Intestinal Blockage Surgery
This playful young dog ate a whole sports sock which became blocked in his intestines and needed to be surgically removed.
Dogs have been known to swallow bones, toys, sticks, stones, pins, needles, wood splinters, cloth, rubber balls, rawhide, leather, string, stone fruit pits, and other objects.
An intestinal blockage can be partial or complete. Partial blockage cause intermittent vomiting and/or diarrhea, which tend to occur over several weeks.
Complete blockage produce sudden abdominal pain and vomiting that continues without relief. When the blockage is in the upper small bowel, the vomiting may be projectile.
Blockages in the lower Gastro Intestinal tract cause abdominal distension and the vomiting is a brown, smelling like feces. Dogs with complete blockage pass no stool or gas.
Intestinal strangulation occurs when the blockage interferes with the blood supply to the bowel. Within hours the bowel becomes gangrenous and the dog’s condition deteriorates rapidly.
Other causes of intestinal blockage are tumors and abnormal narrowing of a passage, and navel and groin hernias that trap loops of bowel in the hernia sac.
In young puppies, heavy infestations of roundworms may cause a blockage of the bowel, a regular worming program is recommended.
Please contact us if you suspect your Pet has any abnormalities or if you have any concerns. We’re here to help
