A tiny Yorkshire Terrier from Edinburgh landed himself a stretch in a charity pet hospital after vets discovered his secret passion for eating elastic hair bobbles.
Cooper the Yorkie was rushed to PDSA’s Pet Hospital in Edinburgh by worried owner Lynn Redpath from Polbeth, West Calder, when he started being sick.
Lynn explains: “Cooper is so bouncy and full of life – he loves playing with his toys and one of his favourite pastimes is flinging hair bobbles into the air. We noticed that he wasn’t quite his usual self but we couldn’t put our finger on what was wrong. When he starting being sick, we took him straight to PDSA for a check-up.”
PDSA Vet Jennifer Lee, examined Cooper. She said: “On first inspection, there wasn’t an obvious diagnosis for Cooper and even though Lynn hadn’t spotted him eating anything he shouldn’t, we decided to x-ray him in the hope it would give us a better idea of what was going on.”
Cooper’s x-rays revealed a large mass in his stomach, so vets took the swift decision to operate.
What they found was no less than 22 hair bobbles and a button, blocking the entrance to Cooper’s intestines, which could have been fatal.
Vet Jennifer continued: “Poor Cooper’s tummy was in a real mess. It looked as though he’d been gulping down the string snacks for some time as the bands were tangled into a mass. Thankfully, Lynn brought him to us when she did or he might not have been quite so lucky.”
After the hour-long surgery, Cooper made a good recovery and was able to go home with Lynn the following day.
Lynn said: “We couldn’t believe it when the vets called and told us what had happened. We knew that Cooper liked to play with hair bands… Little did we know that he’d been secretly snaffling them!
”We are so grateful to PDSA for everything they did for Cooper. It’s scary to think that dogs eating things they shouldn’t could result in such a serious operation. We love Cooper to bits and couldn’t imagine life without him.”
Vet Jennifer, concluded: “Pets can easily get themselves in a tangle by eating things that are harmful to them and this is the root cause of so many cases we see through our doors every year. If you suspect your pet has snacked on something they shouldn’t have, it’s always best to take them to see your vet as soon as possible.”
For pet health advice and information, visit www.pdsa.org.uk/pethealth
Enter your email and never miss out on receiving our best articles:
