Regular readers may remember the story of Buddy the 3 year old dog who I wrote about back in May.
Buddy is a really lively, friendly, outgoing dog who is full of enthusiasm for everything he does. Back in May, Buddy had been very unwell with a dramatic loss of appetite, vomiting and weight loss. Buddy’s owners were desperately worried about him because he had lost all interest in his surroundings and was very listless.
Eventually, it transpired that he had swallowed a Nerff gun pellet which any readers with children will know are foam pellets that fire from toy guns. This pellet proved difficult to diagnose back in May because the soft sponge did not show on X ray and could not be felt through the abdomen, but wedged itself in the intestine making him very ill.
Buddy underwent surgery back in May and the piece of sponge was removed from his intestine. Despite being very ill, with typical spirit, he bounced back from the surgery and was soon up and racing around like normal.
Buddy has had an uneventful summer but when he drooped into my colleague Graham Mills’ consult room this week, it was clear that he was not himself again.
Buddy had been vomiting for 2 days and had stopped producing faeces and alarm bells were ringing with owner and Vet alike that history was being repeated. Buddy was rushed into the hospital and placed on a drip to improve his circulation. Within 2 hours of presenting, Buddy was back in theatre.
This time, Graham removed a peach stone that was well and truly wedged in his small intestine. Peach stones are very rough and can do a lot of damage to the intestine as the scrape down the tract but fortunately for Buddy, the prompt surgery limited the damage to the intestinal lining.
True to form, Buddy has bounced back from his surgery once again.
It is very difficult to stop a dog from finding things to chew and swallow if they are determined but Buddy needs to learn his lesson as each further surgery carries an increased level of risk. Buddy’s plucky spirit (combined with a couple of major operations) has carried him through so far but he needs to learn his lesson and stick to eating the contents of his dog bowl!!
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