Today has been one of the worst days of my life. My mini schnauzer is 7 months old and this morning for the first time he didn't greet me with the usual excitement. Instead, he had been sick a couple of times - white frothy stuff. He wouldn't eat a thing, unheard of. He looked very sorry for himself, tail down. I left him with my husband and went to work. By 11 am, Oscar had been sick another 4 times so my husband took him to the vet where he was x-rayed and a stone was found in his intestine. I have just had a call from the vet saying that the operation to remove the stone went OK, they made a small incision in his intestine to remove it however, the vet felt around the intestine and found an abnormal area in another part of the intestine. She made another incision and pulled out a piece of 8 inch fabric which she has for me to look at tomorrow. She tells me the operation went OK and as long as there aren't any complications he should be fine. I am devastated. The reason for the note is to ask whether there is anyone out there who knows of dogs with similar operations and have they turned out OK. The other reason is to remind everyone with young dogs to observe them as often as they can. I have a suspicion that the 8 inch piece of fabric is a wet wipe which I use all of the time. I thought I was really careful with them but somehow he got hold of one and swallowed it. I take comfort from the fact that if he hadn't swallowed the stone, we might not have found the fabric until it was too late - it didn't show up on the x-ray. I am sooooo sad.

So sorry to hear about your pup, but don't beat yourself up about it. We have all had lucky escapes and pups that have eaten something they shouldn't. You did exactly the right thing by getting him to the vets quickly.

Sounds like everything is OK now so just look forward to him coming home and spoil him rotten.

Good Luck
Sandra

I wouldn't worry too much, he is young and he will recover from this with speed. Something happened to a bitch I bred earlier this year, she swallowed a lot of stones and one blocked the exit from her stomach and thats what made her ill. She had to be opened up from brisket all the way down to get everything out. She was as right as rain after and has since gone on to do ok in the showring too.

Thanks for kind words and reassurance. The vet called this morning, he is making good progress, drinking water and is lively. She will try him on some food this morning and give me a call later to confirm his progress. I can't believe how quiet it is without him and I can't wait to give him a cuddle (stiches allowing). Alot happier now.

That's good news. Won't be long before he is home now.
Give him a cuddle from us.

Sandra

He is back home now safe and well. He has a two inch set of stiches. He is eating a little and often and his tail has started to stand upright again. The fabric found in his intestine is a flash floor wipe and my sneaky schnauzer must have put his nose into our swing bin and pulled it out after we had cleaned the floor. We have now moved the swing bin into a cupboard out of the way (oh the joy of hindsight). The vet believes that the stone might have been a blessing as we would never have found the fabric had that not happened. So hopefully all is well that ends well. A good bit of news is that during the op he had his umbilical hernia corrected. Thanks for the best wishes.