How Safe Is Your Puppy?
Hi all. I’d like to share one of my Melbourne dog training client’s recent experience with her young dog and a lithium battery. Her dog was very lucky and survived of which we are all grateful. Please be vigilant so this doesn’t happen to you!
“Hi Basil,
I just thought I should let you know that Loki and I were all set to return to training this week, but we’ve had a major emergency so won’t be able to for a few weeks.
I came ho
me on Tuesday after a one hour outing and I noticed some strange items on the floor that I couldn’t immediately recognize. They had been chewed.
Then I noticed a single small lithium battery. Upon inspection of the strange looking items on the floor I could see that there shou
ld have been a second lithium battery but I couldn’t find it anywhere.
Despite it being school pickup time, I listened to my gut feeling and rushed Loki to the vet, organizing aftercare for the children on the fly.
As it turns out, we were extremely lucky I did that. An X-ray clearly showed the battery in Loki’s intestine so the decision was made to operate ASAP. I had to transfer Loki to the Animal Emergency Hospital on Dandenong Rd where they immediately prepped him for surgery.
Long story short… They successfully retrieved the battery and a small circuit board (probably a microchip). They were forced to actually open up his small intestine to retrieve the microchip.
They also repaired a small hole that had already burned through from leaked acid from the battery.
This has been a very stressful ordeal, but it looks like he will pull through and make a full recovery. He is a very lucky dog.
The reason I’m writing this to you is because I thought you might want to pass this information on to your clients.
The room I left him in for that hour was our family room. A room that we had puppy proofed and had never had any problems with before. We also have another dog that shares the space with never an issue.
So, wh
at was the mystery item and how did Loki come to eat it?
It was a small thermostat attached to our hermit crab tank… A small, insignificant item on a bench that I never in a million years thought would pose a threat. I never imagined that he would make the decision to walk up to the hermit crab tank and go to a fair amount of effort to peel the thermostat off the glass… Especially as he was only left for one hour, in the company of his best dog mate and surrounded by dog toys…
So there you go. Sorry for the long email. But I thought you’d like to know.”
