in the small intestine.

I sit and think, "she could have choked to death on that thing" and tremendous guilt came over me. I thank God that she didn't and that He was hitting me upside the head and telling me to get them to the vet.

Daisy ended up having emergency surgery.

The metal piece measures from end to end approximately 1 inch and is sharp on both ends. The plastic pieces were still in her stomach and some of her small intestine. That's just some of the plastic.

Bottom line, this could have been fatal. The metal easily could have and more than likely would have punctured or tore her intestinal wall and/or her stomach. Luckily, God was watching over her and poking at me to get her to the vet. She was able to come home that evening and I was with her all night and the next day. She was vomiting quite a bit, mostly because of the surgery, and was in some pain.

Good news is she is 95% back to normal. The remaining 5% is because she has stiches from her sternum bone down about 8 inches.

If you ever suspect that your Doodle has got into something and you're not sure if it is life threatening, call your vet or if it is something suspected to be poisonous, the 24 hour emergency animal poison control center's number is 1-888-426-4435 and call your vet.

[F, Calla & Luca]

You can't respond to a specific comment. That is why discussions are better for things that people will want to discuss : ) I use them almost exclusively.

[Hunter and Daisy's Doodle Mom]

I can't figure out how to respond to a specific comment, maybe I can't :-) Any way, yes, this is a kick in the pants to remind us all to be on the look out for harmful objects. Whether we are home or not, they will get into what that item is as sure as day. Being my two are still puppies (believe it or not - 15 months) they are still in their chewing phase big time. They have destroyed toys that I bought specifically for "strong chewers" with pictures of Rottie's and Boxers on the front of the packaging, and Hunter is constantly being disciplined for wanting to counter surf. He doesn't even have to jump up, his face is at counter level...yes...COUNTER level, not just table level. That's why we thought he ate it at first, but my husband made a good point AFTER we already had his stomach x-rayed...she takes everything away from him. That information would have been useful 10 minutes before, thank you! :-) I was trying to save the cost of an extra x-ray and get it with the first dog :-)
She is doing absolutely great! She isn't bothering her stitches at all, she let me put neosporin on the parts of the skin that got razor burned from the clippers before surgery...oh there were some beet red burns, but she let me put stuff on it and it is almost all gone. She lays down and puts her leg up for me so I can check the stitches and doesn't try to shoo me away with her nose. Her stitches come out next week, so that will be good. Her incision is as long as it is because he had to check the whole digestive track for any punctures or tears that could have happened on the way down so he could repair those - I know, huge incision = lots of stitches. Oh, side note...he let us know he had to remove quite a bit of fat from her abdomen just to get to the intestinal area............yeah, my dog got a small tummy tuck while she was there and we have to cut back on the amount of food she is getting per meal. These two are my digestive stars of Doodlekisses...they have Colitis and Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency, so they are on a homemade diet and she is just getting a bit too much of the good stuff :-) And I guess the walks aren't long enough or I'm gonna have to get her a treadmill :-)
Thanks for all the support guys and listening to be ramble on - you all understand...they're our babies and kids regardless of the fur and two extra legs :-)

[Nancie & Gracie Doodle]

Poor Daisy...surgery is just horrible! I hope she is feeling a lot better and leaving her stitches alone. Our "babies" are so special to us that we will do what ever is necessary to take care of them and keep them safe and happy. Gracie Doodle sends her love...she had two surgeries in three days for fox tails on her paw and over a week later is still looks like she might be headed for one more surgery. It just isn't healing. Hope Daisy heals quickly.

[ej]

I hope Daisy feels better soon... poor baby... 8 inches is a really long incision.

Koda ate the handle of his undercoat rake last Sunday afternoon. It consists of a gel grip handle, and the harder inner core plastic. He ate at least 1 inch of the gel grip plus the hard plastic. Yesterday he upchucked bits and pieces of the plastic on our bed while we were sleeping.

[shelly]

Oh - and one more thing... that almost caused us an operation - was a teeny tiny screw Tori found somewhere - perhaps on a walk - THANK GOD it passed, but I have it saved and also took pictures of it.. UGH

[shelly]

OH MY GOSH! I know how you feel! We too, have had many 'close calls'... guess you've missed my latest post about the corn cob... I too immediately trusted my instincts against my DH judgement... BUT I really owe that all to DK... I remember reading how bad eating a cob is....it's so scary! So glad she is on the mend! I really have to make a conscious effort to slow down and make sure everything is safe...

[F, Calla & Luca]

I too am glad it all worked out.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

This is a good reminder to all of us to double check our houses for trouble spots. We all get a bit careless or lazy once in a while, so this is a wonderful 'kick in the seat of the pants' reminder. I am so glad that everything turned out well.

[Leslie and Halas]

I'm so glad she's going to be ok. Quick thinking to get her to the vet right away.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I am a big fan of better safe than sorry when it comes to your kids, whether they have two legs or four. Glad Daisy is okay!