Foreign body surgery in dogs

Meet Dexter who became very sick over a few days with lots of episodes of vomiting. He had also lost interest in his usual favourite foods which was highly usual.

Worried, his family bought him in to see a vet. During consultation it was recommended to have further diagnostic work done. This included taking his blood and also having a few xrays. There was a very good reason for him feeling unwell. The veterinarians found on one of the xrays a sock sitting in his intestines.  This had got suck and was unable to be passed. The only way to get that sock out was for surgery.  This major surgery needed to happen as the sock was tightening and damaging  his intestines.

The vet surgeon had to removed 30cm of his intestines. Given his petite size, this was a significant length. As a result his recovery was slightly rocky as  the remainder of his intestines had to get moving again. Surprisingly dogs can live without so much intestine. The challenge is getting the intestines happily and vigorously digesting food.

The good news in that Dexter has recovered completely from his surgery and is back to his cool dude self. The bad news is Dexter is still showing great interest in their socks.