Birmingham vet’s warning after dog swallows bauble

A vet has warned pet owners about the dangers posed by Christmas decorations after performing emergency surgery on a dog that swallowed a ceramic bauble.

Milo, a one-year-old golden retriever, took a fancy to the ornament hanging on owners Mike and Rachael Adams’ tree, breaking it into pieces and swallowing more than half.

The couple’s daughter caught him in the act and alerted her parents before Milo could eat the whole thing.

Mr Adams said: “We didn’t know what damage had been done, or how bad it was, and we were quite scared that it might be the last time we would see Milo.”

Milo was rushed to Blaise Veterinary Referral Hospital in Longbridge, Birmingham, where he was looked after by Camilla Piazza.

While Milo did not appear to have any injuries to his mouth or teeth, and was seemingly unaware of what had happened, Ms Piazza said there was no way to know what kind of damage had been done by the ornament when he arrived.

“The pieces were very sharp so we were really worried that the shards he had swallowed could have caused severe damage to Milo’s insides,” she said.

Ms Piazza performed a complicated endoscopical procedure to retrieve the biggest pieces safely from Milo’s stomach.

After a tense four-hour wait, Milo was in the clear.

“We were so relieved to be able to bring Milo home that same evening,” Mr Adams said. “It was a whirlwind of a day.”

Other pieces had reached Milo’s intestine, but the vet was able to give Mr and Mrs Adams a “special recipe” to cook at home to help Milo pass them.

“A teddy bear bauble is a first for me,” Ms Piazza said.

“Everyone loves to put decorations up at this time of year, but you do have to be careful about what is in reach of your pets and could pose a hazard if swallowed.

“If something like this had happened to a smaller dog it would almost certainly have been a lot more dangerous, but the combination of Milo being bigger and having crunched the ornament down when he swallowed made him very lucky.”

Milo’s family have since stripped back their Christmas tree to tinsel and lights.