A DOG’S life was saved thanks to emergency vets after a stick pierced his stomach.
The vet team at the Blaise Veterinary Referral Hospital in Longbridge, Birmingham, admitted him when the wood was found protruding him after he had been playing in the garden.

Owners Robert Clarke and Katie Luckman, from Kidderminster, called Obi in from the garden to go on a shopping trip when they spotted the stick.

Obi was transferred to the specialist team at IVC Evidensia’s Blaise Referrals after an initial assessment at a local first opinion vet in Kidderminster.

The state-of-the-art specialist-led multi-disciplinary referral hospital offers 24-hour emergency and critical care.

An urgent operation was scheduled there but then vet Lara Dempsey discovered the wood was making its way out, not in, This meant five-year-old springer spaniel had actually swallowed the stick, possibly months earlier.

Despite the life-threatening risk of peritonitis with the skewer having pierced the stomach, the dog had shown few symptoms and has since made a remarkable recovery after the procedure.

Katie said: “As I slipped his lead over his neck, we suddenly saw this sticking out.

“It was protruding really clearly, and we thought he’d maybe fallen onto something, and it had stuck in.

“But we keep the garden tidy and couldn’t think how it had happened.

“Although there wasn’t any bleeding, we knew we needed help right away and took him straight to out vets.”

Vet Lara, a specialist in small animal surgery soft tissue, said: “This was a really unusual case as Obi was mainly asymptomatic – apart from him not gaining weight despite a normal appetite.

“However, the stick had perforated through the stomach and spleen.

“Despite that, Obi was still bright and trying to bounce around when he came in.

“We suggested blood tests and CT imaging, but they were keen to just proceed with the surgery straight away.”

But, after noticing how the stick got there, she added: “There wasn’t much abdominal fluid, and I could see the stick had perforated through the stomach, skewered the spleen and then exited the left abdominal wall.

“We opened up the stomach to remove it and, as the spleen had been severely damaged, I had to do a splenectomy.

“I debrided and closed the abdominal wall on the inside, but left it open on the outside to allow it to heal.”

After the 90-minute procedure, Obi was kept in overnight for observation but was showing huge signs of recovery by the time his owners picked him up the following day.

Robert added: “He was running round crazy and was immediately back to his old self when we got him home, playing with our cat.

“He started to put on weight again very quickly, but we’d never have thought the fact he hadn’t gained weight before was because he had this in him.

“We’re just so grateful to the team at Blaise for all they were able to do for him.”

Lara said the stick perforating the stomach led to peritonitis which could be life-threatening.

“Obi’s body had managed to wall off the stick, which is why he didn’t show any obvious signs.

“Having had such damage to his organs and the stick in him for so long, Obi was very lucky.”