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Emergency Remedy for Swallowed Objects
Emergency Remedy for Swallowed Objects
• What do you do if your puppy (or mischievous older dog) gets
into your holiday decorations and eats some of the glass
ornaments? This potentially lethal mishap can darken even the
brightest holiday season.
• THE PROCEDURE: BEFORE the holiday go to a pharmacy and buy a
box of cotton balls. Be sure that you get COTTON balls...not the
cosmetic puffs that are made from man-made fibers. Also, buy a
quart of half-and-half coffee cream and put it in the freezer.
Should your dog eat glass ornaments. Defrost the half-and-half
and pour some in a bowl. Dip cotton balls into the cream and
feed them to your dog.
• Dogs under 10 lbs should eat 2 balls which you have first torn
into smaller pieces. Dogs 10-50 lbs should eat 3-5 balls and
larger dogs should eat 5-7. You may feed larger dogs an entire
cotton ball at once. Dogs seem to really like these strange
treats and eat them readily. As the cotton works its way through
the digestive tract it will find all the glass pieces and wrap
itself around them. Even the teeniest shards of glass will be
caught and wrapped in the cotton fibers and the cotton will
protect the intestines from damage by the glass. Your dog's
stools will be really weird for a few days and you will have to
be careful to check for fresh blood or a tarry appearance to the
stool. If either of the latter symptoms appear you should rush
your dog to the vet for a checkup but, in most cases, the dogs
will be just fine.
• An actual experience: "I can personally vouch for the cotton
ball treatment. While I was at the vet waiting for him to return
from lunch a terrified woman ran in with a litter of puppies who
had demolished a wooden crate along with large open staples. The
young vet had taken x-rays which did show each of the puppies
had swallowed several open staples. He was preparing them for
surgery when my wonderful vet came in and said no surgery. I
watched him wet several cotton balls, squeeze out the water and
pop them down their throats. Within 24 hours every staple was
accounted for. This was a lesson I learned in the mid-1960s and
have had to use several times on my brats. I wet the cotton
balls and smear on some liverwurst and they bolt it down and ask
for more. The cotton always comes out with the object safely
embedded."
This tip came from Darlene at Dogma's World
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