Close Shave For Puppy Who Swallowed Razor Blades

Jon Hall, an RCVS and EBVS European Specialist in Small Animal Surgery at Linnaeus-owned Wear Referrals in Bradbury, County Durham, considered both an endoscopy and a gastrotomy as appropriate treatment options but rejected both in favour of allowing nature to take its course.

The young Cockapoo, called Maximus, was fed and then closely monitored to ensure the blades continued to make an uncomplicated passage through the animal’s system and were safely excreted.

Jon explained: “An endoscopy was considered to have a risk of oesophageal injury, while gastrotomy would have been most useful when the material was all contained within the stomach.

“It would also be unlikely that all fragments, beyond the largest, would be retrieved.

“Based on previous experience, sharp gastric or intestinal foreign body can pass without significant trauma to the gut, thereby avoiding the potential morbidity and mortality of open surgery.

“This can be a good option, provided owners are carefully coached about the potential risks.

“Serial imaging of the animal is necessary to monitor for signs of intestinal perforation and septic peritonitis and to confirm progression or elimination of the material or, as in this case of blade ingestion, careful monitoring until all material is passed.”

Maximus was mightily relieved when Jon’s plan of inaction proved the perfect remedy, with the family pet successfully excreting the blades without any adverse effects.

Jon added: “We saw Maximus a couple of days later for more repeat x-rays to ensure he had passed all the foreign material.

“They confirmed all the blades had gone and Maximus was able to be discharged with a totally clean bill of health.”

Wear specialises in providing expert multidisciplinary care, including oncology, neurology, orthopaedics, soft tissue, internal medicine, cardiology, intensive care and diagnostic imaging.

For more information on Wear, visit www.wear-referrals.co.uk or search for Wear Referrals on social media.