Diesel the dog has emergency surgery after swallowing baby's bottle teat
Diesel, a Staffordshire bull terrier, was taken to a vet after refusing his food and becoming very lethargic.
An X-ray showed the greedy dog had wolfed down the teat which belonged to owner Paula Balint’s baby grandson.
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Hide AdMs Balint, 40, said: “The vets said they would need to do some X-rays. I couldn’t believe it when they told me that he’d swallowed a baby bottle teat.
“It must have been from one of my grandson Ozzy’s bottles, but I don’t know where Diesel found it.”
Vets at the PDSA Pet Hospital in Swansea performed emergency surgery to remove the teat before it caused a fatal blockage.
Senior vet Eleri Laine said: “It was very serious because Diesel was so unwell, and we knew we had to act fast before he became extremely poorly.
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Hide Ad“He received treatment through our A&E service, which has received fantastic funding support from players of People’s Postcode Lottery, and thankfully he made a full recovery.”
Ms Balint, from Port Talbot, said she had a number of baby bottles in the house because she often looks after her young grandson.
“Diesel must have found a teat on the floor or something and he’s wolfed it down whole. I’m now really careful not to leave things lying around,” she said.
Apart from baby bottle teats, Diesel also has a soft spot for people’s shoes, which he likes to chew when no-one is looking.
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Hide AdPDSA vets say dogs often like to use their mouth to investigate objects as well as to eat and sometimes a pet will swallow an item by mistake.
It is known as “pica” and can prove very dangerous. Objects can cause a problem in the stomach but when they move out of the stomach and in to the intestines they can become stuck, causing a life-threatening tear or blockage.
PDSA vets recommend training pets to play with safe toys from a young age which helps to curb their temptation to chew other objects, as well as teaching basic commands like “drop” and “leave”.