Yahoo Finance Dog nearly dies after swallowing 3ft Christmas tinsel
A dog has nearly died after eating a three-foot length of Christmas tinsel.
Great Dane Dexter was rushed to the vet when his owners realised a strip of the festive decoration was missing from their mantelpiece on Monday.
Staff at the PDSA clinic in Margate took the 10-year-old dog straight into emergency surgery after an x-ray confirmed he had something lodged in his stomach.
Vet Kate Milroy said: “Dexter needed to be taken straight in for emergency surgery, it was clearly causing a blockage and would be fatal if we didn’t remove it as soon as possible.
"There’s always some risk with any kind of operation, but thanks to Dexter’s owner noticing the early signs of problems we were hopeful it would be straightforward.
"I was very surprised when I managed to pull the tinsel out all in one piece though.”
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Dexter’s owner Paul Noakes’s son Mitch, 15, noticed a strip of tinsel wrapped around ornaments on the mantelpiece was missing.
A search of the house came up empty and fingers were pointed at the Great Dane.
Dexter showed no signs of illness but by the following night he was being sick and had to be rushed to the vet.
X-rays confirmed the tinsel was in the dog’s stomach, but thankfully had not moved through his intestines, which would have caused additional complications.
The operation was a success and Dexter is now recovering well back at home under the watchful eyes of his owners.
Noakes, 56, from Margate, said: “Dexter bounced back so quickly, and you can barely even see the scar already.
"His post-op check was done by PDSA over the phone, and his stitches were dissolvable so we didn’t have to make another journey.
"It’s not the Christmas we had planned but we’ll make do, and having Dexter safely home with us is the best present.”
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Noakes, a full-time carer for his wife, said it’s not the first time Dexter has confused Christmas decorations with food.
The same thing happened two years ago, but fortunately an operation was not required as it came out freely.
Noakes added: “When he was younger he used to eat sofas and carpets, and two years ago at Christmas he ate tinsel, although we didn’t know straight away.
“He wasn’t ill at all, and the first we knew was when it started coming out in pieces at both ends.”
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