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Emergency vet and vet nurse astonished by surprise find
WARNING – GRAPHIC IMAGES
A mischievous dog had a brush with death – after he swallowed a Magnum ice lolly stick which got wedged in his stomach.
Cheeky Bentley’s owners let him have the last lick of ice cream from the Magnum on a hot afternoon as a special treat.
But the seven-year-old King Charles Spaniel then stole the wooden stick from his owner’s grasp and swallowed it whole.
The stick caused a potentially fatal obstruction which resulted in Bentley being badly sick and suffering diarrhoea.
Thankfully, vet Mohammed Chaudhury, at our pet emergency clinic in Gillingham, Kent, was able to extract the lolly stick from Bentley’s tummy to save his life.
The following morning, Bentley was transferred to his owners’ daytime vets before getting the all-clear to return home later that day.
Bentley has since made a full recovery and has now had the staples removed from the five-inch incision on his stomach.
Senior vet nurse Victoria Camburn said: “Bentley was a very surprising case for the team. Wood does not show up on x-rays, but Bentley’s stomach on the radiograph looked large and suspicious.
“The proof was in the pudding. We couldn’t believe that he hadn’t even chewed the lolly stick at all.
“A blockage like that always has the potential to get worse and we needed to move quickly as we could feel exactly where the stick was.
“Once Bentley was sedated and on painkillers, Mohammed performed a single gastrotomy incision before very carefully prising out the stick.”
Victoria added: “We get a lot of cases at Vets Now where dogs have swallowed something they shouldn’t have.
“But I’ve never come across a dog eating an entire ice lolly stick before.
“Dogs being dogs, it’s inevitable they are going to eat things they shouldn’t and what Bentley’s case shows is how important it is to get help ASAP when that happens.
“The most rewarding thing about this was when he walked out to his family in the morning just a few hours after surgery. We’re all really pleased to hear he’s recovered so well.”
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The Vets Now clinic in Gillingham – where Bentley received treatment – is one of a nationwide network of Vets Now clinics and pet emergency hospitals that are open through the night, seven-days-a-week, and day and night on weekends and bank holidays, to treat any pet emergencies that may occur.
All of Vets Now’s out-of-hours clinics and 24/7 hospitals have a vet and vet nurse on site at all times.
Vets Now has also recently partnered with PawSquad, offering an online video consultation service to make professional veterinary advice more easily available. While the service is not suitable for life-threatening emergencies like Bentley’s, their experienced vets are available to discuss any worries or concerns pet owners might have.