Vet removes 14” stick from pup’s tummy

A DOBERMANN puppy had a very lucky escape when she swallowed a 14 inch stick and lived to tell the tale.

Katy, the 11-week-old pup owned by Jeanne Walker of Baikel Dobermanns, had been playing in the garden for less than five minutes when she began to retch and vomit continuously.

Jeanne, realising something wasn’t right, rushed the dog to Hart Veterinary Centre in Bicester where surgeon Ian Hart managed to locate one end of a foreign object inside Katy’s stomach. Mr Hart carried out an X-Ray and concluded that the object was approximately 5” in length.

The only option seemed to be surgery but the vet was reluctant to carry out such a major operation on a puppy so young, so instead decided to perform an endoscopy first to determine whether he could remove the object without invasive surgery.

Making no promises Katy was also shaved and prepped for a major operation.

Mr Hart had the shock of his life when he put the camera into the dog’s throat and found the other end sticking out of her oesophagus. He managed to remove the object very carefully, which turned out to be a 14” stick - the longest object Mr Hart had ever removed from a dog.

Luckily the endoscopy revealed that Katy - whose show name is Amazon Sweet Sweet Kandy - had sustained nothing more than one tiny hole and a few scratches, escaping almost unscathed.
‘What a marvellous vet - he definitely saved Katy’s life,’ said Jeanne of Mr Hart and his veterinary skills. She continued: ‘He thinks the only way she could have swallowed it was: 1. Had the end in her mouth and fell on her nose and pushed it in, or 2. Had the end in her mouth and ran into something and had it pushed right in.’

Jeanne hopes that her story acts as a warning to other pet owners that ‘however watchful you are you can’t see everything that happens. I was watching her almost all of the time - Katy was on my raised bed that has trees and shrubs when it must have happened.’

Katy and her owner have since recovered from the ordeal. This little Dobermann is one very lucky puppy who will hopefully choose her chew toys more carefully from now on...

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