Rottweiler bounces back to health after vets remove four inch spring

Rottweiler named Rosie who swallowed a four-inch plastic spring bounces back to health after it was removed by vets

• Vets discovered the spring after x-raying the two year old Rottweiler
• Claire McDonald, 48, became concerned after Rosie developed a temperature

A two-year-old dog that wolfed down a four-inch spring has fully recovered after vets spotted the toy inside her stomach on an x-ray slide. 

Rosie the Rottweiler swallowed the plastic cat toy at her home in Dudley, West Midlands last month.

Four weeks later, owner Claire McConnell, 48, rushed her beloved pet to the vets after the pup became lethargic and developed a high temperature.

The expert vets only spotted the plastic spring inside the Rottweiler after carrying out an x-ray, weeks after she first swallowed the toy.

But as soon as the vets made their incidental discovery, Ms McConnell said she knew exactly what the object sitting in Rosie’s stomach was.  

Claire McDonnell (pictured) took Rosie to the vets after she developed a high temperature

Vets only discovered the plastic cat toy after x-raying Rosie the Rottweiler’s stomach

Rosie then underwent a quick 15-minute procedure to remove the spring, without surgery, and has since made a complete recovery.

Vets used an endoscope camera and forceps to retrieve the spring from inside Rosie’s body and stop it damaging her small intestine. 

‘I knew instantly what it was when the vet called me to say a foreign body had been found in her stomach,’ Rosie’s owner Ms McConnell said. 

‘I was still surprised and shocked, though, as it had been at least four weeks since she had swallowed it.

‘I had regularly checked to see if it had come out the other end for about a week after she swallowed it but nothing – and then I thought that perhaps she hadn’t swallowed it after all.

‘When it showed up on the X-ray I was very concerned and knew if they couldn’t remove it via her mouth then she would have to have an operation to remove it.’

If the toy were to become wedged in Rosie’s oesophagus during the vet’s operation, the results could have been fatal.

‘Thankfully, everything went well, and Rosie is doing so much better now and is back to her loveable, bouncy, crazy self,’ Ms McConnell said.

Rosie, who lives with her owner in Dudley, West Midlands, has since made a full recovery

Vets recovered the plastic spring from Rosie’s stomach using a 15 minute operation

‘She was looked after very well by all the staff, and I was kept informed at every stage of her treatment.’

Rosie was treated at Blacks Vets in Dudley after she gobbled up the spring last month.

Clinical director Brian Hogan said Rosie arrived at the vets showing signs of lethargy and a high temperature.  

‘It was an incidental find which was captured by the x-rays as we investigated Rosie’s lameness, the vet said. 

‘When we discussed it with the owner, she remembered that her cat was playing with a toy four weeks earlier and Rosie appeared to grab and swallow it.

‘She said they’d monitored her closely afterwards but Rosie didn’t pass anything and appeared well.

‘That’s not unusual. Many patients can remain very well. However, if the object moves from the stomach to the small intestine, it could then cause a serious blockage so we needed to remove it.

The two year old pup was saved by vets who used a camera and forceps to retrieve the spring 

The x-ray showed the spring sat in Rosie’s stomach a month after she first ate the toy

‘The spring was plastic, so we hoped to retrieve it using an endoscope without causing significant trauma to Rosie’s oesophagus.

‘If that failed, she would have required surgery to remove the spring.

‘It was a tricky procedure which took around 15 minutes. The challenge was that the tool designed to grip and remove the spring must fit through a very narrow channel within the endoscope and is, therefore, quite delicate.

‘We were concerned it may not be robust enough to maintain a strong enough grip as we squeezed the spring back up through the oesophagus.

‘We worked as a team to slowly and carefully inch it up from her stomach, into her mouth and finally removed it successfully.

‘I was assisted by the anaesthetist and a vet nurse to control the endoscope and the grasping tool, and everything went well and we succeeded with very little trauma to Rosie.’

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