Dog swallowed 62cm stick (From St Albans & Harpenden Review)

Dog swallowed 62cm stick

7:40am Tuesday 5th August 2008 in

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AN 11-stone dog escaped unscathed after accidentally swallowing a 62cm stick. Hector, a one-year-old Great Dane, swallowed the stick while playing in the garden at his home in Wheathampstead.

His owner Gerard Panting became aware of a problem when Hector became subdued and began drooling a lot.

When there were no improvements Mr Panting rushed him to Cayton Veterinary Surgery, in St Albans where an X-ray showed Hector had swallowed the 24 inch stick going from the far end of his stomach all the way up to the middle of his neck.

“Oesopageal foreign bodies (something stuck in the food pipe) are well recognised and occasionally you hear of amazing stories like Hector’s. However, to come across one yourself is quite unusual - certainly of this size,” said Cayton’s veterinary surgeon Leonard Cooper.

Surgeons radiographed Hector and identified a long, straight object in his stomach and food pipe so anaesthetised him to identify what it was.

A video camera was passed down Hector’s oesophagus which revealed the end of the stick. It was about 45cm down his throat which was too far for the veterinary surgeons to reach.

Amazingly, the camera showed that even after he had swallowed the stick he had still tried to eat an apple. Luckily, the bark on the stick was relatively smooth and there were no smaller branches sticking out.

He was referred to the Queen Mother Hospital for Animals at the Royal Veterinary College where they removed the stick safely.

Mr Panting said: "The whole adventure cost well over £1,000 but he did have the very best care. I can't understand how he managed to swallow it. We are so relieved he has not done any damage to himself."

“He is definitely fortunate that he did not damage any of his upper digestive tract, both when he swallowed it and when it was removed,” added Mr Cooper.

“Hector is a lovely dog and it was excellent to see him back to full health soon after the stick was removed and put out of his reach.”