10 replies to this topic

[BustopherJones]

I thought I would pass this story along as a warning about being careful what your dogs, and especially puppies, eat.

I walk Shadow regularly in my suburban neighborhood, and she made friends with a young English Setter and his owners. Recently, I was walking by the house and the woman was outside, gardening. I mentioned that we had not seen Skeeter recently. She told me that Skeeter was in the house recovering. It seems that Skeeter ate a rock that lodged in his intestines and resulted in a severe blockage and infection. By the time they were through with the surgery and subsequent costs, they has spent some $3,000 on veterinary bills. (Skeeter will be okay, according the vet, after his recovery period.)

Puppies seem to explore the world through their sense of taste. This incident is an object lesson with respect to ensuring that you keep an eye on them at all times, even if they are in their own backyard (as Skeeter was).

[FlashMom]

And more "food" for thought. I read on the internet that acorns are poisonous to dogs, and absolutely believe that to be true. My niece's boxer pup ate many many tiny acorns and became so ill we thought he might not make it. All the vet could figure out, after tons of tests and x-rays, was some type of gastric disturbance.

[emmetteabrakai]

My Abra was fed something over the fence, still don't know what it was exactly. But she had to have surgery, three places in the intestines and also in to the stomach. She was in ICU here at work for a week, with a similar cost to Skeeters vet bill. I find that she isn't a chewer by nature, or so it seemed. She doesn't play with toys, and isnt' all that treat motivated. But somehow she injested something and had to have surgery. You can't watch them to often, or keep to close an eye on them. Especially the puppys who will eat everything.
Andrea D.

[mado]

Last week Tamyr was vomiting quite a few times , just little puddles , she was still fine and hungry , but then around the time we were going to the vet for spaying she got a bit worse , finally spit out some tinfoil , hard stuff ... the vet said the best to kind of try to wrap the bad things in the stomach and make them go away is leeks ...I thought rice or thick stuff but she said leeks for the fibers .

[sea4th]

And there was the time that I took the dogs for a run in a high school athletic field and Tam, my most serious, unpuppy-like of dogs, did something totally out of character for him. Three weeks, lots of $$$ later, almost 10 lbs. less dog, and minus 18 inches of necrotic bowel later, we found out what it was---a neatly sliced (by lawn mowers) portion of a rubber ball that lodged in his intestine just past the duodenum. If it had lodged in the duodenum, there would have been no saving him.

I'm no longer complacent, even with my most trusted dogs.

[lucieluv]

Pepper ate a frog once, after I told him not to do and saved the frog from his mouth, he went back, found the frog and ate it.

He was so sick by the middle of the night that he pushed out the screen in the window to get outside.

I took him to the vet, which he HATES and tries to eat, but his belly must have hurt so much that he just laid down and let her give him a shot.

He hasn't tried to eat another frog.

[painted_ponies]

My Lhasa is constantly trying to eat toads, even though they make him spit and foam at the mouth so that he can never manage to swallow them.

My brother's standard poodle, as a puppy, ate one of the kids' toys with velcro on it - which velcro'd itself to the inside of his intestine. :eek: He was fine though after a couple thousand dollars' worth of surgery.

[Bukka Red]

Originally posted by FlashMom:
And more "food" for thought. I read on the internet that acorns are poisonous to dogs, and absolutely believe that to be true.

WOW! Our dogs eat acorns like crazy every fall. We have oak trees all around our house (post oak, red oak, and white oak). Bukka started eating acorns the first fall after we moved into this house. Since then he has taught Willow and Wren to eat them. When the acorns are dropping the dogs run into the back yard put there noses to the ground and start rooting around for acorns. They look like wild hogs. They dont eat the shell. They crack them open and eat the nut. I even atea couple because they seemed to like them so much (I writer i know of has written about making tea out of acorns). Too bitter. Too many tannins.

Brad

[FlashMom]

This dog ate them shell and all. He didn't crack them open. They were very tiny acorns, don't know if that makes a different. The vet (I was there yesterday with another dog and we just discussed this) said that the outside isn't digestible, and those little points on the top irritate the stomach, etc. Glad your dogs aren't affected the way this pup was. I thought he was a goner.

[Jordi44]

I was working at the vet office years ago when my hubby called to say something was wrong with our 2 Shelties - one was vomiting, the other just 'wasn't right'. He brought them in. Our male was vomiting all over, but my female, was just shaking violently by this time (like neurological symptoms). Our best guess to this day is that they had gotten an old, half-rotten ear of corn from the neighbor's field (left from last harvest) and had poisoned themselves. After shoving charcoal down their throats and inducing vomiting, they were ok in a few days, fortunately a reasonable vet bill, but danger does lurk everywhere - even when you think it's safe. My female was the worst because she hadn't vomited on her own - and knowing her, probably ate most of it.

[mudthirsty]

My dog always tries to eat stones and small rocks when they get tracked into the house. Plus, we have a gravel driveway. Im always keeping my eyes on her.

Plus, a few months ago, she chewed through our water cooler plug, which was on and plugged into the wall. She got half way, and never touched it again, or any other wire. I belive she got a bit of a shock.