Step 5: Do Not Attempt To Self Treat
Please do not use home remedies for inducing vomiting in dogs. Generally, toilet paper, Kleenex or paper towel will cause no problems for dogs, but making them sick can make them very ill. In most cases, your vet won’t tell you to make your pup vomit at home. They’ll advise you to bring Fido in for a visit. However, in the off chance that they do, wait for direction from your vet before attempting it.
If your pet insurance covers exam fees and your dog needs to be examined, there is a good chance your policy will reimburse those costs based on your policy details. However, if you are a new customer, vet expenses will not be covered until after your policy’s defined waiting periods, so signing up once you have an existing health concern is not going to help this time. Pre-existing conditions are not covered by any current pet insurance plans.
Step 4: Follow Your Vet’s Instructions
Your vet might ask you to come to the clinic for an examination. This is especially true if your canine companion is small and has eaten a large amount of paper towel, or if they are showing symptoms. However, it is more likely that your vet will give you a list of symptoms to look out for. These symptoms may include vomiting or inappetence. They will also likely ask you to call back if your pet becomes unwell.
Diagnosis If a foreign body blockage is suspected, x-rays will be used to confirm the diagnosis. Often, several x-rays will be needed using contrast material (dyes) to locate the object. Additionally, your veterinarian may want to run blood and urine tests to determine whether your dog’s overall health has been negatively impacted by the obstruction and also to rule out other possible causes of vomiting such as enteritis, pancreatitis, infections, or hormonal diseases like Addison’s disease. Treatment If your dog did eat a foreign body – stick, rock, or shoe – there are a few possible treatment options depending on the condition of your dog. If your dog has been profusely vomiting, writhing in pain, and generally miserable the first thing your veterinarian will do is provide intravenous fluids and pain control.
Sometimes, objects are too big to progress through the digestive tract, and when this is the case, they cause an obstruction. If the foreign body has made it to the colon, it’s likely to pass – however, there’s still the possibility that it will be painful, especially if it is sharp (like a stick). In cases like this, you might need veterinary assistance. It is important to follow this rule: never pull a foreign object that is protruding from your pet’s rectum! If still lodged inside, this can cause damage to the internal tissues. If you happen to watch half of a football disappear down your dog’s gullet, watch for these common symptoms to determine whether you need to seek veterinary attention:
Dogs are naturally curious, but sometimes their curiosity gets the best of them. This is especially true for dogs with mouths like vacuum cleaners – they tend to eat a lot of strange things. As connoisseurs of life, many dogs don’t hesitate to sample all sorts of objects from toilet paper to rocks, shoes to sticks, clothing, and even garbage. While many of these things somehow pass through the intestinal tract without incident – and at a dog-owner’s dismay – sometimes a dog’s appetite for life can cause problems. This is also true for cats – be sure to read about the dangers of foreign object ingestion to your kitty, especially the potentially dangerous habit of eating thread.
If you know your dog has ingested something he or she shouldnt have, call your veterinarian immediately.The most common problem with this is foreign body obstruction. A potentially life-threatening condition, foreign body obstruction occurs when one of the many strange objects (foreign bodies) ingested by your dog is unable to make it successfully through the intestinal tract. When the object becomes “stuck,” it can cause a lot of discomfort and be very dangerous.
If your dog still has the foreign body in his or her stomach, inducing vomiting may allow the dog to rid itself of the object. The object also may be removed through endoscopy, in which a long tube is inserted through the mouth of your dog and is used to pull the object from the stomach. Your veterinarian will make recommendations, and if this is the case, may also suggest hospitalization of your pooch for close observation and follow-up x-rays to track the progress of the item. If the object has made it into the intestine, surgery is imminent. Time is absolutely of the essence because, as mentioned before, blockage in the intestine or stomach can cut blood supply to the stomach and intestinal tissue. After a few hours, it is possible for the tissue to become necrotic, or “die.” Prognosis Most of the time, especially in uncomplicated cases, prognosis for pets that have gastrointestinal blockage is very good. However, overall prognosis depends on several factors:
How Long Does It Take a Dog to Digest Food?
Dogs have a way of getting into things they shouldn’t, and one thing many pups seem to love playing with is paper. Used tissues, napkins, paper towels, toilet paper—countless pet parents have come home to find these products shredded all over the floor.
It often comes down to odor, says Scott Sheaffer, a certified animal behavior consultant and owner of USA Dog Behavior in Dallas, Texas.
“If you’ve used it to wipe your mouth or even wipe your nose or your hands, there’s a scent on it that’s appealing to them,” he says.
Boredom or anxiety could also drive dogs to rip up paper products, if they don’t have enough other enrichment available. Or, if dogs are actually ingesting the paper, it could be a sign of pica, a medical condition that drives animals to eat non-food items (humans can also suffer from pica).
“It can become a compulsion, where they obsessively and compulsively eat paper products,” Sheaffer says. “That’s much more of a behavioral issue than…appetite driven.”
More often, though, dogs shred tissues and towels simply because it’s fun, says Erin Jones, a certified dog behaviorist and owner of Merit Professional Dog Training in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
“The number one reason is probably just because they enjoy the sensation of ripping stuff up,” she says.
Puppies and adult dogs are equally likely to enjoy playing with paper, Jones says, and it’s a common behavior regardless of breed.