Question about obstructions.

I know there have been a few members here who have had experience with obstructions. Titan, a OEB that was in the classes that I help out with (also the adorable bulldog from my pool party pics), ate a piece of a toy that led to an intestinal obstruction (he is fine though!) and his owners said that they had thrown the toy out a month, or weeks before he showed signs that something was wrong and ended up having the surgery to clear it.

I always thought that it would be a matter of days that you would know an obstruction was occurring? Just wondering if that is normal, or how long it usually takes to notice that something is wrong.

TIA

With my friends dog who swallowed a too large part of her chicken leg the wrong way showed signs within about a half an hour and had to be rushed to the vets for emergency surgery

That's about as far as my experience goes though

Glad he's ok though!

Linds, this is why we start dogs out on raw meaty bones that are way to big to be swallowed- so they get used to chewing and chewing and chewing. Not everyone knows that. Of course, a cooked bone is always bad.

Maybe the toy shaped in such a way that food could pass around it? Scary thought just the same.

Thanks guys!

If you go to the Lab board I'm on and search "obstruction", you'll get tons of results. They are Labs, after all :lol-sign:

Anyways, from my reading (I've never experienced it *knock on wood*) it usually does take a little while to show signs. Not always, but sometimes. I don't really have much info, just read from tons of experiences others have had.

I know, thanks though My friends dog had been on raw for 4 years when this happened, it was just one of those freak accidents

It took about a week before Joey was officially diagnosed. His toy did not make it into his intestine however. It stayed stuck in his stomach because it was too large to pass into his intestine. His symptoms were vomiting up bile and not eating well. The vet didn't think it was an obstruction at first because he was still eating very small amounts and it was passing through his system. Eventually he ordered a barium study and we figured it out.

We just did surgery on a cat yesterday that had an obstruction in his colon for about 3 weeks. Some stuff was getting through, but not much. It turned out to be a clump of grass. Being in the colon probably helped him last so long, since at least water and some food could get absorbed (he did lose a LOT of weight, though).

Thanks again guys! I've always been happy when I think Frodo ate something and he was fine for the next few days, now I'm going to have to worry longer when he decides to pull crap like that!