My Rottweiler ate a sock! Is it an emergency? What should I do?

This could cause gastrointestinal obstruction and should ideally be checked as soon as possible at your local veterinarian. Your veterinarian will probably make him sick with an appropriate medication and perform an xray/abdominal ultrasound to make sure gastrointestinal passage is free. Hope this answer was helpful, but please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further.

Cooper needs to be seen by a vet/emergency room right away where they can make him regurgitate the sock with an apomorphine injection. Please take him now. If you hope it may pass, he may end up with a life threatening obstructed bowel and expensive surgery.

Poor Rocko! From your description, I would be very concerned that he may still have part of the sock, or some other foreign object, stuck in his stomach or intestines. This problem generally causes repeated episodes of vomiting, loss of appetite, and lethargy. Unfortunately, if he does have an intestinal blockage, this is a life-threatening problem that needs emergency surgery - there is nothing you can do at home to treat it. So I would focus on finding a way to get him in to see a vet as soon as possible. If costs are a concern, you can see if there is a low-cost SPCA clinic in your area that could help, or apply online for Care Credit, which is a payment plan accepted by most veterinary clinics: www.carecredit.com

My biggest concern is that these socks and the material from socks can cause a life threatening foreign body obstruction. I would try your best to pick up all of the sock and material that she likes to chew to prevent this from happening. If you ever think she has swallowed a sock and she isn't showing any signs of sickness, I would feed her a high fiber canned diet for 2-3 days until it passes. If she swallows it and you see it happen, I would take her to your vet so they can make her throw it up. If she is ever showing signs of sickness like vomiting, lethargy, or not wanting to eat, I would have your vet take a look at her. Be sure to tell your vet that she has a history of eating things she shouldn't like socks so they can take x-rays if needed. I hope this helps!

Aldo may or may not have an issue. If you brought him to a veterinarian the issue becomes is you cannot always see a sock on X-ray. They may end up referring for abdominal ultrasound to look for it, which you may not see it either. If Aldo starts vomiting, diarrhea, acting off at all, decrease in food intake then I recommend a veterinarian immediately. Know that this end result of this may be surgery. Sometimes dogs will pass them while other times they will not. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Good questions. So yes a dog can eat and drink if there is a sock stuck in the GI tract, it may take time for it to cause problems. I've seen cases where a dog has an obstruction for a very long time before it's caught. I hope this helps!

This scenario can go one of three ways. You may end up finding the sock and he may not have eaten it at all. This will obviously be the best scenario. The second scenario is he either vomits it up or poops it out. This can happen. The third scenario is he becomes obstructed and needs surgery. I would highly recommend not having him play with socks anymore. Keep a close eye on him. Any vomiting, diarrhea or lethargy I would recommend going to a vet immediately. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.