"A pair of socks worth 5,000 yuan? That's right? What kind of socks are so expensive?"
"You read that right, it's that expensive pair of socks. Those are a pair of socks taken out of a dog's intestines!"
Want to know how much it costs to remove foreign objects from a dog's digestive tract? Maybe you will know after your dog eats a pair of socks.
Every year, many dogs enter the hospital because of eating randomly. It is not uncommon for doctors to swallow foreign bodies. After a dog swallows a foreign object, it cannot digest it well and it will get stuck in the dog's stomach, small intestine, or colon. If left untreated, these foreign objects can even threaten your dog’s life.
If you don’t have the habit of tidying up your belongings at home, if you are used to throwing some small debris on the sofa, then you may never know what is in your dog’s belly?
What attracts dogs?
For dogs, almost anything can attract their attention.
Relatively speaking, dogs will prefer food-related things, such as chicken, duck, pork bones, etc. They are also interested in items that smell like food, such as kitchen rags, sink sponges and food containers. Some dogs are also interested in things that smell like their owners, such as socks and clothes that the owners have taken off.
Socks, small rags and some small toys are the foreign bodies that doctors often find in the gastrointestinal tract of dogs.
In addition to these daily things, dogs sometimes swallow some inexplicable things by mistake. For example, Apple’s Air pods, batteries, baby pacifiers, etc. Some small, plush toys that make noises are also very attractive to dogs, and they may even treat them as "treats."
Why do dogs eat messy things?
There must be a reason why dogs eat randomly. They may sometimes be attracted by the smell of food residues, but they will also eat tasteless things like Bluetooth headsets.
At present, we have not seen any professional reports on this aspect.
But our guess is that boredom or anxiety may be one of the main reasons for this "destructive behavior" in dogs. When they exhibit destructive behavior, they may ingest these indigestible substances consciously or unconsciously.
In addition to boredom and anxiety, some metabolic diseases may also cause pica in dogs, such as anemia or lack of certain nutrients. For example, when dogs lack certain trace elements, they may hope to obtain these trace elements through soil, cat litter, wood and other items.
Among the many dog breeds, some larger dogs are more prone to this problem, such as Labradors and golden retrievers.
If a dog swallows a foreign object, should he be sent to the hospital immediately?
When you first discover that your dog has swallowed foreign objects, it is very effective to
induce vomiting
. You can use soapy water to induce vomiting in your dog. But if you discover the problem only after a period of time after the dog ingests the foreign object, then you should send the pet to the hospital immediately. In principle, the sooner the pet is sent to the hospital, the better.
You'd better find out what your dog has swallowed as soon as possible, which can help the doctor save some time.
But sometimes, the owner doesn’t notice the problem for several days after the dog eats a foreign object, which is usually very troublesome. So if your dog has symptoms such as vomiting or anorexia for more than a day, you should have them checked out.
How much does treatment cost?
As for the specific cost of treatment, it mainly depends on two factors:
What they eat and when they eat it.
If you happen to be present when your dog swallows a foreign object, inducing vomiting immediately will help you save a lot of medical expenses.
Depending on the size of the object your dog swallowed, you may spend hundreds to thousands of dollars in treatment fees. These treatment fees may include examinations, drugs, anesthesia, surgery, etc.
Generally speaking, the cost of treatment may range from
1,000 to 8,000 yuan
.
Some prevention methods
① Prevention methods at home
Check the toys that your dog often uses to make sure they are the right size and made of reasonable materials. Pay attention to those soft velvet toys.
Pack up the items at home, and take special care of items smaller than a dog’s mouth.
For some young dogs, it is important to consider limiting their activities.
② Prevention methods when walking the dog
When walking the dog, your attention should always be on the dog, not on the mobile phone. There are a lot of new things out there that your dog can swallow at any time.
Keep the length of the traction rope good, and a distance of 1.2 to 1.8 meters is more appropriate.
Carry some snacks with you at all times. If your dog wants to eat, feed it to it.
If your dog has developed the habit of picking up things on the ground to eat, you can choose to wear a muzzle on your dog.
The last sentence is the same, pay more attention and be more careful when raising a dog. This kind of random eating behavior is completely preventable