Dog won't eat kibble after passing foreign object. ER vet or wait?

It's difficult to know for sure without knowing the size or type of object ingested, but it's definitely a concern for causing an obstruction in the stomach or intestines. If she ate it within the last three hours, then it's possible that it can be retrieved from the stomach if you take her to the vet. This may require anesthesia and special instrumentation though, so it would be expected to be somewhat costly - especially at an emergency clinic. This is the best option though. The other option is waiting to see if it passes OK. Normal GI transit time is 3-5 days. During this time you would just be waiting to see if she has any signs of an obstruction. Signs of an obstructions are vomiting, not defecating, acting very painful/depressed and a decrease in appetite. If you notice these signs, then Olive would need to go to the vet immediately for emergency surgery. I hope that helps and all is well with Olive.

I would recommend to wait as this episodes may be incidental or related to a mild inflammation caused by the squeaker, from what you are describing I do not think there any risk of complete obstruction at this stage. As a first approach I would suggest to withhold food for the next 8 hours and then start feeding with a bland diet based on boiled chicken and rice in small portion every 6 hours for the following 48hours. Then gradually reintroduce the normal diet over 5 days. I would definitively recommend a veterinary check up if you notice diarrhoea, more vomiting, lethargy or inappetence. 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

Hi there and thank you for using pet coach to address your concern. The soo we the foreign material is taken out of the stomach the better. I know it is not causing a problem now but if it decides to pass through into the intestines, this could cause far worse problems than just sitting in the stomach. I would advise against waiting so thst you are not faced with an emergency surgery. If the object passes into the intestines, it could cause a lot of trauma which may lead to part of the intestines dying due to lack of circulation from squeezing on this object. It is difficult to say if this is soft tissue or not but it has the characteristic of an ingested foreign object. I hope this helps guide you in the right direction. Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns.

Can you take Brody into another vet for a second opinion? Unfortunately I cannot give a definitive one since I can't see him in person. You may feel better speaking to another vet. Given that he's otherwise acting normal, I would agree with your vet you may be able to wait, but if he starts vomiting, has diarrhea, becomes anorexic, and/or very lethargic, then it cannot wait. I hope this helps!

Poor Butter! Since this has been going on for 2-3 days now and she is also vomiting and not wanting to eat much, I would recommend taking her to the ER today to be seen, rather than waiting until next week. The ER doctor can do some diagnostic testing to help figure out what's going on (possibly blood work, x-rays, and/or a fecal exam for parasites) and get her started on appropriate treatment depending on what is found. At the very least, it sounds like she needs to be started on some supportive care and symptomatic treatment (for nausea, diarrhea, etc.) since dogs can become dangerously sick if they have symptoms like this for multiple days that are not resolving on their own.

Yes, i would definitely be taking odie in as soon as possible. It is likely he is dehydrated and nauseous and may need intravenous fluids alongside diagnosis. Obstruction from swallowing foreign bodies and severe gastroenteritis or pancreatitis would be high on the list of suspicions

I'm sorry to hear that Corndog has not been feeling well. Thank you for the thorough assessment and good work assessing his hydration! While a sudden change in diet may have caused gastroenteritis (inflammation in the gastrointestinal tract), I would expect to also see diarrhea in addition to his profuse vomiting. That does not necessarily rule out a diet change as an underlying cause, but it forces us to also consider other alternatives, such as a foreign body intestinal obstruction, pancreatitis, cholangiohepatitis (inflammation in the liver and gall bladder), viruses, kidney disease, among others. To err on the side of caution, I do recommend taking Corndog to an emergency vet now rather than waiting another 7 hours. If he does have an intestinal obstruction causing his vomiting and dehydration, these are best managed when surgery is performed as soon as possible rather than waiting and risking the development of intestinal perforations and/or sepsis. The vet will be able to perform any necessary diagnostic testing (x-rays, blood tests) so that he can be treated appropriately (likely with IV fluids and medications). I hope that all goes well and that Corndog is feeling better soon!