Sox swallows a sock
Sox accompanies his owner when she goes to work in an old peoples home. The residents are very attached to him, and he runs from one person to another to gain attention. As playful as he is, one day he managed to got hold of one of the old ladies’ pop socks, and before his owner could stop him, he ran off and swallowed it.
The following morning Sox vomited, would not eat and was very quiet. The owner did not waste any time and came to see me.
Diagnosing foreign bodies is not always easy. If the object is still in the stomach, it cannot be felt because the stomach is hidden behind the ribcage. An x-ray may help, but unfortunately not all foreign material will be visible. Sometimes the addition of a dye material like barium is necessary to determine if a foreign body and obstruction is present.
As expected the sock was not visible on the x-ray of his tummy, but having seen Sox eat the foreign body as well as having a painful tummy, meant that I had no other choice than to operate.
Operating on a suspected foreign body case is always an exciting procedure. What object will we find? How extensive is the damage to the bowels? And not to forget: will we find a foreign body? Sox’s operation was relatively straightforward. The sock was removed through an incision in the stomach and small intestines. Because of the short time span between Sox eating the sock and the operation there was no damage done to the bowels. If the foreign body is in the bowels for a prolonged amount of time, the risk of perforation increases and subsequently the pet will develop a peritonitis, which carries a poor prognosis.
Sox was soon back to his normal self. Because prevention is better than cure we would always advise to be critical when buying toys for your dog or cat. Make sure they are safe and big enough so they cannot be swallowed in one go. During my career as a vet I have removed several buttons, strings, toys, bones, corn on the cob and even a kebab stick! Young dogs, particularly males like Sox, are naturally curious and enjoy chewing. In this case, the owner has been advised to keep Sox away from any other socks!!
What a useful article