Barbeque snack comes back to bite dog

The balmy barbeque season may seem like a distant memory to us but one poor pooch from Leicester had a rather sharp reminder of it. PDSA vets removed a 15cm wooden skewer, which had unknowingly lay inside the dog after being swallowed an incredible three months ago!

 

Sneaky Staffordshire Bull Terrier cross, Missy (7), is suspected of scavenging a chicken kebab directly from the barbeque as it was cooking, during a party her owners held back in August.

 

In the intervening months Missy had displayed no symptoms to indicate she had swallowed the unsuitable snack and her owners had no idea that their pet pooch was hiding the remains of a potentially deadly snack inside her. It was only when a golf ball-sized lump appeared at the bottom of her rib cage in October that worried owner, Louise Yorke (25), rushed her to Leicester PDSA PetAid hospital  for advice.

 

 PDSA vets initially suspected an abscess, but when antibiotics failed to clear it, and with nothing showing up on an x-ray, PDSA vets decided the only option was exploratory surgery. It never entered Louise’s mind that a barbecue skewer could be to blame.

 

Chris Sherwood, the Veterinary Surgeon who performed the operation, said he was ‘stunned’ after spotting the long wooden skewer poking through Missy’s abdomen.

 

He said “Not long into the operation it became very clear what was causing Missy’s problem. Amazingly the skewer had passed through the stomach, where it could have sat for months, then into the large intestines before moving into Missy’s abdomen. It caused  considerable damage and pierced her spleen. Despite its size, the skewer was pretty straight forward to remove.

 

“It is remarkable that Missy didn’t suffer major health problems, given the internal injuries and the potentially fatal infection the skewer could have caused. There’s no question the skewer had been inside for a significant amount of time as some of her internal injuries had already started to heal. She was allowed home the day after her operation with antibiotics and pain killers and has gone on to make a full recovery.”

 

Louise, from Thorpe Astley, said: “We were worried sick about Missy and thought it might have been cancer. When the PDSA vet told us it was a wooden skewer that had caused the lump, we were absolutely shocked! We hadn’t had a barbeque since August, and Missy hadn’t shown any signs of being unwell.

 

“Missy is a fantastic family pet, and she is absolutely wonderful with my four-year-old twins, who both idolise her. She is a bit of a secret raider on the food front, and has been known to sniff out food in rubbish bags! The thing that gives her away is the guilty look she gets when she’s done something she shouldn’t!

 

“We now try very hard to make sure everything is out of her reach. We are so grateful to PDSA for everything they have done for Missy and the care they have shown her.”

 

PDSA is advising pet owners to be extra cautious over the Christmas period, as its vets across the UK see many cases of cats and dogs swallowing festive items year after year, ranging from Christmas decorations and cocktail sticks to toys, balloons and bones – all commonplace in many households during the holidays. For more information, please visit www.pdsa.org.uk/winterhealth 

 

 

PDSA is the UK’s leading veterinary charity, providing free veterinary care for the sick and injured pets of people in need. For further information about PDSA please contact the Press Office on 01952 204 792, email pr@pdsa.org.uk, or visit www.pdsa.org.uk/mediacentre