A 12-week-old puppy has been saved by emergency surgery after eating twenty coins from her owner’s purse.
Owner, Ivana, 29, from Cavendish, in Derby, became concerned when her puppy, Daisy, started vomiting repeatedly and stopped eating.
After seeing a 2p coin in her vomit, she called PDSA and was advised to bring her bichon frise cross straight in to the charity’s Derby Pet Hospital.
Daisy was examined and vets could see her tummy was causing her pain, raising suspicions of a blockage, so she was sedated and X-rayed.
The PDSA team were stunned, as X-rays revealed a shocking number of coins in her stomach.
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Daisy underwent urgent surgery to remove them, while Ivana, her partner and their two children waited anxiously at home for news.
During the operation, the PDSA team removed a total of twenty coins from her stomach, including 13 1ps, three 5ps, two 20ps and two £1 coins – swallowing a total of £2.68.
Ivana said: “I couldn’t believe it when PDSA rang to tell me Daisy had swallowed so many coins.
"My purse had been missing and we’d searched high and low for it, not thinking it was Daisy who was the culprit who ran off with it.
"I had no idea a puppy would even eat this sort of thing and we were all beside ourselves with worry and so scared we might lose her.
"My four-year-old daughter is best friends with Daisy and she was very upset.”
PDSA Vet Nurse, Sally Frith, who works at Derby PDSA Pet Hospital, said: “Daisy has broken a new record - we couldn’t believe the number of coins she’d managed to eat, especially for such a tiny puppy.
"The coins had been causing a blockage which, if left, could have been fatal, so it’s a good job her owner brought her in to PDSA when she did.
“Daisy has been back for check-ups and we’re pleased she’s recovering and healing well.
“It’s thanks to the X-rays that we were able to accurately diagnose what had happened to Daisy – they are essential for us to be able to provide vital care to poorly pets.
"Amazingly, across our Pet Hospitals we carry out one X-ray every two minutes but, at £135 to sedate and X-ray Daisy, they are a costly but essential part of our work.
"Daisy is just one example of the thousands of pets we support every year, offering them a fighting chance of survival and the ability to return home to their loving families.”
Thankfully, the operation was a success and the following day Daisy was able to go home with painkillers and antibiotics.
Ivana added: “We are so grateful to PDSA. The vet team were fantastic and I can’t thank them enough for saving Daisy’s life.
"They were so supportive during our hour of need and I don’t know what we would have done without them.”
As well as using their mouths to eat, dogs also use them to investigate objects, sometimes swallowing an item by mistake.
This behaviour can lead to dogs eating very bizarre objects. Over the years, PDSA vets have found all sorts of bizarre things pets have eaten through essential X-rays – from golf balls, tent pegs, rubber ducks and even a knife!
In times of hardship pets like Daisy will still fall ill or be injured and need emergency, life-saving care.
Daisy’s X-ray alone cost the charity £135 and while Daisy’s owners contributed what they could towards her treatment, the total cost of her care came to over £600.
PDSA is appealing for donations so that the charity can continue to provide urgent care to vulnerable pets, whose owners have nowhere else to turn.
Every donation will help give a poorly pet the life-saving X-ray and care they so desperately need. To donate, visit www.pdsa.org.uk/pdsa-x-rays.
