It’s just the worst feeling in the world when you watch your dog get sicker and sicker and can’t figure out why. Sara Weiss’s heart ached when her 8-year-old black Labrador Retriever, Tiki, continued to vomit, have diarrhea, and refused to eat.
She had taken Tiki to her veterinarian, who had treated her, but she was unresponsive to medication.
After a few days of non-improvement in Tiki’s symptoms, Dr. Hisham Ibrahim of Good Shepherd’s Veterinary Hospital in Pennsylvania knew this was something other than just an upset tummy.
He ordered X-rays that confirmed his fears. Something was definitely severely wrong.
There was a huge mass of something inside Tiki’s stomach. She would have to undergo exploratory surgery to determine what that something was.
Dr. I, as he is affectionately known, advised Weiss to be prepared for the worst. With a mass of that size, it was likely that it was cancerous. But, he assured her, he would remove the mass and they would hope for the best.
Surgery day dawned and Dr. I made the incision into Tiki’s stomach. He couldn’t believe his eyes when he peered inside. The entire surgical team was stunned by what was uncovered.
“‘Doctor I’ started pulling handfuls of different items out,” said head vet technician Emily Cottle. “It was quite an experience to see.”
It’s not uncommon for dogs to eat things that cause their intestines to get blocked and require surgery to remove the offending object. Most of the time it’s a bone shard, or the squeaker from a toy, or even the plastic eye or nose from a child’s toy that caught the dog’s attention.
In Tiki’s case, it might be easier to list what was not in her stomach. If you tend to start humming the tune to the “12 days of Christmas” when you read the list, you’re not alone.
Dr. I could have sung, “on the first hour of surgery, my patient Tiki brought to me….” as he pulled out handful after handful of unusual objects. The final tally (drum roll please!) was:
- 4 rubber bands
- 8 pairs of underwear (yes, entire panties)
- a band-aid and
- (another drum roll necessary here) 62 hair bands. Yes, sixty-two!
No one would have been surprised at that point if five golden rings and a partridge in a pear tree had made the list.
Weiss had no idea that Tiki’s appetite was quite diverse. The most unusual thing she’d ever known of her eating before was a Nerf dart. She hadn’t required surgery for it. They had hoped that “this too shall pass” and indeed, it did.
Dr. I was stunned. It was the largest collection of items he’d ever recovered during surgery. “But, thank God, we were able to pull through, and Tiki’s recovered very well,” Dr. Ibrahim said.
I’m sure that in the future every time Weiss can’t find anything in her home she’s going to look at Tiki with a raised eyebrow. Perhaps it’s time to “Tiki-proof” their home and make sure that nothing small enough to fit in her mouth is down on Tiki’s level.
They need to hide their laundry basket too. And either just plan on wearing their hair down or come up with a way to keep those bands out of Tiki’s reach!
We’re glad things worked out for Tiki and her owner. But, please, someone tell Tiki that good girls wear panties, they don’t swallow them.
Source: NTD TV
