This is ‘Doll’, a 1 year old Hungarian Visla belonging to Mr Marinoni. Doll has a fantastic nature and is always happy to come and visit us at the practice for routine treatments. Unfortunately his recent visits to see us have been for something a lot more serious.

Doll came to us in the middle of September after he had been vomiting on and off for a few days and he was a bit quieter than usual. X-rays taken of Doll’s abdomen revealed a round mass/lump at the front of his abdomen. An ultrasound scan was then carried out which confirmed the suspicion that a foreign body was present. Unfortunately the foreign body was blocking the passage of food and water down the intestinal tract and it had to be removed by performing surgery to save Doll’s life. A huge amount of fibrous wool and string type material was removed from Doll’s stomach and intestines. It is still a mystery to this day as to what the material was and where he acquired it!

Doll recovered well from his surgery and was up on his feet looking very lively just hours later. Apart from a minor wound infection which responded well to antibiotics, Doll came on leaps and bounds following his surgery and he has never looked back.

County Vets would like to urge pet owners to take 5 minutes to doggy/kitty proof their houses by removing or preventing access to small objects which could be swallowed, such as children’s toys, knitting wool/string (common foreign body in cats), pants and socks (embarrassing for owners!) and certain food items such as corn on the cob, fruit stones and wooden food skewers. Sometimes however, no matter how careful you are, our pets can be very determined and still eat objects they shouldn’t. If you have any concerns that this may have occurred get in touch ASAP!

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