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However, Ozzy mysteriously went off his food and suddenly
started to lose more weight for no apparent reason (very
unusual for a Labrador!). He started to vomit and was in
a lot of discomfort in his abdomen.
He was admitted, put onto a drip and X-rayed. It became
apparent that there was something very wrong going on inside
him, and an exploratory operation was performed to see exactly
what this was.
We rapidly discovered that Ozzy had been up to no good
in true Labrador style, and had devoured a wooden lollipop
stick! Unfortunately for him, the stick had perforated his
small intestine, and he had a life threatening infection
where his bowel contents had leaked into his abdomen - peritonitis.
The intestine was repaired and his abdomen was lavaged
to try to get rid of as much of the debris as possible.
He than remained in hospital on a drip and intravenous antibiotics
for several days, before eventually getting his appetite
back and being well enough to go home (just in time for
Christmas).
Fortunately for Ozzy, he has made a full recovery, and
he is now much more approving of the advice from his vets,
as - for the first time in my career where a Labrador is
concerned - I am telling his owner's to feed him more to
put the weight back on him!
But he has obviously not learned his lesson - His owner
recently told me that Ozzy stole and ate half a tin of Quality
Street chocolates (wrappers and all) over Christmas!
Geraldine
Young BVSc CertSAM MRCVS.
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