Sick as a dog... pooch who wolfed a whole corn husk
AN anxious family fretted over their poorly dog before vets solved the mystery of his sickness – he’d swallowed a corn on the cob whole.
Owner Katrina Irving, 42, feared cocker spaniel Max had developed a cancerous tumour.
But an ultrasound scan revealed the unlikely cause of the five-year-old’s ailment was a huge corn husk.
Katrina, mum to 19-month-old twin boys, said: “Max had been sick a few times and j ust wasn’t himself.
“He was pacing up and down the house, wanting outside all the time and constantly crying.
“I had to care for Max at home, but everything I gave to him, he brought back up. I was really worried.”
Max’s health continued to worsen and Katrina, of Motherwell, Lanarkshire, was getting increasingly worried about his welfare.
She said: “Max was just bringing up luminous green bile and wasn’t eating or drinking anything. He was absolutely miserable.”
The pooch was taken to his local vets who performed an ultrasound scan.
It showed a large mass in his intestine, which Katrina feared was cancer. But it turned out to be a corn on the cob.
She added: “I haven’t got a clue where he picked it up because we don’t eat them.
“The vet said it had probably been in Max’s stomach for around two weeks.”
Once the problem was identified Max was rushed to the Vets Now pet emergency hospital in Glasgow where he underwent an operation.
It didn’t take long following the operation for Max to return to his usual boisterous self. Katrina, who works as a payroll manager, said: “It was a really worrying time. Max is a huge part of our family and we would have been devastated if we’d lost him.
“He’s back to old self now playing with my boys, Matthew and Luke.”
Vet Fiona MacNee, who works at the Glasgow hospital, said Max’s case serves as a good reminder to keep human foods out of the reach of dogs.
She added: “It was good to see Max so alert and responsive after his operation.
“The blockage caused by the corn on the cob was making him seriously ill and this should be a reminder to us all to dispose of food waste securely rather than leave it where dogs can put themselves at risk by wolfing it down.”