A greedy dog was saved by vets after scoffing down an entire kebab and nearly piercing his heart with an 11-inch skewer. Cockapoo Rolo was 'close to death' when scans showed the sharp object was lodged beneath his ribs and edging closer to his vital organs. Vets believe the skewer would have killed him if it wasn't removed soon enough.
Owner Joanne Ogden 'prepared for the worst' when vets took her pooch in. Fortunately, they managed to remove the skewer after a delicate two-hour operation.
Joanne said: “It was a shock to see the skewer so close to his heart on the scans. I prepared myself for the worst because of where the stick was and how risky surgery was going to be.
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"With Rolo being a puppy, he explores everything, so I was always vigilant about picking things off the ground. But he definitely sneaked the kebab from somewhere, whether from the table or bin."
Joanne believes the stick was lodged in Rolo's body for more than six months as he had bouts of vomiting and diarrhoea last summer following a family barbecue. After initially taking him to the vets, an x-ray failed to pick up the wooden skewer.
A few months later, she became increasingly worried as the poor dog would yelp in pain whenever she tried to pick him up. After noticing a lump on his side, Joanne took Rolo to Clifton Lodge Vets in Hartlepool, where clinical director Sarah Crawford found the kebab stick lodged in the dog's body.
Sarah and her team carried out a 'complex and dangerous' operation to save his life before it could work its way into his hear. Sarah said: "We believe the stick had somehow been ingested and pierced his stomach at some point and managed to migrate into his chest.
“The stick was about 1cm away from his heart and the other end was poking out towards the body wall. It was trapped under the ribs. If it had worked its way into the heart Rolo would have died quite quickly.
“He was on a lot of antibiotics because of the infection created around the stick. Sooner or later the body would have grown resistant to the antibiotics. If there’s something still in there causing the infection you can’t win that battle.”
Joanne added that the pup has now made an "incredible recovery". She said: "He is very energetic and has a lovely, funny character with a little bit of sass as well.
“He has made an incredible recovery. He is back to his normal self apart from having a scar down his chest. When I walk into the vets practice now everybody knows him. I can’t thank them enough. The care has been amazing.”
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