Foreign Body

Objects we find are peach stones, corn-on-the-cob, corks, baby's dummies and all sorts of underwear!

This is not the term for an alien, but the name we give to something "foreign" to the animal which is stuck in the digestive tract. The Xray shows an easy one! This is a stone, firmly lodged in the small intestine. Note the wide gass-filled bowel (shown dark) behind the stone (light shade) This needs a laparotomy to open the abdomen then an enterotomy to open the bowel and remove the stone, or foreign body.

Other objects we find are peach stones, corn-on-the-cob, corks, baby's dummies and all sorts of underwear! Most of these do not show up on Xray, but are usually felt on palpating the abdomen. We sometimes use barium by mouth to highlight a blockage.

If your dog had one, the predisposing symptom would be vomitting. The closer it is to the stomach, the more they are sick - and they usually don't pass a motion (but there are exceptions!) These dogs need fluids by drip along with their surgery to rehydrate them, and specific post-operative care.

:: Return to interesting cases