To any veterinarians out there!

[Mike]

Vets,

My dog recently swallowed a hook and some monofilament that a careless fisherman left around. Another fisherman I know has told me that a similar situation occurred to him a few years back, and his vet fed him cotton balls for a day to successfully entangle the hook/line and allow for safe passage. Does anyone else have an opinion on this? It has been several days now and my pet seems ok- he is acting normal, has an appetite, and is having normal bowel movements.

Any input/advice is appreciated.

Thank You!

Mike.Durkalec@parsons.com

[wallytap]

Mike you're not safe until the hook is found.Do NOT give cottonballs, if anything feed the dog bread (it'll digest)If the hook perforates the bowel a serious infection will occur which can be fatal.If the hook isn't found in the dogpile get an x-ray to locate it, this may require surgical removal to save your dog.Best of luck!Keep us posted.

[Bob G2]

Maybe vetspet or Steve(CO) will see this. Bump.

[Steve(CO)]

Mike:
If you are sure he did swallow a hook, I'd get your dog into your vet as soon as possible. A sharp object in the GI tract is potential disaster. Even a string (or mono) without a hook can cause major problems. I almost lost my own cat last year due to an ingested string. Complications could include anything from obstruction to perforation of the bowel. You need x-rays to locate the thing and get it removed, if necessary. If you are lucky enough that he has passed the hook, you will still sleep better knowing that it is not in there somewhere. Good luck.
Steve B., DVM

[Mike]

To WallyTap and Steve(CO),

Thank you very much for your responses. Heeded your advice and took my lab in today for x-rays. I'm happy to report the hook was gone, he must have passed it with the loaf of bread that I fed him. Thank you again for your prompt advice.

Sincerely,

Mike

[vetspet(ind)]

be sure the veterinarian you use did complete x-rays of both the chest and abdomen...the hook will show very easily with just one view of each cavity but be sure the vet took an x-ray of the chest as the hook may have lodged in the esophagus and would be a major problem if this happened...otherwise you got lucky...just had a small dog that a few days earlier ate a pork bone and it lodged in the esophagus and by the time they brought it in the bone had essentially rotted its way thru the esophagus and entered the chest cavity...too late too help the poor critter..to anyone else ..if this happens to you i would definitely not use cotton balls as this would plug up and not digest...bread would be the usual non-surgical remedy...steve

[Mike]

Vetspet,

Thank you for the concern and yes, the vet did chest and abdomen x-rays.

Mike

[cn]

Being a dog owner myself, thank you for letting readers know everything came out okay!

[Dave in Mpls]

Glad to hear everything came out ok (pun intended) :)

Was thinking about your pooch yesterday morning when I had my springer in for his spring checkup.

Regards

[Buckeye]

Hey Dave I'm a springer guy too. Currently have 2 and will be picking up a 3rd one (am I nuts?) in another month and a half.