oh lord -- what my border collie ate -- a warning to dog owners

[grasswire]

My border collie Duffy has had a bad evening. Groaning, needing to go outside several times.

I went upstairs for a bit, came back down half an hour ago and the kitchen and DR floors were covered with puke. Aghhhhhhhhhh. And there on the floor was the problem. Apparently last night he ate the butcher's stretchy string net that was holding together a turkey roast we had for last night's dinner.

I'm lucky he got it up and out, cuz it probably could have obstructed his guts.

Watch out for those things. Geez. He must have swiped it out of the trash can.

[ZombieHorde]

1. Good advice. nt

[TorchTheWitch]

2. this is why my kitchen trash is under tight security

Dogs will eat damn near anything.

You wouldn't believe the ridiculous security I had to go through to keep my first dog away from banana peels. Never mind that whenever he did manage to get ahold of one he barfed every time. You'd think they wouldn't be so interested in eating those things that they know make them sick, but noooooooooooo.

The dog I have now thankfully doesn't like banana peels or the banana itself for that matter. His "food" fetish is chewing gum that's been mashed out of all recognition on the pavement. I live in fear that one day I will discover him blowing sugary bubbles out of his butt.

[bluedigger]

3. My dog stays out of the trash.

She's afraid of trash bags!:rofl: (I swear I got her that way.)

Two days ago I came out of the store on the way back from the dog park. I drove home ten blocks, got her and my stuff out of the Jeep, and noticed my butt was wet as I walked in the apartment :wtf:

I changed my pants and then went back out to the Jeep.
A nice totally clean sharp and triangular piece of steakbone I'd given her the night before was in MY seat, in a drying pool of stomach acid. :crazy:

She nom-noms anything and gets rid of it from whatever end is most convenient.:rofl:
I totally buy into her alleged domesticated wolf heritage (She's a Catahoula).
She can eat anything. :shrug:

[lillypaddle]

4. My dog ate her entire collar

Couple of years ago - cost me over $3,000 in surgery/vet bills. My vet told me once not to give any of those rawhide bones or those string toys to the dogs because they also, along with collars, can obstruct the gut. They sell tons of that stuff.

[marzipanni]

5. Any good-smelling-to dog, but inedible items - meat/fowl bones, cheese wrappers,etc., etc.

go into a used plastic bag in my freezer until trash day.
Keeps our dog disinterested in trash, and keeps the stinkiness and flies from indoor and outdoor trash cans, especially in 95 º+ heat in the summer.
I'm glad Duffy worked it out without a $$$ visit to vet! He deserves a meaty, raw soup bone. ;)

[lukasahero]

6. Glad to hear your pup is ok

My pup is a thief so garbage is always secured but your story is a good reminder. Poor baby.

I had a scare myself last night when my pup trotted into the basement with a glass ornament in her mouth!

She is not allowed near the xmas tree unattended (we do know her) but there was a basket full of old glass ornaments that I thought was out of her reach in the dining room. Apparently not.

We just can't get over how she managed to pick one ball out of the basket and carry it so gently downstairs to us. (She is not a gentle pup, in fact, she's a bit of a hellion.)

Luckily she must have heard the panic in my voice because for the first time EVER she actually obeyed the "drop it" command. Whew.

[elleng]

7. LOVE the image:

'She must have heard the panic in my voice because for the first time EVER she actually obeyed the "drop it" command.'

[704wipes]

8. I've known Border Collies to eat rocks

Kind of hard to keep them away from those.

[csziggy]

9. Lucky Duffy for puking it! That can be so dangerous- and expensive.

My old kitty once snuck up on the counter and ate the strings I had just cut off a roast. I had to take her to the emergency vet clinic and pay them to make her throw up. Not a fun evening for any of us, but I was so glad I realized what she had done soon enough that it did not cause problems. Now, if I use a tied roast, as soon as the strings are cut and off, they go in the garbage which is in a closed cabinet!

[grasswire]

13. once I saw one of my kitties run across the room with a piece of string ...

....hanging out of it's bumhole. This was about fifteen years ago, before we knew that he was a string/ribbon eater and before people knew not to pull on any such thing. I did gently pull it, and it came right out -- he had already passed most of it. Now, of course we know that pulling it might have killed him.

He's 16 years old now, and gets no access to ribbon or string.

[WillParkinson]

10. My cat tried to do something similar...

But the string ended up getting twisted around his tongue. He had to go to the emergency vet to get it off. The vet said we were lucky the tongue did not have to be amputated.

[KurtNYC]

11. pretty sure my male is part billy goat

he eats Kongs, pieces of rope, foam, chewing gum, and many other seemingly indigestable items.

After seeing his choices I tried some foods I didn't think he would like and he ate them all: arugala, spinach, basil, sage, and hummus. He loves hummus.

[guitar man]

12. I remember sitting on the porch

and watching my dog Birdie poop out a plastic bag. That dog would eat anything :(

[livetohike]

14. My dog Cindy ate the whole plastic wrapper bag thingy from a ham

She must have found it when we were out on a walk (off leash). I was shocked when she started throwing up and out it came. Thanks for the warning on this too.