Dogs eat the weirdest things

As any dog owner will tell you, our four-legged friends often get a taste for the strangest things. This tendency to eat the unusual has even got a name – ‘pica’. 

You can read more about what to do if your dog loves to eat things they shouldn’t with our guide to pica. 

Over the years our vets have seen some extraordinary x-rays and come across some extreme cases. Take a look at some of the strangest cases of pica seen by our vets: 

A kitchen knife

Macie’s x-ray has to be one of the most astonishing our vets have ever seen. She was rushed to us when she started chocking and being sick. An x-ray clearly showed the cause of the problem - Macie had somehow managed to swallow a 8 inch kitchen knife. Thankfully, the knife hadn’t caused any damage and she quickly recovered after an operation to (very carefully!) remove it.

Class A drugs 

Poor Blue, a young Whippet, had to spend a night in our Pet Hospital after accidentally swallowing some Ecstasy tablets. Blue sniffed out the pills when he was out for a walk and his owner was shocked to see what it was. Luckily, Blue made a full recovery. 

Toy minion 

Chase got himself into ‘Despicable’ situation when he wolfed down a chocolate egg with a plastic toy inside. Not only is chocolate toxic to dogs but the toy got stuck in Chase’s stomach. Our vets got a shock when they looked at his x-ray can could exactly what he’d swallowed – a minion!

Hearing aid 

Live-wire puppy, Domino, gave her owner a shock when she gobbled up a hearing aid. Domino had tried to get her paws on the hearing aid a few times, without luck. When she finally managed to chew up and swallow it she had to be rushed to our Pet Hospital for an emergency operation.

Sewing needle

Broxi gave our vets a challenge when she came through our doors feeling very under the weather. An x-ray showed something incredible – a needle lodged in the back of her throat. Luckily, our vets could see a bit of thread still attached to the needle and they used this to ease it out, saving Broxi from a serious operation.

Kitchen scourer 

Mischievous Shih Tzu Alfie took spring cleaning to a whole new level when he swallowed a kitchen scourer whole. PDSA vets gave him an injection to make him sick and, thankfully, Alfie quickly got the sponge out of his system!

The top of a baby's bottle

Diesel was really unwell when he came to us. He’d secretly snaffled the rubber teat from the top of a baby’s bottle. Our vets could see exactly what they were dealing with on his x-ray and were able to quickly get him back on his paws.

22 hair bobbles 

Tiny terrier Cooper was rushed to us when he started being sick. An x-ray showed an unidentified mass in Cooper’s stomach and our vet’s knew they had to operate right away. They were amazed to discover what had been making Cooper feel so ill – he’d swallowed 22 hair bobbles and a button!