Vets in Idaho found a tennis ball stuck inside the intestines of a Border Collie, after his family were left with no choice but to pass him into local animal care.
West Valley Humane Society shared that four-year-old Border Collie Guss arrived at the shelter as a medical surrender after not eating for five whole days.
The dog had reportedly been attempting to throw up despite not having eaten anything.
Guss was treated as an emergency case, but what they found was rather surprising. The shelter recognised that they “quickly needed to take action” and went ahead with X-rays.
The images showed that Guss had clearly digested something he should not have.
“We went straight to action to do a complex surgery. We found that whatever was in there had broken through the intestine twice. We had to remove part of the small intestine that had the obstruction in it,” they shared the shelter in a Facebook post.
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“When we dissected the piece of intestine that had been perforated, we realized that it was a chunk of tennis ball that had been swallowed.”
Somewhat ironically, Border Collies as a breed are known for their obsessions with tennis balls, and owners often head online to share their experiences with the ball-mad canines.
This apparent obsession however soon became unhealthy with the tennis ball causing a blockage in Guss’ digestive system.
“This also made Guss feel like he needed to get it out by trying to throw it up. Since it was stuck in there and protruding through his intestines this became impossible for him, making him lose all interest in eating for five days prior to coming in,” explained West Valley Humane Society online.
“We are so thankful for our medical staff, and their dedication to making all animals happier and healthier. The tennis ball is now out of Guss, and he is recovering quickly! We are so excited for Guss to be able to have a bright future because of the care our medical staff was able to quickly provide him,” wrote the shelter.
Local residents shared both sadness and joy at the story, while fellow dog owners in the area, especially of Border Collies, took the story as a warning sign.
“We’ve got ball chewers and the kids forget to pick them up after playing fetch. This is scary. Glad he’s doing better,” wrote one dog owner.
In a similar case just last month, a cat owner was left surprised to find out that their pet had eaten 50 hair bands over the course of 18 months.
The cat had a three-hour operation to remove the clump of hair bands, and has since made a full recovery.
Newsweek has contacted West Valley Humane Society for comment.
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