Last week I wrote about a rare risk to dogs, consuming raisins.  Now I warn about a more mundane, but actual risk, one that kills dogs regularly.  I think they called it foreign body ingestion.  What it means is your dog eats something that isn't food.  It blocks the digestive tract an can cause tissue damage leading to death.  If you catch it early it will lead to “budget damage” causing “mortgage payment death” for you.

Rocks, cloth (clothes and bedding), home furnishings (carpet and furniture) and sticks are common foreign objects for dogs to ingest.  Other things that are intended to be food treats also can become lodged in the digestive tract.  These include bones, rawhide and any food or other toy that dogs can break off large chunks (or parts) and swallow.

Without getting into all the weird things that Amanda and her practice have had to remove from dogs, my brother's, Corey's, Brittany has had life saving surgery after ingesting a small stone which lodged in her small intestine.  Winnie recently consumed a large amount of all kinds of junk.  Leading to Dr. Amanda performing similar surgery on our dog.  Winnie consumed carpet fiber, a spider plant, dryer lint, a dryer sheet and a sock, which she tore into small pieces.  Winnie has house privileges at night meaning she is allowed to sleep outside of her crate. 

I found the first pile of vomit in the middle of the night.  It contained some kibble and some white stuff.  I cleaned it up, and assumed the white stuff was the remnants of a paper towel that had been used during butchering the deer.  I discovered the second vomit pile shortly after sunrise when I got up to let the dogs out.  Winnie was making hacking sounds and I examined the contents.  It looked to have apiece of sock, dog blanket pieces and some dog hair.  When I found a half-eaten sock, I showed it to Amanda who had us in the car faster than you can say “emergency vet visit.”

X-rays reveled something other than kibble in her belly.  I thought she'd ralphed up the sock and (once again) thought my veterinarian wife was overreacting when she told me to get the tech (also named Amanda) and get her ready for surgery.  I assisted up until it was time for the cutting to start and went out for coffee and pastries for everyone.  Sometimes you have to do what you are capable of doing, which for me is holding dogs, giving shots and fetching stuff like coffee and pastries.  Amanda, the tech, is really good at the tricky stuff.

By the time I got back, Dr. Amanda had removed zig-zag synthetic string that was obvious to me as that ugly, falling-apart rug we sometimes use at the entry.  Once again, I was mistaken about the severity of the problem.

Since Winnie doesn't eat stuff she isn't supposed to eat (including the cat's food and poo) our theory is she got a belly ache either from getting a piece of the deer I was butchering, or from a change in kibble formula, and started “self medicating” trying to induce vomiting.  We discovered the carpet fiber seems to be the first thing she ate.  She managed to puke up the sock and the contents of the lint trap (from the garbage in the laundry).  But the carpet was like a bird's nest in her belly.

So, some advice on when to see your vet, (this list has been approved by Dr. Amanda):

When you find evidence they ate something they should not have.
When they can't hold down water.
When the puking is “different” than normal (Winnie was hacking instead of the typical regurgitation).
Any time you are worried that something is wrong.

My inclination on Saturday morning was to wait until Monday and see if she couldn't pass the sock pieces.  Had I done that, it's possible that Winnie would not have survived.  If she survived, she may have had permanent damage to her digestive tract.  Best case scenario, it would have taken more extensive and costly surgery, and Winnie's recovery would have taken longer.  As it was, if I'd been paying retail Winnie's carpet binge and purge would have set us back about $2,000.  Approximately three times what I paid for her as a puppy (and maybe a million times her current market value).

Hunting dogs in general and GSP's in particular get bored when they aren't working and are clever and resourceful.  I recommend kenneling your dog when you aren't there to supervise.  I've seen photos of a couch completely demolished in 45 minutes by a GSP.  When the owner sent out the picture with a comment that she was out a $1500 sofa, I pointed out that if the dog had consumed any part of it, she could have spent an equal amount or more on surgery.

You also have to think about treats.  Any treat or toy the dog can dismantle is dangerous.  Rather than risk getting sued, I'll tell you the only toy/treat/chew I trust is Nyalabone.  We also like the Kong BALLS as opposed to any other kind of ball, however we don't leave them with most of the dogs.  I don't trust any of the stuff made of compressed plant matter or pieces of animal hide.  I don't like any plush toys, especially the ones with squeakers. 

We also (very rarely) feed beef soup bones.  The raw ones.  The bone wall has to be very thick before I will buy them, and the slice needs to be about 1½ inch, otherwise they get too much marrow, which causes the runs.  After the bones are clean, I throw them all out.

And finally, if you can't find a veterinarian who is stupid enough to marry you, consider pet care insurance.  I'm not a big fan of it as it falls in the “extended warranty” category of insurance, where the premiums are steep relative to the coverage.  However, there are some catastrophic situations like this one or cancer, where you might have to make some pretty awful decisions.  Like life-or-death depending on whether or not you can afford it.  Many folks choose life, even when they can't afford it.  You can do an Internet search for the policies.  I'd be happy to endorse one, if a company would like to help defray the cost of this web site. 

One plan I've seen is as little as $9 a month and covers accidents.  For $17 a month, you get accidents and illnesses, but it's a bit less on the per incident limit (we'd have had most of Winnie's costs covered).  For $31 a month you get all that plus the regular care covered, and much higher single and aggregate limits.  Considering the cost of your regular visit anyway, this seems like you get a "net cost" somewhere between the other two plans with better limits, and a way to make monthly payments on your regular care.