A local pup had a lucky escape after surgery saved him when he swallowed a 30cm children’s arrow whole.
Four-month-old Hungarian Vizsla, Loki, was taken into the Village Vets in Stillorgan by his owner when the pup was out of sorts and vomiting.
The vet on duty, Ruth Wolfson, felt Loki’s stomach and could feel a lump the size of a small plum.
The x-ray showed something unusual in Loki’s stomach and he was rushed to surgery where, to the vet’s surprise, they removed a children’s toy arrow from his stomach.
MD of Village Vets Charles Cosgrove told Dublin Gazette that Loki is very lucky the arrow did not cause any internal damage.
“Luckily enough the arrow hadn’t perforated anything. It was a kid’s arrow with a foam velcro stopper at the end of it.
“We’re not quite sure how it was ingested. The owner’s kids had made them aware that they were missing an arrow but never really thought that he would of eaten it.
“But even if he did, that he would chew it up into smaller pieces. We often find that dogs chew up pencils and various kids’ toys and eat them, but they would never eat them whole.”
Charles said Loki is making a great recovery.
“He’s doing good, He’s still a crazy puppy bouncing around the place and doing ok.”
Charles had this message for pet owners in relation to children’s toys and other potentially harmful objects.
“The most important thing is to try and gather up kids’ toys and keep kids aware of the dangers of these things.
“It’s just being sensible and keeping things out of reach.
“Also provide dogs specific toys for their dogs. These toys tend to be a lot more robust, a lot less destructible and not as easy to swallow.”
