Animals Eat the Strangest Things
June 20, 2016When people find out I’m a veterinarian, this is typically one of the first questions they ask. People become fascinated with the bizarre items that dogs decide are tasty or choose as their chew toys and end up swallowing. The usual suspects are dog toys, socks, underwear (yes, underwear) and chewed up blankets or cloth; however, nothing surprises me at this point. It can typically turn into a guessing game between the staff and dog's owners. Many times, if a dog comes in due to vomiting and we take radiographs of the abdomen, it may not be clear what the troublemaker ate. In Mojo’s case, it was very obvious! 
Mojo is an adorable 4-month-old female Lab that had been vomiting several times that day. There was nothing that the owners saw her chewing on that she could have ingested. Well, Mojo is a puppy - and a sneaky puppy at that! Dr. Kaiser examined Mojo and recommended abdominal radiographs to assess her gastrointestinal tract. Sure enough, Mojo ate something she shouldn't have. In plain view on the abdominal radiographs, ear bud headphones could be seen!
The owners were just as surprised as we were to see the headphones light up on the radiographs. They never saw Mojo even near the headphones. Dr. Kaiser took Mojo to surgery to remove the ear buds through an incision in her stomach. She recovered well and is back to her normal self. The owners report that she is a little upset that she won't be able to wear her bikini this summer because of her new scar, but otherwise she is doing well!
Poor sweet Mojo and the headphones have made it onto my list of strange things dogs eat! What's on your list?
WVRC - ER Veterinarian