Curiosity killed the cat and it nearly got the dog too.
Angell Animal Medical Center, a 24/7 veterinary hospital operated by the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (MSPCA) in Boston, recently treated a bulldog named Mortimer, who had a peculiar taste in snacks.
Mortimer’s owners didn’t realize the dog’s bad habit until he stopped eating his food in June. Mortimer has been bothered by bouts of nausea since April, but his pet parents thought it was the side effect a condition like acid reflux.
Once the bulldog stopped eating all together, the owners knew something was wrong, so the rushed the three-year-old canine to MSPCA’s Angell Animal Medical Center, where Mortimer was giving an x-ray. The x-ray revealed that the dog had nearly 20 pacifiers stuck in his stomach, pacifiers that he likely stole from his two young, human siblings and gobbled up over the past few months
After the x-ray, Angell’s Dr. Erika De Papp removed 19 pacifiers from Mortimer’s stomach via an endoscopy, “a non-surgical procedure used to examine—and oftentimes remove — items from an animal’s digestive tract,” according to MSPCA.
Mortimer made it through the procedure without issue, but his primary veterinarian, Dr. Doug Brum, says the situation could’ve easily become a close call.
“It’s likely that Mortimer started nabbing these pacifiers in April, perhaps one at a time, and that started a cycle of nausea and vomiting, which are symptoms that can be caused by so many other health issues,” he said. “If not for the urgency with which his family pursued veterinary care, things would have gotten much worse for him.”
Luckily, things have only gotten better for Mortimer since the procedure. He has almost fully recovered from the pacifier problem and is back to acting like his old self.
“I was shocked because even though I have two small children at home I’d never imagined he was eating their pacifiers,” Emily Shanahan, Mortimer’s owner, said in a statement.
She added that she would do anything for her dog and that she is happy that Mortimer’s issue was not a “chronic illness.”
While odd, Mortimer’s situation is not rare. Angell veterinarians have “removed all manner of objects from the bellies of pets, from guitar strings and wristwatches, to safety pins, diamond rings, perfume bottles and more,” reports MSPCA.
The animal welfare organization hopes this story acts as a helpful reminder for pet owners to keep an eye on what their furry friends are snacking on.
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