X-rays revealed a bulldog had consumed 19 pacifiers after his owner took him to an animal hospital.
Emily Shanahan, the owner of 3-year-old Mortimer, said that he started displaying eating problems in April. His veterinarian ordered her to give him medicine to ease the problem, which was diagnosed as unrelated vomiting syndrome. However, it not only continued but got worse.
“The vomiting lessened only temporarily and by mid-May his whole personality had changed,” she said. Mortimer started frequently napping and stopped following his owner around the house like he usually did.
She took him to the MSPCA-Angell Animal Medical Center and X-rays showed the issues were being caused by 19 pacifiers in his stomach.
The pacifiers were removed in a June 7 non-surgical procedure, the center said in a statement.
“It’s likely that Mortimer started nabbing these pacifiers in April, perhaps one at a time, and that started a cycle of nausea and vomiting, which are symptoms that can be caused by so many other health issues,” Dr. Doug Brum, Mortimer’s primary veterinarian at Angell, said in a statement.
WOW! A veterinary hospital got quite a surprise when a family brought in their bulldog after he stopped eating. It turns out, the dog had 19 baby pacifiers in his stomach. https://t.co/CjK0MisvsS
— FOX 5 DC (@fox5dc) June 21, 2019
“If not for the urgency with which his family pursued veterinary care, things would have gotten much worse for him.”
The discovery of the items in her dog’s stomach left Shanahan stunned.
“I was shocked because even though I have two small children at home I’d never imagined he was eating their pacifiers,” said Shanahan.
“We absolutely love this dog and would do anything for him—and I’m relieved that this was a problem that could be solved, as opposed to a chronic illness that would cause him long-term suffering,” she added.
Surgeons at the medical center said that it’s not unusual for dogs to swallow an array of items. Ove the years, they’ve removed guitar strings, wristwatches, diamond rings, and other items.
“Mortimer isn’t the first dog to land in this situation and he won’t be the last,” said Dr. Brum. “But we’re just so glad he’s recovered and back home with his family.”
Dog Swallows 5 Golf Balls, Forced to Get Surgery
A dog in the United Kingdom was forced to undergo surgery to remove several golf balls from its stomach.
Rebecca Miles, the owner of a Springer Spaniel named Louis, said the dog ate five golf balls over the course of several months before major surgery was conducted to remove the objects, reported the Daily Mail.
Miles said her dog began throwing up and lost a significant amount of weight before she took him to a veterinarian.
When X-ray results came back, five balls were seen lodged in the animal’s stomach, she said.
“When he initially became ill, we changed his food and became much stricter with his diet,” she told SWNS, reported Fox News. “He always seemed lethargic at home but when we took him out for walks he was his usual bouncy self. When he continued being sick, we took him back to the vet.”
Dog has 5 golf balls removed from stomach after swallowing them on walks https://t.co/h4WXuhBLks pic.twitter.com/YRlRm2rkRC
— New York Post (@nypost) April 8, 2019
She and the dog went for daily walks at a golf course in Birmingham in the Midlands. She noticed the dog was picking up the golf balls with its mouth, but she said the animal would drop them when ordered.
“I never imagined he accidentally swallowed some of them,” she told SWNS.
After the X-ray revealed the spherical objects in Louis’s stomach, she knew what they were.
The dog is expected to make a full recovery.
Epoch Times reporter Jack Phillips contributed to this report.
