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I never would have believed that we would be spending Friday night at the emergency vet clinic! Friday afternoon Nugget was happily fetching balls and running on the lawn as playful as can be. A few short hours later (9:00 pm) he started gagging. When he planted himself at our feet and wouldn't move I knew that he was trying to tell us that he was ill.
Luckily we live near a 24/7 vet clinic with an amazing staff that I cannot praise enough. The vet could not see anything obvious (like bloat) and suggested X-rays. When we looked at them we couldn't believe what we saw. Somehow our little Hoover had found and eaten a long needle-like piece of metal which was impaled crosswise in his esophagus!
The vet sedated Nugget, propped his mouth open and blindly probed with very long tweezers. She was very skilled and fortunately was able to extract the object with minimal damage. It took several hours before Nugget was conscious enough to have the catheter and IV removed. The poor little guy could barely walk, his tongue was all wrinkled up and sticking out of his mouth, and he was totally disoriented. In spite of all of that he walked right up the SUV ramp happy to go home.
Thank goodness we didn't "wait until morning" to seek help. I can only imagine what would have happened if the sharp piece of metal had been stuck further down or torn up his intestines.
After a day of recovery Nugget is back to being happy and playful. We do have him on a course of antibiotics and a medication to coat his esophagus. He is eating and drinking normally and does not appear to be uncomfortable. I guess that turkey bones aren't the only dangers to watch out for!
Luckily we live near a 24/7 vet clinic with an amazing staff that I cannot praise enough. The vet could not see anything obvious (like bloat) and suggested X-rays. When we looked at them we couldn't believe what we saw. Somehow our little Hoover had found and eaten a long needle-like piece of metal which was impaled crosswise in his esophagus!
The vet sedated Nugget, propped his mouth open and blindly probed with very long tweezers. She was very skilled and fortunately was able to extract the object with minimal damage. It took several hours before Nugget was conscious enough to have the catheter and IV removed. The poor little guy could barely walk, his tongue was all wrinkled up and sticking out of his mouth, and he was totally disoriented. In spite of all of that he walked right up the SUV ramp happy to go home.
Thank goodness we didn't "wait until morning" to seek help. I can only imagine what would have happened if the sharp piece of metal had been stuck further down or torn up his intestines.
After a day of recovery Nugget is back to being happy and playful. We do have him on a course of antibiotics and a medication to coat his esophagus. He is eating and drinking normally and does not appear to be uncomfortable. I guess that turkey bones aren't the only dangers to watch out for!
