Swallowed a small piece of cloth
Lucky means the whole world to me. I may be a pessimist but I am so dead worried. I don't understand why he acts like he's never been fed. He gets lots of treats through the day and two hearty meals and still acts like he finds gold on the ground and swallows it immediately before we can stop him. He normally swallows a small bunch of his hair that falls on the ground (I groom him everyday and make sure there's never any loose hair but still he manages to find hair in some corner of the house). And when he poops, the hair makes it difficult for the poop to come out and sometimes he 'cries' when it gets stuck. I'm a first time dog owner so the tiniest thing gets me so worried. Help! How can this behavior be corrected? |
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| Vet, they'll x-ray and if they think its "going" well they will prescribe doggy laxitives. Also talk to the vet about his eating of hair he could have anything from a vitimin deficiancy or a condition called pica. Make sure he is completely healthy before starting any training. |
| One more thing... Last night he was about to vomit on the bed, just then my mom moved him out of her bed and then he burped....and the vomit 'urka gurka' stopped. What does that mean? Will it pass through his intestines? |
| I am not a vet and I don't think anyone on here is a vet. Vomiting is not a good sign though. I cannot diagnose your dog, if you think he ate a peice of cloth he needs to go to the vet and get checked out. Not to scare you but bad things can happen. |
| I agree vomiting is not good at all. In humans that indicates a bowel obstruction either partial or complete. to the vets ASAP. Call and let them know you are coming in and his symptoms so that they can rush you right in to see the vet. You don't want to wait around a few hours for an appointment. That or go to the closest emergency vet. |
| Speaking as someone who has been there, get him to the vet ASAP. And, be aggressive. When Rudy (yes, the sock eating legend) was first throwing up the only vet left at the clinic by that time was our least favourite. He's not awful, but I've never seen the kind of commitment from him that ALL the others have. He did barium, assured us it would pass by morning and said to come back if it didn't. I suspect that closing time coming played at least a small part in his decision. By morning Rudy was so bad our vet (who has been called the best in Western Canada, and also our most favouritist person alive) began his surgery preop and then called, and he said to come because Rudy was doing poorly and he wanted me to have a chance to say goodbye (I had dropped him off the second they opened). All the scheduled surgeries were put on hold and Rudy went straight in. We got so lucky with Rudy, but I will not be seeing the other vet again. I will forever wonder if he really didn't think there was anything serious (which I could see happening though I'd be very disappointed) or if he simply had dinner plans. He didn't even talk to us about what to watch for and when to go to the emergency room if needed. Sorry to ramble. If your dog eats a small piece of fabric and there's no vomiting you can probably wait and watch carefully. If there is even the slightest hint he's vomiting (or trying to) a trip to the vet is in order. The vomiting (or attempts) could actually mean it's lodged in the lower part of his throat, or at the opening to his stomach. No matter where it is now, it's better to check it out. Good luck to you both. Keep us informed. Rudy and Hudson send sheepie love out to you. PS We still watch Rudy like a hawk, and he hasn't even been in the same room as a sock since that day. He's not as into trying to eat things, but I will NEVER trust him a hundred percent. It does force us to keep things neater around the house. |
| Our Bennett had a linear obstruction. It took 7 days to get him the help he needed - over the Chritmas holidays, 2 ER vets, a covering vet and finally the surgeon. Part of a cloth was stuck in the stomach and part of it was advancing in the intestine - connected by a few strands of thread. The thread was cutting into his intestine, slowly but surely. The surgeon said he was only an hour or so from having the intestines cut open. He healed beautifully. Until a guest failed to follow our housekeeping directions and Bennett ate a sock. Another surgery, another healing time. So I second the be aggressive about getting treatment. |
| Lucky pooped last night (normal) and then pooped today after lunch (normal). He is eating normally. Everything seems and looks fine. Should I still take him to the vet? |
Poop is always a good sign, I love poop!  |
| Have there been any further signs of vomiting? Or attempts? If not, and he's eating and pooping normally, then I'd just keep watching him for a week or two (yes, it once took us two weeks to get a hair scrunchie back). Have you perfected the "smash the poops open with a stick and dig around" technique yet? It's not pretty but it works. When you finally see the item has made it out you can then stand down and rest up for the next crisis. I'm so glad he's pooping. That is a great sign. Rudy and Hudson send congratupoopulations too. |
traciels28 wrote: Have you perfected the "smash the poops open with a stick and dig around" technique yet? It's not pretty but it works. When you finally see the item has made it out you can then stand down and rest up for the next crisis. I've put bags on my hands and handled it before; pulled it apart to look for whatever it was the dog ate. |
| Thank you all so much for the great replies. I have been watching him. So far, no vomitting. This poop has been normal..and no, i didn't get the opportunity to squish his poop and see because my mom picked it up before I could tell her to check. Thankfully, everything seems to be normal. He has this terrible habit of doing things that he knows he's not allowed to do. Like if something falls on the floor and he knows he's not supposed to eat it, he'll run like a maniac to get to it and eat it. This is why we have to be awfully careful around the house. I am aware that this needs training and correction...but I'll have to wait for some more time to do that. But my question is 'CAN this behavior be corrected? or is it too late?' He is two years old now. Since I will be having kids in the future, I don't want him eating anything that the kid drops...it's going to be dangerous. My main priority is his safety and health. Kids are secondary. He also has this terrible habit of being agressive with whatever he finds on the ground. ...like growling and trying to bite if we try to take it away from him. Can this behavior also be corrected? I think I'm going to need the help of a trainer for this particular thing. |
| Yes! Most dogs (and their humans) can and should be trained to a "LEAVE IT!!!" command. It can save their lives! My own story: The LEAVE IT!!! Command We trained our dog and ourselves to use the LEAVE IT!!! command. It is always done the same way it is written, in an excited voice, just the way you would sound if he picked up a chicken bone during a walk... LEAVE IT!!!  I don't know if all dogs can be trained to this, but I don't recall many people saying this was a difficult behavior to train. |
Vidya.sekhar1 wrote: Since I will be having kids in the future, I don't want him eating anything that the kid drops...it's going to be dangerous. My main priority is his safety and health. Kids are secondary. He also has this terrible habit of being agressive with whatever he finds on the ground. ...like growling and trying to bite if we try to take it away from him. Can this behavior also be corrected? I think I'm going to need the help of a trainer for this particular thing. Yes this behavior can be corrected and it should be sooner than later. Abbey still sort of does this, but has improved so much. Abbey had a protective food aggression and we did go to a trainer to have her evaluated to see if she was an aggressive dog or if she needed training. She was recommended to go to Daycare a few times a week to be socialized with other dogs who taught her how to act and behave. And as scary as this behavior is, he is testing you to see what he can get away with. |
heather32 wrote: Vidya.sekhar1 wrote: And as scary as this behavior is, he is testing you to see what he can get away with. Yep, he definitely is testing me. |
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