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Today we meet the delightful Dolly, and hear of a story we are sure many pet carers will be able to relate to – what happens when our companions eat something they shouldn’t have!

Dolly visited our Outpatient Ultrasound Service after her persistent vomiting was suggestive of a foreign body in her stomach (i.e. something which Dolly had eaten and shouldn’t be in her tummy). Our Head of Diagnostic Imaging, Livia, performed an abdominal (belly) ultrasound and indeed a large foreign body was found in her stomach. This foreign body looked a lot like a plastic ball, similar in size to a tennis ball – an impressive object for Dolly to have swallowed!

The ball Dolly had managed to swallow

In an attempt to avoid surgery, Dolly was anaesthetised and endoscopy was performed by Magda, our Head of Internal Medicine, to try and remove the foreign body from Dolly’s stomach. Unfortunately, due to the sheer size of the ball, this was not possible and Dolly was transferred to surgery right away.

Dolly stayed with us overnight for close monitoring as she recovered from surgery, and was reunited with her family the next day.

Dolly recovering in our Dog Ward

It is truly remarkable what Dolly, and other dogs can swallow when they want to. Having chatted with Dolly’s carers, it was apparent Dolly has a competitive streak in her and didn’t want another dog to get the ball – so she took it and swallowed it! Thankfully, the ball didn’t cause any lasting damage, but we feel Dolly will have a close eye on her to avoid any future gobbles of a toy!

Some instances of pets eating unusual objects can be fatal as it can cause a blockage of the intestines. If you suspect your pet has eaten something they shouldn’t have, we encourage you to speak to your vet for advice as soon as possible.

Thank you for taking the time to read about Dolly’s story. If you would like to find out more about our Soft Tissue Surgery Service, our Diagnostic Imaging Service,  or our Internal Medicine Service, please click on the links.

Stay tuned for more tales from Team Ralph!

Take care,

Team Ralph