A STAFFIE dog which swallowed a whole kebab skewer has been saved by a Lymm vet.
Vet Rachel Dean manage to gently manipulate the skewer out of Patch after realising the much-loved pet was at the sharp end of a perilous situation.
She said: “I have been a vet for 20 years and never seen anything quite like this case before.”
Patch’s owner, Becky Bambrick, took her six-year-old pet to Lymm Veterinary Surgery when she realised there was a problem.
Vet Rachel moved swiftly after discovering Patch had swallowed something thin and sharp embedded in the wall of her back passage.
After a full examination, she realised the six-inch wooden stick had made its way almost entirely through the animal’s digestive system, getting stuck just towards the end.
“When I examined Patch I found something slightly embedded in the wall of her back passage. It was thin and sharp and at first I thought it might be a stick or sharp piece of spare rib-bone that she’d picked up and swallowed.
“After sedating and x-raying her, I discovered it was actually a kebab skewer that was the problem and I gently manipulated it out of her. If I hadn’t been able to get it out that way she could have needed surgery.
“If it had been left there it would have had some very serious consequences and she might even have died.
“It was incredible that the skewer hadn’t done any damage. It came all the way through her stomach and bowel without perforating anything, which was so lucky for her.
“At times it must have been very painful but she’s a very brave dog and just seemed to take everything in her stride. She’s since made a tremendous recovery.”
Patch’s owner, Becky, 27, a mum-of-three, said: “I have nothing but praise for the way Rachel spotted what was wrong and then acted so quickly to do something about it. She’s brilliant and but for her we’d have lost Patch.
“My partner Andrew and I spotted Patch wasn’t acting like herself. She didn’t want to get out of bed, which isn’t like her as she’s usually very lively, and wasn’t going to the toilet as normal.”
Now Becky and Rachel have joined forces to warn other pet owners to be careful when discarding barbecue waste.
Becky said: “We do have barbecues in our garden during the summer but we never use any kind of skewers because of the dangers they pose to our dogs,” she said.
“I have no idea where Patch picked up the one she swallowed.
“But I’m telling Patch’s story so that owners can be on their guard against this sort of thing. She was so lucky that we got her to the vets in time and didn’t suffer any internal damage.”
