Did your Pet Swallow a Foreign Obejct?

Recommendation

We recommend that you check in with your family veterinarian or VRCCO’s Urgent Care if you are concerned that your pet ingested a foreign object.

Prevention:

In order to prevent foreign object ingestion, we recommend being aware of certain household items that your pet may be more likely to get into. Examples of these include: garbage and trash cans (both in the kitchen and the bathroom), dirty laundry, hair ties and scrunchies, sewing supplies, children’s toys, etc.

When to Contact Emergency Care:

Certain objects swallowed by dogs and cats are very serious and require emergent care. These include:

Magnets (multiple)
Batteries (especially button batteries)
Sharp objects (curved needles, nails, screws, toothpicks, BBQ skewers)
Stringy objects such as dental floss, sewing thread, or carpet

For ingestion of smooth, small, harmless objects, treatment approaches made by different doctors may vary. If your pet is showing no symptoms, options for treatment include the following:

Do nothing. No imaging needed, monitor for symptoms including vomiting and anorexia.
Monitor stools for the object. If it hasn’t passed in 2-3 days, contact your family veterinarian about imaging options (x-ray or ultrasound).
Image pet now. X-ray or ultrasound may be used to confirm the object was ingested and localize it in the GI tract to determine if intervention is warranted.