Toby was first brought in to see vet Akvile because he had been sick and was not quite himself. After an examination, Toby was given some medication to settle his tummy and antibiotics to combat any infection. Toby also had a blood sample taken to help determine the potential causes of his symptoms. The blood test results gave Akvile an indication of how well Toby's organs were functioning and ruled out some conditions that can be present with the symptoms that Toby was showing. Toby was brought back in for check ups over the next few days. He was quite bright and alert and was no longer being sick although his appetite had not completely returned. Toby then took a step backwards in his recovery and started to be sick again, so he was admitted to the hospital to be placed onto an intravenous drip and to have an x-ray taken of his abdomen.
Akvile was looking for signs of a foreign body or tumour in the gastrointestinal tract. With nothing obvious detected from this, Toby remained in hospital on supportive treatment. Although no signs of an obstruction were seen on the x-ray, some foreign objects do not show up, so this could not be ruled out completely at this stage. Toby was gradually improving, he was no longer being sick and was eating more readily. He was happy to sit having cuddles with the nurses. Head vet Cathy reassessed Toby and although she was pleased with his progress, Cathy was still concerned that his tummy was a little tender when touched. After a chat with Toby's owner, Cathy decided to allow Toby home for a day to see how he got on but if he started to deteriorate again then he would need an exploratory operation to check for the cause.
Poor Toby was back in the next morning having been sick again so Cathy admitted him for the exploratory operation. Toby was given a general anaesthetic and taken into theatre where Cathy discovered a small corn on the cob in his stomach! The size of the cob meant that it was freely moving about in the stomach, causing a partial obstruction of the stomach outlet to the small intestines. This is why Toby's symptoms waxed and waned.
Within a few hours of waking up from his operation to remove the foreign body, Toby was already a much happier boy and ate some chicken. One more night in hospital and Toby was ready to go home. Back at home, Toby continued to improve and he recently had his final check up with Cathy. We are so pleased that this lovely boy is all better.
For being such a brave and sweet boy, Toby is our pet of the month!
With the BBQ season not too far away, Toby's story is a reminder of the hazards that our pets can encounter if they eat something they shouldn't. Whether you are in the back garden, out on a picnic or indoors because of the weather, remind guests not to leave corn cobs and cooked bones sitting on their plates and ensure that you bag up leftovers and store them out of reach before disposal.
