Puppies and dummies (pacifiers)

[ruthpaton]

I'm not sure if this is the best place to post this, but a word of warning about the dangers of baby dummies to puppies. My niece recently got a beautiful puppy called Oscar. She has a 16 month old baby boy who is being rapidly weaned off his dummy now. A couple of weeks ago the baby dropped his dummy and Oscar grabbed it and ran off before Lynsey could get to it. By the time she caught up with him he had bitten off the nipple part and she couldn't find it. She called the vet who said he had probably chewed it up and swallowed it but to keep a close eye on him. A whole two weeks later he suddenly became ill, being sick, crying, lethargic and unusually snappy. They rushed him to the vet and he was found to have the dummy nipple blocking his intestines. It took a big operation and 5 days in the hospital to save him.

I suppose dog owners will be aware of this danger but please mention it to anyone who has a puppy and a baby in the house, including the risk of the problems developing some time after the dummy was swallowed. The vet said it's not that unusual for them and they operate regularly on dogs that have swallowed all sorts of random things.

Oscar is doing great now. He entertained the vets hugely while he was in there but proved he hasn't overcome his bad habits when he nibbled the paper lining the bottom of his cage and ate his notes which were attached to the cage door!

[Hezz]

Oh, Oscar! Puppies will be puppies ......... even when they aren't anymore! Although I am sure your niece's family didn't need the huge vet bill, I am happy that everyone survived the ordeal.

[ruthpaton]

Hezz, they thankfully had taken out pet insurance which covered the whole cost of his operation and the aftercare. A good thing as the op itself cost more than £1,000.. :-o The stress and worry was quite enough without money worries too so they were very relieved they had taken the insurance as soon as they got him!

[Hezz]

It has paid for itself already.