Dog has swallowed a foam scourer!

Re: Dog has swallowed a foam scourer!

Michael Woodhouse — Thu, 18 Jun 2015 15:33:57 GMT

[quote user="Robin Grimmer"]

Had a lab that swallowed a 50p piece, came up with apomorphine. Put it in the charity box :)

[/quote]

I'd have just monitored the dog for any change................

(see what I did there?)

Re: Dog has swallowed a foam scourer!

Alan Tevendale — Thu, 18 Jun 2015 15:20:12 GMT

Not an induced emesis but I've a dog that I see regularly that brought up a large soft material kong toy a few months ago. I wouldn't have imagined it would have been able to swallow it let alone bring it back up.

Re: Dog has swallowed a foam scourer!

Iain McAllister — Thu, 18 Jun 2015 15:11:53 GMT

Update - owner did not show in the morning for the appointment and didn't answer our calls or texts!

Thanks for all the comments though and interesting to see that most people would W&S and that the pads appear to breakdown in the stomach environment...

We don't have a scope here - it definitely did swallow it as it was witnessed by the owner - wasn't chewed up - went down whole. I was interest to see a few people advocating emesis - really couldn't imagine that getting back up the oesophagus - what's the biggest FB anyone has successfully got a dog to vomit...

Re: Dog has swallowed a foam scourer!

Martin Atkinson — Thu, 18 Jun 2015 09:40:26 GMT

[quote user="Glen McIntosh"]I also think apomorphine would be a good first treatment choice. [/quote]Trouble is it costs a fortune these days. I'll bet Robin's 50p it never causes any problems

Re: Dog has swallowed a foam scourer!

Robin Grimmer — Thu, 18 Jun 2015 09:06:54 GMT

Had a lab that swallowed a 50p piece, came up with apomorphine. Put it in the charity box :)

Re: Dog has swallowed a foam scourer!

Glen McIntosh — Thu, 18 Jun 2015 01:02:49 GMT

I also think apomorphine would be a good first treatment choice. We often get cases referred to us after hours for endoscopic removal of fbs, since we are one of the few clinics with access to endoscopy ooh in Hong kong. If this case were presented to me then I would be inducing emesis first, before proceeding with endoscopy. The is virtually no downside. There are really ony 2 outcomes for this type of fb after inducing emesis: 1) The fb is vomited out; 2) The fb isn't vomited out. If 1) then job done. If 2) then you go to endoscopy. Even if the fb did lodge in the oesophegous (which it won't), it just makes for an easier endoscopic removal. If you couldn't do endoscopy then you use a stomach tube to push it back into the stomach. There really isn't anything to fear with induction of emesis with this type of FB. (This approach, however is not advisable for needles and skewers etc. Also, I would still induce emesis even a few days ( or longer) after ingestion, so long as the dog has not already been vomiting (no point then is there?) since this type of FB will just be sitting in the stomach, so there really is no time limit for possible success of emesis induction with this type of FB.

Re: Dog has swallowed a foam scourer!

Sammy82 — Wed, 17 Jun 2015 22:32:23 GMT

I remember a dog that ate part of a rope frisbee that came up again with apo. Also when working as a locum last year I was told about a dog that ate a tampon and vomited it back up after apomorphine- gross.

Re: Dog has swallowed a foam scourer!

Neil Wheadon — Wed, 17 Jun 2015 22:25:51 GMT

[quote user="John Flynn"]Anyone have any horror stories to share on simply removing soft foreign bodies from the stomach with apomorphine? I don't.[/quote]

I think this was in a previous discussion, neither have I and haven't heard of one. (and this included a Vets Now Forum discussion) The best I had was a labrador that had swallowed a glove on a walk. I injected app and was pretty disappointed when it failed to come back up, however the car journey home did the trick!!

Neil

Re: Dog has swallowed a foam scourer!

John Flynn — Wed, 17 Jun 2015 21:30:34 GMT

Anyone have any horror stories to share on simply removing soft foreign bodies from the stomach with apomorphine? I don't.

Re: Dog has swallowed a foam scourer!

Alex Gough — Wed, 17 Jun 2015 20:49:24 GMT

That's why I mentioned referral. I presume OP didn't have an endoscope as he hadn't mentioned it as an option.

Re: Dog has swallowed a foam scourer!

Utlendigur — Wed, 17 Jun 2015 20:33:26 GMT

[quote user="alex gough"] but GI endoscopy is a very low risk procedure,[/quote]

But not every practice has an endoscope....

Re: Dog has swallowed a foam scourer!

Alex Gough — Wed, 17 Jun 2015 20:26:02 GMT

Quite, Lucy. There are pros and cons, but GI endoscopy is a very low risk procedure, and an ounce of prevention etc. If it was my dog I would scope it. Martin, do you only ever take action when there are signs (symptoms), or are you being specific to foreign bodies?

Re: Dog has swallowed a foam scourer!

Lucy Fleming — Wed, 17 Jun 2015 17:35:42 GMT

[quote user="Martin Atkinson"]

[quote user="alex gough"]

That would probably come out quite easily with a scope if it's still in the stomach? Could be worth referring if funds allow.

[/quote]Why bother doing anything the OP has not indicated the dog has any symptoms?

[/quote]

I am guessing to avoid the possibility of it forming an obstruction if it does pass through the pylorus (depending on the size of bits it has been chewed into!). Pros being that you could 'get it gone', and without cutting, avoids the risk of needing an enterotomy later, cons being that it still would be a GA procedure, it might not be there or retrievable, or ever have caused a problem in the first place. I would see both scoping to retrieve or waiting to see if anything happens as appropriate options in this case (obviously there's a cost difference also!)

Re: Dog has swallowed a foam scourer!

Gillian Mostyn — Wed, 17 Jun 2015 12:52:33 GMT

We had a case yesterday - dog ate a tea light and owner absolutely sure the wax has since appeared but that the foil case hasn't been passed...... mild GI upset.

a radiograph or two later..... no metal densities in dog and 'normal' gut picture! All OK now so am glad no one dived in to look for it!

Re: Dog has swallowed a foam scourer!

Martin Atkinson — Wed, 17 Jun 2015 12:39:43 GMT

[quote user="alex gough"]

That would probably come out quite easily with a scope if it's still in the stomach? Could be worth referring if funds allow.

[/quote]Why bother doing anything the OP has not indicated the dog has any symptoms?

Re: Dog has swallowed a foam scourer!

Anthony Dennison — Wed, 17 Jun 2015 12:37:48 GMT

[quote user="bob lehner"]

[quote user="Michael Woodhouse"]One thing for sure - it's not going to perforate the bowel.....[/quote]

But might cause a bad dose of the scours....?

[/quote]

Bob wins the internet today.

Re: Dog has swallowed a foam scourer!

bob lehner — Wed, 17 Jun 2015 11:57:55 GMT

[quote user="Michael Woodhouse"]One thing for sure - it's not going to perforate the bowel.....[/quote]

But might cause a bad dose of the scours....?

Re: Dog has swallowed a foam scourer!

Alex Gough — Wed, 17 Jun 2015 10:09:30 GMT

That would probably come out quite easily with a scope if it's still in the stomach? Could be worth referring if funds allow.

Re: Dog has swallowed a foam scourer!

Bob Russell — Wed, 17 Jun 2015 10:03:35 GMT

I would not operate either. Some plastics go hard in the stomach and there is no option but to operate at the earliest opportunity.

These sponges are designed to work in a pretty grim environment. Washing up liquid, dirty dish water must be a real challenge and I have never had a sponge go solid. If anything they become softer. Unlike a sponge ball they will not swell either!

No symptoms, no surgery and very likely to be extruded at the back end.

Make sure the owners are aware of the pros and cons and what symptoms to look out for.

Re: Dog has swallowed a foam scourer!

Michael Woodhouse — Tue, 16 Jun 2015 21:50:18 GMT

I would also wait and see. Surgery carries more risk than doing nothing. One thing for sure - it's not going to perforate the bowel.....

Re: Dog has swallowed a foam scourer!

Robin Grimmer — Tue, 16 Jun 2015 21:47:59 GMT

+1 for monitoring. I'd probably try emesis if recent but we're obviously well past that now. Why jump in? It's a large dog, once it's been in the digestive tract it will probably get quite soft and squishy. I'll wager that it will pass the scourer, might be a bit sore when it comes out the other end!

Re: Dog has swallowed a foam scourer!

claireb — Tue, 16 Jun 2015 19:33:52 GMT

We had a 4 month old Beagle puppy who did exactly the same thing. Owner brought her in 24 hours after ingestion as had vomited once; we anaesthetised and scoped her to try and retrieve it/assess need for surgery but found the yellow part had dissolved in to a mush which fell apart when grasped with forceps and the green part had also broken down to a degree, although we did manage to retrieve bits of it. We woke the dog up and she passed what was left of the sponge with no problems the next day. Obviously all sponges/dogs are not made equal but I would now err on the side of treating for gastric irritation and giving time (especially given the size of your patient) whereas previously I would have gone for surgery.

Re: Dog has swallowed a foam scourer!

Martin Atkinson — Tue, 16 Jun 2015 19:15:44 GMT

If its eating, passing faeces and not vomiting why jump in? There's no need to panic, give it time to pass, its not toxic and do we know if it was swallowed whole or chewed up in which case it should cause no problems at all. If you'e worried feed it some BIPS and you can check its progress if its starts to vomit.

Re: Dog has swallowed a foam scourer!

Gillian Mostyn — Tue, 16 Jun 2015 18:55:21 GMT

Yep....I don't operate on healthy dogs. It isn't unknown that it hasn't been swallowed after all....!!! I'd wait for symptoms of a blockage....but then operate immediately.

Re: Dog has swallowed a foam scourer!

Thomas Johnson — Tue, 16 Jun 2015 18:42:30 GMT

[quote user="Claire Fisher"]My sister's Labrador has swallowed a few over the years and had no issues (so far!) so I wouldn't rule out that it will pass. If a vigilant owner then careful monitoring could be the way forward.

[/quote]

I also wouldn't rule out it passing through. If you trust the owner to monitor the dog carefully for any signs of problems and check its faeces then it might be okay to wait and see. Obviously if there is any sign of a problem get on and operate straight away.