[Liv&TeddysMommy]

Help! I am new to posting and fairly new to the forum, but I needed some advice (and perhaps a healthy dose of comforting, too). My 8 month old Hav, Teddy, ate a piece of string that he ripped off of the cat tree last night. I tried to grab it from him, but then, as you know, it quickly became a game of "chase me". So I tried to calmy trade his string for a cookie, but before I could grab the string from his mouth, he gobbled down both. I have been checking his poo since this happened and nothing yet. The string was thin, about the size of dental floss, and about 6-8 inches long. I am frantic that this will cause an obstruction. My vet is saying to wait and see how he does for the next 4-5 days, which seems like forever right now. Has this happened to anyone else? What was the outcome? Any advice on getting them to drop what they shouldn't have? He'll drop toys when we tell him to, but tissues, papers, etc. is a whole other thing. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thank you.

 

[rokipiki]

String can be very tricky! Two months ago Roki stole and ate quite long cooked celery stalks. They came out after 24 hours when he tried to poop. I had to help him and pull celery out of his little butt. Poor guy!
Now we are again on poop watch (not long ago we were on poop watch for Ache and her barette)!
After poop, check his butt because he may not be able to push the string out. If he is not pooping whole day go to vet ASAP!

Marina&Roki

 

[Liv&TeddysMommy]

Thank you for your reply

Thanks so much for your reply and your suggestion. I've been sorting through his poo, but didn't think to check his butt for any signs of the string. I will do that now. Thanks again. Please keep my little guy in your prayers.

 

[Luciledodd]

I have pulled a many blades of grass out, string should be the same. When you get used to it, you won''t even put on gloves.

 

[Liv&TeddysMommy]

I think it finally came out!

Teddy just had an accident in the house...but it was a happy accident, because there was some string all balled up in his poo. Thank you for your replies and good wishes. I am SO relieved!

 

[Kathie]

That is such a relief! I was going to suggest some Laxatone which is a type of laxative for dogs and cats (furballs). My vet told me that string is the most dangerous thing because other things can get wrapped around it in the digestive tract and cause an obstruction - scary! Mine are pretty good at dropping it when you tell them but sometimes McGee will just gobble faster! This morning I think he ate part of a cotton ball which worries me so I will be poop-watching for the next day or two!

BTW, where in western PA do you live? My dad's family are in the East Palestine, OH area just across the PA - OH border.

 

[Liv&TeddysMommy]

Thanks for the advice

Kathie, Thank you for the cat lax idea. We have four cats, so we have a couple of tubes of cat lax around here for furballs, but I didn't think of giving it to Teddy to help move things along. Hopefully, there is no more string eating (we got rid of the cat tree that he pulled the string from), but this idea could work for other things he gobbles, too. We have our fingers and paws crossed that McGee's cotton ball is also on its way out.

We're in Johnstown, PA, which is about an hour and a half East of Pittsburgh. Our Havanese breeder lives very close to your parents, probably not even 45 minutes away.

Thanks again!

 

[ivyagogo]

Glad everything turned out okay. My cat ate string once and I didn't even know it until it was hanging out his back side.

 

[CarolWCamelo]

Cautions with string and such, and laxatives

This is stuff I"ve picked up from vets, techs, and others, in some 50 years living with dogs.

1) NEVER pull on something sticking out of the anus. If it's tangled in the innards, you may cause untold damage! If it bugs you, cut it off with scissors. Let the DOG poop it out.

2) I think there's a possibility a laxative would cause changes in the intestines and bowel, and wouldn't use one, for fear of causing a problem with twisting. Ask your vet!

My vets told me to feed a slice of bread, as soon as possible after a dog ingest something it shouldn't. The idea is to put something in that will go right along with the ingested stuff; we hope, wrapping around it and buffering its trip through the intestines and bowel.

SO GLAD Teddy pooped out the string! What a huge relief! I think you can safely assume he's pooped it all out, since it was wrapped in a kind of ball.

Mon, 2 Apr 2012 17:08:18 (PDT)