Stone-swallowing spaniel makes full recovery

(PA)

A dog has made an amazing recovery after munching his way through 2lb of stones.

Springer spaniel Samson, from Musselburgh, East Lothian, was admitted to the PDSA pet hospital in Edinburgh by his concerned owner who noticed he had lost his appetite and appeared bloated.

Cheryl Douglas, 36, thought her pet might have been suffering from a stomach bug.

But she was shocked to learn from the vet that Samson had swallowed 2lb (0.9kg) of chipped stones from the garden.

She said: "Quite how Samson physically managed to swallow so many stones is a real mystery.

"He does love to play in the garden and obviously took a liking to them.

"We have now removed the chipped stones from the garden to avoid any further accidents."

Two-year-old Samson was treated at the pet hospital in Hutchison Crossway, where he underwent surgery.

PDSA vet Michael King, who operated on him, said it was a shock to find so many stones.

He said: "Dogs use their mouth to explore objects as well as to eat.

"Sometimes the two functions get confused and a dog will eat an object by mistake, even though it had only meant to investigate it, which is probably what happened in Samson's case."

Vet nurse Seante Glass said the spaniel was lucky to survive.

The PDSA worker said: "The X-ray of the stones inside Samson is pretty dramatic.

"As soon as he arrived at the hospital and the vet felt his bulging stomach, it was clear that there was a massive obstruction.

"The fact that his stomach didn't rupture is quite amazing. Equally, if the stones had gone into his intestines, the outlook would have been very poor indeed."