Clevengers Corner Veterinary Care

It's a talent to make the most productive sword swallower jealous. Our dogs have an uncanny ability to swallow dangerous objects, such as knives and sticks, and still act as if nothing was wrong. Ask your family veterinarian to talk about what he or she has found inside the stomachs of dogs and you will be in for an afternoon of stories. Recently, a leading manufacturer of veterinary x-ray products held a contest to find the oddest swallowed objects. Some of the winners included another Labrador with 14 golf balls in his stomach, a Boxer with 208 rocks of various sizes, and a Pit Bull puppy who swallowed an 11 inch steak knife. One 7-month old Pug puppy demonstrated expensive taste by swallowing his owner's 2-carat diamond ring. The winner of the dog category though went to the Samoyed who had 8 batteries of differing sizes, from a "D" cell all the way down to AAA, a plastic raccoon, 7 rocks, a marble, 2 broken light bulbs, machine parts, and a variety of staples. What perplexes many owners, and many veterinarians, is why the dogs are eating these objects in the first place. Some items can be obvious, for example, pieces of glass from a broken spaghetti sauce jar could easily end up in the abdomen of a dog hurrying to finish off the tasty treat. Others, such as the sticks and rocks, are less obvious as to why they were eaten. It is even more puzzling to figure out how many dogs are able to swallow dangerous items without damaging themselves and why they continue the habit. In one Indiana veterinary emergency hospital’s submission, a single dachshund had emergency exploratory surgery four times during his 12 years of life! To keep your pet from making an emergency trip to the animal hospital, veterinarians recommend keeping all garbage behind a secure door or cabinet, using baby gates or closed doors to create "off-limits" areas for your dog, monitoring what your dog picks up off the ground on walks, and picking up leftover food, utensils, and other items after meals. Dogs aren't the only pets who will exhibit this type of behavior. Cats are extremely fond of string-like objects and will often present after a day or two of vomiting with a "linear foreign body" on x-rays. Cats need to be watched with rubber bands, bread ties, tinsel, or any object that can be batted around and swallowed. Exotic pets, such as lizards, frogs, and snakes are not immune either. One of the more amusing entries in the x-ray contest was a snake who had swallowed 2 light bulbs whole. Amazingly, every one of these pets left their veterinarian's hospital wagging their tails and anxious to head home. However, even with successful outcomes, none of these cases should be considered happy endings. All of these pets underwent painful surgeries and their owners suffered anguish and worry as their dogs were treated. In most cases, retrieval of these items cost more than $1000 at each occurrence. As with most problems veterinarians see, prevention is preferable to treatment.Q: Is second hand smoke harmful to pets?A: Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS), also known as "second hand smoke," contains twenty known cancer causing agents, or carcinogens. Regular exposure to ETS has been associated with higher cancer rates in people. While pets have not been studied nearly as much, there is some evidence they may be at risk, too.One study at Tufts University demonstrated that cats living with smokers had a higher incidence of a mouth cancer called squamous cell carcinoma. If the cat lived for more than five years in a smoking household, the risk was even greater. Veterinarians theorize that cats may concentrate the carcinogens on their fur much like an electrostatic air filter collects smoke particles. Once attracted and contained by the fur's static charge, cats grooming practices deposit the particles into their mouths.Dogs also seem to be affected. Long-nosed breeds, like Collies, suffer increased risk of nasal sinus cancer when they are regularly exposed to ETS. This does not seem to be the case for shorter faced breeds. However, all breeds of dogs are at greater risk of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), also called chronic bronchitis, when they are regularly exposed to smoke.

	Office Hours: 7:00am – 7:00pm Monday through Thursday 7:00am – 5:30pm Friday 8:30am – 12:00pm Saturday Doctor’s Hours: by appointment please	Online store
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