A dog has surprised vets after surviving five months with an 8in kebab skewer lodged inside her chest.
It is believed Bessie, a nine-year-old labradoodle, stole and swallowed the solid wooden skewer during a barbecue at her owner’s home in the summer and, over time, the stick perforated her oesophagus and migrated into the chest, where it remained lodged.
Myriad of tests
Bessie had been struggling since the summer, having lost her appetite, lost weight and lost energy, while also drinking and urinating far more, and panting more frequently.
After a myriad of tests with her local vet, Bessie was finally referred to Southfields Veterinary Specialists, in Essex, after two lumps appeared on her chest.
Kebab stick
Southfields’ clinical director Henry L’Eplattenier said: “The lumps did not seem painful, but, nevertheless, we carried out a series of diagnostic tests to try to discover their cause.
“The most striking finding was seen on a CT scan of Bessie’s chest, where a long, straight object could be seen in the lower portion of her chest, causing lots of reaction around it.
“We strongly suspected this was a foreign body, so Bessie was taken into surgery the following day. I opened her chest bone to seek out the foreign object – and removed an 8in-long kebab stick.”
Full recovery
Dr L’Eplattenier added: “Bessie’s owners have no idea how the stick could have got into Bessie’s chest, but the most likely explanation is she ate it during a barbecue in the summer. The stick perforated her oesophagus and migrated into the chest, where it remained lodged.
”It’s amazing it pierced all the way through and into the chest, but missed all the vital organs, so Bessie was very lucky indeed.”
The dog has since made a full recovery.
Leave a Reply