Millie’s Metal Mayhem
Millie, a gorgeous 6 year old Labrador caused real worry for her dedicated family when on a leisurely dog walk along the riverbank she raided a fisherman’s bag hoping for a treat but instead swallowed a fish hook complete with line and weights!
Her owners rushed her to their local vet who after taking an x-ray confirmed that Millie had swallowed the potentially deadly angling kit. They referred her straight to our team.
Her owner said “As soon as I saw what she was doing I called her, she came to me and it was at that point I examined her and noticed a tiny piece of metal in the corner of her mouth, while Millie immediately started brushing her nose with her paw. I had the strong impression it was fish hook but Millie wriggled free. When I did manage to get a second look, I couldn’t see anything so I was worried she’d swallowed it. I called to the fisherman to ask if there were fish hooks in the carrier bag and he confirmed there had been fish hooks in the bag. I went straight home and spoke to my daughter who coincidentally is a vet and currently working in Sydney, Australia, but back on a visit. I told her I thought Millie had swallowed a fish hook and line and she said I needed to take her for an X-ray as soon as possible, which I did.”
One of our Residents in Internal Medicine Vicky Neale dealt with the case and said Millie had a lucky escape. Vicky said “Radiographs revealed the fish hook and attached weight were in Millie’s stomach. We used an endoscope to examine internally and this revealed there was no significant mucosal damage to the stomach or oesophagus. The fish hook was not embedded either, which ruled out the need for any invasive surgery and allowed us to successfully retrieve the hook, weights and fishing line using the endoscope!”
Millie’s owner finished by saying “The concern for us was whether the team could retrieve the hook non-surgically or whether she would need to be cut open. Thankfully, they managed to safely remove it with the endoscope and Millie recovered very quickly from the procedure. When I went to collect her the following day she was bouncing around and full of energy. The vet said it was lovely to see a dog bouncing out of the hospital looking so well so soon after treatment. We were equally pleased and are very grateful to the team for their care and attention both for Millie and for us. We’d definitely recommend them.”
This was a very positive outcome for Millie who had fortunately escaped any internal damage despite swallowing something as sharp and dangerous as a fish hook.
