A greedy dog who wolfed down an entire kebab at a family barbecue was saved by vets after the 11inch skewer was lodged just 1cm from his heart. Cockapoo Rolo was 'close to death' when scans showed the pointy wooden sick was lodged beneath his ribs and edging towards his vital organ
Vets believe the stick would have killed him if it wasn't removed and said surgery was the only option to save his life. Owner Joanne Ogden 'prepared for the worst' but thankfully they managed to remove the skewer during 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.
"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 kebab stick may have been lodged in Rolo's body for more than six months as he had bouts of vomiting and diarrhoea last summer after a family barbecue. She took him to the vet after he experienced some stomach and digestive problems, but thought his health woes were over when he responded well to treatment.
But an x-ray hadn't picked up the wooden skewer and several months later she grew worried when the poor dog was left yelping in pain as she tried to pick him up and then found a lump on his side. Joanne took him to Clifton Lodge Vets in Hartlepool, where clinical director Sarah Crawford found the roughly 30cm (11inch) kebab stick lodged in the dog’s body.
Sarah and her team then carried out a 'complex and dangerous' operation to save his life before it could work its way into his heart. Amazingly, Rolo started breathing again independently as soon as his chest was sewn up - and he was walking within the hour.
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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.”
After the surgery, the sassy 18-month old pup has made an “incredible recovery”.
Joanne added: "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.”
