Swallowed stones swell springer spaniel
12th July 2010
The owner of a springer spaniel that munched through 2lb of stones may have checked her pet insurance cover after an unexpected trip to the vets.
Cheryl Douglas, 36, believed her pet was suffering with a stomach bug after noticing he looked bloated and had lost his appetite, so she admitted him to the PDSA pet hospital in Edinburgh. But vets informed Cheryl that Samson had swallowed 2lb of chipped stones from her garden.
"Quite how Samson physically managed to swallow so many stones is a real mystery," said Cheryl. "He does love to play in the garden and obviously took a liking to them.
"We have now removed the chipped stones from the garden to avoid any further accidents."
Two-year-old Samson underwent surgery at Hutchinson Crossway and PDSA vet Michael King said he could not believe how many stones the springer spaniel had swallowed.
He said: "Dogs use their mouth to explore objects as well as to eat.
"Sometimes the two functions get confused and a dog will eat an object by mistake, even though it had only meant to investigate it, which is probably what happened in Samson's case."
Copyright © Press Association 2010
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