The 10-year-old Poodle arrived at the surgery with severe stomach swelling and pain. It was also throwing up and had a dangerously high fever.
Vets needed to find out what was happening inside this pup's belly, so they sent it for an X-ray. And they never would have guessed what was causing all the problems.
Emergency surgery
The X-ray images showed hundreds of rubber bands and cords knotted up inside the dog's belly. Vets estimated that some of them had been there for as long as two years.
Vets ordered emergency surgery and removed more than 1lb of bands, cords, and bandages.
"I wouldn't have believed it if I didn't see it for myself," wrote one of the vets. "It was amazing that this came out of such a little dog! The bands weighed 1lb 2oz!"
The dog is doing okay and is expected to make a full recovery. The Poodle is a recent rescue dog, so the owner has no idea how it swallowed so many rubber bands and cords.
This wasn't an accident
But it's safe to assume that the previous owner wasn't a person who deserved to have a dog in their life. There's no way the dog could have eaten this many rubber bands by accident. This looks like a bad case of neglect and mistreatment.
Dogs, especially puppies and younger dogs, chew on objects to relieve stress, boredom, or teething discomfort. It's essential to keep bands and cables out of your dog's reach and provide your pet with appropriate objects to bite, like specially made chewy toys.
