Lefty ate plastic--help

[Smilla]

Hi all,

Lefty ate a piece of plastic outside (a piece of one of those snack packages with cheese dip in one side and crackers in the other. He ate appx. a 1"x1" piece that had cheese on it. Will this dissolve in his stomach acid? Should I expect trouble?

I just took him to the vet on Wednesday for gastroenteritis. It is VERY hard to control his eating off of the ground. As soon as I notice he's found something, he's swallowed it. I don't know what I'm going to do about this habit.

[K9soul]

I wouldn't think it would hurt him, from the bit you described it doesn't sound like he ate too much of it. Tommy ate part of a dish rag once and it passed through ok .

I'd imagine it will pass through pretty easily, just keep an eye on him Tommy loves to put anything in his mouth too, and I have to watch him closely when we're out and about.

[DogLover9501]

I think he'll be fine, Jasper eats alot of rocks, argh and Im not sure how to get him to stop it!! Im sure that cant be good for his system

[Moose]

Don't take what I say too seriously, because I'm pretty clueless...but it seems to me that it will "pass through" problem-free. I know dogs have swallowed far more of far worse things, and they got along just fine.

[My Peanuts]

He should be fine. He will probably just pass that. You should see the remnants of plastic in Harley's poop from the toys he chews up.

[binka_nugget]

I'll echo what everyone else said. I wouldn't worry too much about it. Kai's famous for chewing/eating our garbage can lids. It should go through without a problem.

[wolfsoul]

Unfortunatly plastic is very difficult for dogs to digest, and it might hurt him on the way out. I don't think it's too critical. The intestines have alot of elasticity and should get it out fine; it's the anus that's more worrisome.

[Smilla]

Thanks, all. You've helped me feel less worried, though I'm still concerned. I hope he's able to pass it, and that it doesn't hurt too much on the way out! The plastic was thin but had a lot of corners--eek.

He's been particularly bad about eating off the ground the past two days--I think it's because I've been feeding him super bland food because of his gastroenteritis (which was caused, most likely, by something he ate off of the ground). It's basically rice held together with a little turkey. I don't think it's very filling.

[lizbud]

Smilla,

I wish I'd seen this post earlier. My Buddy was the same way.
Walked with nose to the ground all the time & was so fast at
grabbing things & swallowing even before I could react.

I think I also would be concerned since it was plastic. Is your
Vet's office open on weekends? I think I'd call them & see if they
have any advice other than to wait & see if it passes. Maybe
they could tell you some warning signs to lookout for should
the object not pass out in a bm.

[Smilla]

Well, Lefty threw up twice this morning and I think it got out all of the plastic--there was a total of three chunks. There's been none in his poop. He's been a little sluggish this morning but just now he barked at the oil truck, which seems to indicate that he's feeling better. I think I'll feed him his regular dog food so that he can get back to normal quickly--the prescription dog food just seems to leave him hungry all of the time, so his nose is constantly to the ground looking for "snacks!" Thanks to all of you for your replies!