While working downstairs my dad hears a chair being moved upstairs so he runs back up and yup, the three chicken bones are gone and Owen's licking his lips. My dad runs over to the trash can - empty!!! He looks at Owen and he's still licking his lips. My dad says some interesting words and calls mom. "Come home, we need to drive the kids to the emergency vet. Owen's eaten my chicken bones."
So mom comes home and we all get put into the truck for a drive out to the emergency vet. Thankfully it's a very quiet night and after some discussion, Owen gets x-rayed. There's a couple of inch long bones and fragments in his tummy. Dad's really worried but Owen seems fine.
So the vet says we could leave things the way they are and we can "just monitor Owen". In fact the vet says, if Owen were his dog, he'd just monitor Owen. The stomach acids would break down the bone but there's also the risk that it might not and bone fragments could puncture Owen's intestines as the material is heading for the exit doors.
The other alternative the doctor explains, is to give Owen an injection of hydrogen peroxide. this will cause Owen to get sick and vomit the contents of his stomach. Of course, (1) you may not get everything out of Owen's tummy and (2) also the danger is that we could damage his esophagus.
My dad thought that getting the material out was more important than to having to wait to see what would happen.
Owen is just fine and happy to be well again. Oh yes, because my dad couldn't tell if the chicken bones were shared with the shelties, they got x-rayed too, I stayed away in another room so I'm fine. After my dad got hit with a really large bill, he was just happy to have Owen back among the group.
What would you have done? Woofs
