Dylan the Dalmatian landed himself in trouble when he found a dropped glove – and ate it.
But the six-month-old puppy from Thursby had a lucky escape thanks to vet Laura Binnie who performed lifesaving surgery to remove it.
The glove could have led to fatal sepsis, said Laura, a small animal vet at Paragon Veterinary Group in Dalston.
And she warned dog owners to contact their vet as soon as possible if their pet may have swallowed a foreign body.
Dylan’s owner, Stephen Baxter, an electrician at Pirelli in Carlisle, said: “My wife took him for a walk, and he was the other side of a hedge when she thought she saw him pick something up.
“When she got to him there was nothing in his mouth or around him, so she began to doubt what she had seen.
“We ummed and ahhed for the next week but he was completely normal. Then the following weekend he was sick and then went off his food, so we went to the vet.”
An X-ray revealed a mystery object, said Laura.
“There was what looked like a hair clip in his upper intestine and something that looked like material, so we knew we had to open him up,” she said.
“I found a hard bit of plastic in his upper intestine, but wound around that was a thread – in abdominal surgery we call this a linear foreign body. It is dangerous because it could cut through the gut like a cheese wire if we didn’t get it out.
“I cut the bit of plastic free from the thread. But I now had something anchoring this thread in the stomach.
“I went into the stomach and there was a glove in there and the thread had come away from the glove and was anchoring the bit of plastic in the small intestine.
“I managed to get the glove out with no trouble – it was just the type of thin fleece glove you might put on to go for a dog walk.”
The small piece of plastic may have come from a doormat Dylan had chewed at home.
“We were really worried about him,” said Stephen. “But he’s back firing on all cylinders now. He recovered from the operation really well.
“He’s a typical puppy, into everything and chewing everything because he is teething, and his teeth are aching. We have to watch him all the time. It’s like having kids, you need eyes in the back of your head!”
Laura said swallowing foreign objects was not uncommon, especially with puppies.
“I removed a barbecue skewer from one dog, and we take out numerous pants and socks,” she said.
“I had one linear foreign body in the small intestine and the nurse at the other end of the dog spotted a thread wrapped around its tongue which ran all the way through to its stomach and small intestine. That was pretty scary as that thread could cut through.
“If you have got a young dog – typically it’s a six-month-old Labrador or Dalmatian or springer – they like to put things in their mouth and if you go over to try to take it out, they swallow because they don’t want you to get it.
“If you see that happen, phone your vet as soon as possible. If we can make them sick and bring it up quickly, then we can avoid surgery.
“Sometimes it can come out the other end – sometimes dogs poo out socks – but if it becomes stuck or it’s a situation like a linear foreign body, then that isn’t going to go through the dog. And then they become sick which means the surgery becomes more risky.
“It’s better to be on the safe side and contact us right away. A vet on the end of the phone can make that judgement call for you.”
Stephen added: “It’s important to watch puppies and be careful where you take them – the more the public are going into an area the more chance there could be lost items or litter there.
“I hope people will be careful not to drop things like gloves or litter when they are out, as it could be dangerous if an animal picks it up.”
