Abstract

Dogs are curious by nature; they love to investigate new sights, smells and tastes. Unfortunately this usually leads them in to trouble, by causing foreign body ingestion and subsequent complications like alimentary tract obstruction and perforation. ‘Pica’ is another important reason for foreign body ingestion, especially in puppies. A gastric/enteric foreign body is anything that is ingested by an animal that cannot be digested, which eventually may cause obstruction. This is an evaluative report of four different cases of foreign body ingestion in dogs and its successful surgical management. Four canine patients belonging to different age groups, diagnosed (through radiography) with foreign body ingestion were subjected to laparotomy (gastrotomy/enterotomy) under general anaesthesia. A fish hook, an open safety pin, an aquarium pebble and a metal vessel lid were the objects recovered from these patients individually. Irrespective of recovery site, all patients exhibited acute vomiting as a common symptom. With timely and precise diagnosis, surgical intervention and post-operative management, all patients showed a complete, uneventful recovery post-surgery. This report notes that ingested foreign bodies (especially penetrating type) in dogs should always be considered as an emergency and can be surgically managed in field with great success rate.

Keywords : Dogs, Foreign body, Laparotomy, Vomiting, Emergency.