Derby Telegraph

Dozy Ronnie in the doghouse for swallowing a rubber duck

- By STEPHANIE RENDALL AND MATTHEW LODGE

A TEAM of Derby vets had to remove a rubber duck from a dog’s stomach after it swallowed the toy whole.

One-year-old British bulldog Ronnie somehow ended up ingesting the yellow squishy object and was left needing specialist help.

He was taken to Pride Veterinary

Centre in Derby, where vets performed an endoscopy by passing a camera down the dog’s oesophagus and into his stomach.

They then used a loop to pull the toy out, in a move the vets described as being like the fairground game of “hook a duck”.

Owner Joe Fisher, a dad-of-three from Nottingham, said: “I came down to get Ronnie in the morning and when I opened the stairgate he shot past me and right up the stairs.

“He ran right into my nine-yearold daughter Edie’s room, picked up the rubber duck that was lying on the floor and ran back down with it in his mouth.

“I never for a minute thought he’d swallow it. It was so big I couldn’t believe what he’d done.

“We were obviously really concerned that it might block his airway or something, but he didn’t appear to be bothered at all,” said the 38-year-old.

Debs Smith, a senior vet at Pride Veterinary Centre, said: “We sedated Ronnie so we could get an X-ray and it showed the duck really clearly. It was still in his stomach and hadn’t passed into the intestines, but we were obviously concerned about it causing an obstructio­n.

“It was possible that we might have to operate but we tried an endoscopy first, passing down a camera and using it to guide us. It really was like playing hook a duck and after about half an hour we got the loop around it and pulled it out.”

Ronnie was soon back to his old self after the procedure and Joe was able to collect him from the surgery later that afternoon.

He plans to frame the X-rays and has kept the duck as a reminder of his naughty pup’s unusual snack.

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 ??  ?? Main picture, the x-ray of the rubber duck swallowed whole by Ronnie the bulldog. Below, News Ronnie undergoing his endoscopy, and with the Fisher family, who took him to Pride Veterinary Centre in Derby where the procedure was carried out. Left, the rubber duck after it was removed
Main picture, the x-ray of the rubber duck swallowed whole by Ronnie the bulldog. Below, News Ronnie undergoing his endoscopy, and with the Fisher family, who took him to Pride Veterinary Centre in Derby where the procedure was carried out. Left, the rubber duck after it was removed

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