Puppy swallowed stick pieces. How long to monitor for blockage?

Hi there and thank you for using pet coach to address your concern. I would monitor Ripley for now as there are no clinical symptoms to be concerned about. What I would recommend doing would be to feed bread slices with pure canned pumpkin to help booked up the feces around the object to help prevent it from causing any punctures in the intestinal tract potentially. If you begin to see any symptoms such as vomiting, lethargy, abdominal pain, inappetence or anything else out of the ordinary I would get Ripley seen by a veterinarian sooner rather than later and have abdominal x-rays taken to see if the stick has caused any issues. I hope this helps guide you in the right direction. Please feel free to contact me if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.

I can certainly understand your concerns about Finn's stick ingestion, but the good news is that it sounds as though he's still doing very well at home. Stick ingestion is a bit of a tricky situation. Even if you had taken Finn to his vet immediately after he'd eaten the stick, your vet would likely have advised against inducing vomiting. The induction of vomiting of potentially sharp objects risks perforation of the esophagus, which is extremely dangerous. The only other ways to get the stick out are a) wait for it to pass or b) surgically remove it. At this point, the fact that Finn is doing well at home (namely eating, drinking, and acting normally without any vomiting or diarrhea) indicates that it's still more than reasonable to simply wait and give him more time to pass it. While I can't definitively tell you that surgery is absolutely not indicated without having examined Finn, it doesn't sound as though it's something that you need to urgently pursue by taking him to the vet. For the time being, I think it's reasonable to continue monitoring Finn closely at home. If you notice anything change, such as a loss of appetite, lethargy, vomiting, retching, gagging, or diarrhea, be sure to take him to see his vet right away. Otherwise, feeding him a bulkier diet, such as bread and rice, pumpkin, and boiled chicken may help him to pass the stick through his stool a bit more efficiently. I hope this helps and that everything goes well!

Thank you for contacting Pet Coach with your question about Heidi. Do NOT induce vomiting, the wooden shards from the stick could damage her esophagus on the way out. Give her half a slice of whole wheat bread now, and one with every meal. This may form a ball of ingesta around the stick, and cushion it as it passes through the Gi tract. Monitor her closely, and if you see vomiting, diarrhea, anorexia, lethargy, or blood in her feces, take her into the vet. I hope this helps!

If Hennighn just swallowed the stick, you can take into into the vet right away for them to induce vomiting. The only concern with this is that it could get stuck in the esophagus, which would be a bad complication. The other option is to wait and see if he digests and passes the stick. Dogs do eat wood, and often pass it without problem. You will need to monitor his feces and his behavior. The stick should pass within 24-48 hours. If he starts vomiting, having diarrhea, stops eating, or becomes very lethargic, then it is likely that the stick is stuck, and he will need to see a vet right away. Hennighn is a big dog, and Labs often eat things they aren't supposed to, so I wouldn't be surprised if he passed it on his own. Give him a slice of whole wheat bread now, and with every meal, to give him more fiber and encourage the stick to pass along. The bread now will help cushion the stick as it passes through the intestinal tract. If the stick passes, you have no worries, just keep monitoring the feces for it. Hope this helps, and good luck :-)

Pumpkins aren't toxic. If she swallowed a large piece of the stem it could possibly cause an intestinal obstruction, so watch her closely over the next few days for anything abnormal, including lethargy, decreased appetite, vomiting or diarrhea. If see anything odd, she should get checked out by a vet.

The good news is that usually corn dog sticks don’t cause too much trauma in terms of the sharp edges. Sometimes, they don’t even eat any, they just chew it. If Pax is acting great, give him a slice of bread which can stick to the sharper pieces and ease their passing. That being said, it can still cause some vomiting or diarrhea and if you see these, or if you see lethargy or any other concerning signs, it time to take Pax to your vet.

Hello and thank you for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. As long as she is eating, drinking as normal and passing normal stools, she is not in any danger. The symptoms of of gastrointestinal blockage include vomiting, lack of appetite, lethargy, lack of stools. If Pearl definitely ate the stones and has not passed them, an x-ray of the abdomen would be a good idea. It may happen that the stones are still sitting in the stomach but not causing any clinical symptoms. They may move down to the small intestines and form an abstraction at some point. Stones are very easy to detect on x-ray, so this would give definitive answer if there is anything to worry about or not. Pumpkin or any other laxative treatment / diet will not be a good idea for Pearl.