Sweetcorn or mielie kernels are safe to feed our dogs, but that seemingly harmless “chew toy” of a cob could lead to one expensive surgery.
Because of its cylindrical shape, corn cobs are indigestible and can easily cause an internal blockage that will cause your dog to become unwell and require veterinary treatment.
Without treatment, the blockage would cause dehydration, loss of appetite and damage to the bowel, which can be life-threatening.
Dogs who have eaten a corn cob may show some of these clinical signs:
- Sickness
- Diarrhoea
- Tiredness
- Difficulty pooing or passing only small amounts of poo.
- Poor appetite
- Abdominal tenderness or pain
The Animal Welfare Society recently came to the aid of a dog who displayed all of these symptoms and immediately suspected that he had swallowed a large foreign object.
“His owner gave us a hint of what that might be when she mentioned that he loved to beg at the table and almost always got his way”, says the Animal Welfare Society.
“After running through a long list of possibilities she mentioned that he enjoyed gnawing on Mielie cobs that she naively thought were beneficial for him.”
“After explaining the dangers of feeding him Mielie cobs he was taken to be x rayed where a large, dark, cylindrically shaped object could be seen in his abdomen.”
There was no doubt that it was a Mielie Cob and that it would need to be surgically extracted. The operation went off without a hitch and after spending the night in Recovery this much-loved pooch, whose owner will have to learn to say NO to feeding him table scraps, woke up feeling a lot better.
Picture/s: Supplied