My puppy swallowed an earplug????

[musk03]

This afternoon, in the blink of an eye, my new puppy, a maltese-poodle (8 weeks), swallowed an orange foam earplug that was dropped on the floor! We live out of town, so I phoned the nearest vet, and he said to feed her lots of bread and water and to keep her active at it will probably pass within 24 hours. I'm still worried......

[Karin]

Originally Posted by musk03

This afternoon, in the blink of an eye, my new puppy, a maltese-poodle (8 weeks), swallowed an orange foam earplug that was dropped on the floor! We live out of town, so I phoned the nearest vet, and he said to feed her lots of bread and water and to keep her active at it will probably pass within 24 hours. I'm still worried......

A teaspoon full of canned pumpkin will help move things through too.

Umm, you need to check the end results if you can, to make sure it has passed...usually within 2 days.


Have fun...

[twodogsandacat]

I'm sure it will pass. Somebody in another post mentioned getting down on all fours and taking a walk around your house in order to see things from your puppies point of view. It actually works.

Oh look over there, I found an M&M.
.

[chico2]

What is it with animals and ear-plugs???My Vinnie will even open a drawer to get to them We now keep them in a safe spot!
Hope the puppy poops it out

[Shaykeija]

When Missy was about 3 months old, my Dad who is in his 70's came to visit.
He said he wanted to watch the hockey game and stretched out on the couch. Now we all know that means power nap. So I asked him to baby sit Missie while I went out shopping with my sister. When I came home he was in a real pissy mood so I kept bugging him to find out what was up. Finially he told me. While baby sitting Missy he had all 3 pounds of her up on him. While he was snoozing, she was licking his ear. So Cute...what she was actually doing was sucking his $5000 hearing aids out. She totally destroyed them. We found plastic pieces , wires and 2 mico chips under the couch. we did the puzzle thing and put what we found back together to see what was missing. Missy didn't eat anything, just crunched it all up. I guess she heard the squeals form the aids and just went for it. My dad said he heard her crunching on something and put his finger in his ear and then the chase was on. My Dad said he couldn't catch her. I laugh every time I picture that. Any way Missy was fine, we did the poop check thingy for a few days and it was just fine.

[musk03]

Thank you for your replies. You've made me feel a lot better. Moka is full of "piss and vinegar" this morning, which I assume is a good sign. Still no plug though, but I'll keep checking........ Thanks again for your concern. :love:

[Lucky Rescue]

Yes make sure the plug comes out. Someone I know has a cat who is undergoing a second surgery due to complications from a blockage after eating an earplug.

[musk03]

..... continued..... Over 24 hours and still no plug. Good bowel movements, but nothing! Is it possible that a puppy's stomach acid can break down a foam earplug? We have a vet appointment tomorrow. Keeping my fingers crossed.....

[fred04]

Stomach acid will not eat away at the ear plug. I've seen what an ear plug looks like that has had to be surgically removed from a cats intestines.

[musk03]

Good to know. Thanks. I'll keep searching and hoping

[Carina]

Originally Posted by fred04

Stomach acid will not eat away at the ear plug. I've seen what an ear plug looks like that has had to be surgically removed from a cats intestines.

A friend's Malamute ate part of a sponge dog toy. It stayed in her intestine for 5 weeks (nobody knew she'd eaten it) and she was fine the whole time. Then she got to feeling very poorly, I was at my friend's house & we were trying to figure out whether to go to the ER vet with the dog...she decided to wait until morning since it didn't seem to be an absolute emergency.
The next morning her dog was operated on & the foam peice was removed...fluid & air was slowly building up around the foam until it got painful.
It was still very recognizable as the toy it had been bitten off from, and she knew it had been five weeks because it was a toy at someone else's house they'd visited that long ago.
This happened about 3 weeks ago, $800.00 surgery and the silly dog is just fine now!

So....I would say a vet trip is most definitely a good idea! Hope everything comes out OK, as it were.

[musk03]

Thanks for the info. How big was the piece of foam that was taken out of your friends dog after the operation?

[musk03]

Well, in infamous orange earplug has made it's first appearance ( ) this morning... about half of it anyway. Hopefully the rest is not far behind

[Carina]

Originally Posted by musk03

Thanks for the info. How big was the piece of foam that was taken out of your friends dog after the operation?

First, WOO HOO the ear plug is comin' out! That's excellent.

The foam peice was about the size of...oh, a smallish plum, maybe. It was in the shape of a little foam tennis ball & still quite recognizable! My friend had it in a ziplock baggie and I swear it's one of the worst things I've ever smelled in my life....

[Bugsy]

LOL Tune in tomorrow for the continuing saga of....

Whenever my dogs get into something they shouldn't, I just give them 2 tablespoons of Vaseline. Yup, you read that right. I got this little trick from my Vet. Smaller dogs would just need 1.

[Karin]

Originally Posted by Bugsy

LOL Tune in tomorrow for the continuing saga of....

Whenever my dogs get into something they shouldn't, I just give them 2 tablespoons of Vaseline. Yup, you read that right. I got this little trick from my Vet. Smaller dogs would just need 1.

I would never give an animal petroleum...just not right. I know "Pet Lax" is petroleum based and I will not use that either.

Pumpkin is still the safest laxitive for critters...other than psyillium. (sp?) Metamucial..

[musk03]

Thank you to all who reponded to our little family crisis! This is the first time I have ever joined a chat room, a great experience I must say!
I think we've seen the "final showing" of the orange earplug!
All of your support and kind thoughts have been very much appreciated! :love:

Until our next pet crisis..........

[Bugsy]

Originally Posted by Karin

I would never give an animal petroleum...just not right. I know "Pet Lax" is petroleum based and I will not use that either.

Pumpkin is still the safest laxitive for critters...other than psyillium. (sp?) Metamucial..

The body does not digest Vaseline it is the equivalent of Mineral oil (without the runs). The body will just simply clear it...

The DMV here in montreal and my own vet suggested this.

Karin.. why is it not safe? What have you heard?

[Katherine1]

Glad to hear everything came out ok

[Karin]

Originally Posted by Bugsy

The body does not digest Vaseline it is the equivalent of Mineral oil (without the runs). The body will just simply clear it...

The DMV here in montreal and my own vet suggested this.

Karin.. why is it not safe? What have you heard?

Petroleum based products will also move essential nutrients through the intestines which are normally absorbed there. In other words...the good goes out with the bad.

[Carina]

As I understand it (I've been researching this because I have a deformed kitten prone to pooping complications) mineral oil etc is just fine, as long as used occasionally. It's the active ingredient in Petromalt & various other hairball & constipation meds, it's very effective. Any very high fat diet, or dietary additives (olive oil, fish oil, etc) has the same effect.

Being constipated, blocked. or having chronic diarrhea leaches nutrients & water from the system too....so it's a choice of lesser evils. These conditions will kill a cat or dog quite quickly without intervention.

Long term chronic use of petroleum based products may cause granulomas if not passed with fecal materal. So, mineral oil, vaseline, petromalt etc should probably not be administered for life. But according to everything I have read, these are very effective compounds for immediate use. Especially when the alternative is death, or surgery.

[musk03]

Originally Posted by Carina

As I understand it (I've been researching this because I have a deformed kitten prone to pooping complications) mineral oil etc is just fine, as long as used occasionally. It's the active ingredient in Petromalt & various other hairball & constipation meds, it's very effective. Any very high fat diet, or dietary additives (olive oil, fish oil, etc) has the same effect.

Being constipated, blocked. or having chronic diarrhea leaches nutrients & water from the system too....so it's a choice of lesser evils. These conditions will kill a cat or dog quite quickly without intervention.

Long term chronic use of petroleum based products may cause granulomas if not passed with fecal materal. So, mineral oil, vaseline, petromalt etc should probably not be administered for life. But according to everything I have read, these are very effective compounds for immediate use. Especially when the alternative is death, or surgery.

I have been following the conversations of both you and Karin, and find your last line especially thought provoking. Good informative conversations by both of you! Thanks

[Bugsy]

Originally Posted by Carina

As I understand it (I've been researching this because I have a deformed kitten prone to pooping complications) mineral oil etc is just fine, as long as used occasionally. It's the active ingredient in Petromalt & various other hairball & constipation meds, it's very effective.

Now I'm confused. My regular vet suggested Vaseline a while back. I thought he was loopy, he said if I felt better about using mineral oil... to use that instead. Which is what I did. Later when Bugsy had his surgery (TPO) and proceeded to eat the plastic sticky thing they covered his incisions with, I gave him mineral oil & rushed him to the DMV. While there, I mentioned that I had already given him mineral oil & that vet said I should have given him Vaseline instead... because it wouldn't give him the runs.

Back to square one I'd love to hear everyone else's opinion on this.

[Karin]

I would use Petlax or other petroleum products in an emergency myself, but only short term. I have seen too many people using these products as therapeutic remedies on a daily basis just because they can purchase them at any time. If a dog coughs, hacks, barfs, farts, sneezes, rolls in the grass, looks the wrong way or belch's ....dose 'em....must be stopped up.

Other more natural products do the job better with less stress & risk.

[Sneaky2006]

Petroleum based products will also move essential nutrients through the intestines which are normally absorbed there. In other words...the good goes out with the bad.

So would using vaseline have the same effect with cats as it does dogs?? Hairball goop is just like vaseline, but flavored so cats will eat it....

[Miker]

So how exactly to you administer vaseline to your puppy/cat? Put it on something that you don't want them to eat? (ie they'll eat it just cuz you don't want them to?)

[marko]

This works great for cats - Take about one half inch (toothpaste sized strip) and rub it into the cat's paw.

That should trigger the grooming response and the cat should lick it all off its paw.

For dogs you could try the same - or just put it in something they like to eat.

Good luck!

[Carina]

Originally Posted by Miker

So how exactly to you administer vaseline to your puppy/cat? Put it on something that you don't want them to eat? (ie they'll eat it just cuz you don't want them to?)

Vaseline (or the hairball stuff) is easy for cats....you just smear it on their front legs, and they'll clean it off because they have no choice!
Puppies....I guess mixing it into food would work.

LOL, Marko & I posted the same time.

[Dustydog42]

I realize this is a fifteen-year-old thread, but it's the top Google answer, so I thought I'd share my experience:

I have a ten-week-old Cavapoo. After reading about the $800 cat operation - she's about the size of a smallish cat - I wanted to take immediate action. I fed her, within ten minutes, a fair amount of braunschweiger (I use small amounts for treats, and I knew she'd eat it happily - it's a quite oily, liver almost paste), then two tablespoons of unsalted butter, melted but cool, on a plate. I felt she'd had all the salt I really wanted to give her with the braunschweiger, which I'd already used in a somewhat smaller amount (she got a full slice, somewhat thick, this time) as a stool softener.

Being that she was so full of greasy, oily food, and knowing that dogs can throw up pretty much whenever they want to, I was hoping...and yes! Within ten minutes she threw up the earplug. I also had figured that, failing that blessed event, she had a pretty good chance of passing it with that much lubrication.

So, old thread or not, I hope this helps someone out. I think trying to get your pup to throw up with unsalted butter on top of other appealing food is worth trying for others. Substitute as necessary, but get in too much oily treat quickly, and hope she throws up.

[hazelrunpack]

I've had that same reaction to braunschweiger!

So glad it worked for your little one, Dustydog!