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Beware of your dog ingesting this... | Web DVM

Health, advice, and information online community for dog and cats lovers.

Beware of Your Dog Ingesting This

Squeaker in Dog Toys Common Foreign Body Obstruction

You may not recognize what this is but it is a component to common dog toys, specifically the ones that squeak – pictured here is the squeaker within the toy. They can be particularly dangerous because some dogs become obsessed with getting to the source of the noise made by squeaky toys and proceed to tear them out. If they are swallowed, they pose a risk of causing a GI obstruction.

I lost count in my career of how many squeakers I have surgically removed from the guts of dogs. I bring it up today because it is the holiday season and toys in our pets’ stockings are common, most especially squeaky toys….and case in point, I just recently removed one from the colon of a Doberman Pinscher that got stuck.

I am not necessarily saying that we should deny our dogs the joy of a squeaky toy, just saying that we should be careful. If your dog enjoys squeaky toys, you may safely allow him to indulge keeping in mind the following guidelines:

  • If your dog is especially obssessed with squeaky toys and/or has an especially strong bite that makes quick work of such toys, perhaps he is not a good candidate for such a toy.
  • Purchase an appropriate sized toy. For example, don’t buy a toy breed sized toy for a Pit Bull.
  • Inspect the toys frequently, discard and replace as soon as you see damage.

It amazing how much damage and how often I have seen such a fun and seemingly innocuous item can cause. Let your dog have fun, but exercise caution and good discretion and your dog will not likely end up in my operating room.

Dr. Roger Welton is a practicing veterinarian and highly regarded media personality through a number of topics and platforms. He is the author of The Man In The White Coat: A Veterinarian’s Tail Of Love. In addition to being passionate about integrative veterinary medicine for which he is a globally recognized expert, Dr. Welton was also an accomplished college lacrosse player and remains to this day very involved in the sport.  He is president of Maybeck Animal Hospital , general partner of Grant Animal Clinic, and runs the successful veterinary/animal health  blogs Web-DVM and Dr. Roger’s Holistic Veterinary Care.  Dr. Welton fulfills his passion for lacrosse through his lacrosse and sport blog, The Creator’s Game.

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