puppy ate end of nerf gun dart

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royta
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puppy ate end of nerf gun dart

Post by royta » Tue Mar 26, 2013 11:36 am

My kids weren't following the new puppy rules and let her roam free in the house. My puppy ran to my 13 year old son with a nerf gun suction cup foam bullet in her mouth. Instead of grabbing puppy and opening her mouth, he tries to pull it out of her mouth. Well, the end of the bullet went down the throat. This happened on Thursday at 4:15PM. See attached picture of culprit bullet and new bullet for comparison. She passed the yellow foam part 48 hours later but I haven't located the purple suction cup part. My son insists he saw it go down the throat.

My puppy has been eating, drinking, and pooping just fine. She threw up yesterday at about 3:15PM (my son said he saw her licking up what appeared to be vomit on her outside dog house bed) and some time last night (I saw a stain on the towel she sleeps on in her inside crate).

I've just been sick over this. My wife is headed to vet right now for the barium and x-ray treatment.

Brittany puppy whelped on Jan 20.
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Echo Hill Kennel
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Re: puppy ate end of nerf gun dart

Post by Echo Hill Kennel » Tue Mar 26, 2013 12:11 pm

I think you made the right decision by going to the Vet
Good Luck and
Keep us posted.

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jwnissen
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Re: puppy ate end of nerf gun dart

Post by jwnissen » Tue Mar 26, 2013 5:44 pm

I wish that's all my dog ever ate. I use to be concerned then I would just look for it the next day. Was almost like a scavenger hunt picking her poop up. Actually, it helped me figure out what she really liked to eat, tissue paper and paper towels. I did everything in my power to keep things picked up, but she managed to eat things I didn't even know we had in our yard!! :roll: I can tell you she has an iron stomach and strong intestines.

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royta
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Re: puppy ate end of nerf gun dart

Post by royta » Tue Mar 26, 2013 6:46 pm

The vet took an initial x-ray and determined barium followed by a series of other x-rays was unnecessary. He saw what appeared to be gas in the caecum (like the human appendix). Because Maggie is eating like normal, drinking like normal, pooping like normal, and full of energy, he didn't think the two instances of vomiting were concerning.

He said she would be vomiting all water and food if there was a blockage. He said to monitor her over the next 48 hours (which should be easy because I'm OCD over her) and bring her in if she continues to vomit.

So, $160 bought me a partial piece of mind. I sure wish I knew where the purple suction cup was though. I guess I could have missed it in her poop. My wife picked up her first poop pile and said she saw grass in it, so maybe she's (dog, not wife) eating some grass which is causing the upset stomach?

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Re: puppy ate end of nerf gun dart

Post by SHNOOL » Wed Mar 27, 2013 11:19 am

We JUST went through this...
NOT FUN.

Except, in our case the dog didn't eat/drink/poop normal. Everything was coming up. We thought this one got a hold of earplugs (wasn't even 10 hours later)... and someone did, but that's another story. With 7 Britts in the house, it's a handful at times.

Anyway, barium xray, then follow up, finally they did surgery to find the blockage. They found NOTHING causing the block, but there definitely WAS a block... however, 24 hours later, and the pup (18months) was WAY WAY better. We suspect twisted gut, and the surgery solved that while in the process of trying to find earplugs causing the block...

What happened to the ear plugs? Well they mysteriously arrived (fluorescent orange and hard to miss) in poop in the same yard by one of the other dogs (ugh). HMMMM.

Pup is doing well, but has a 6 inch incision on her (they did a great job of closing her up, and figuring this out though). I am sure she'll be 100% again though, she's already bouncing off the walls and being a puppy again (trying to keep her contained until she heals).

Boy is it scary stuff though.
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royta
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Re: puppy ate end of nerf gun dart

Post by royta » Wed Mar 27, 2013 12:20 pm

My puppy threw up this morning, but there was grass in it. It wasn't chunky or anything. I've heard dogs will eat grass to ease an upset stomach and the vet did say she had gas in the caecum.

Her poop was normal this morning, except for one nuggett that was much more dense and almost had a purplish hew to it. It didn't have the granular bits of dog food in it. It was very fine material. I'm almost wondering if the suction cup piece is stomach acid soluble.

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Re: puppy ate end of nerf gun dart

Post by big swill » Wed Mar 27, 2013 4:10 pm

I've had dogs eat anything and everything. One ate about 1/3 of a memory foam pillow; was picking up nerf turds for days in the yard. Had one eat aluminum foil, another swallowed one of my son's ankle socks whole. I discovered the hydrogen peroxide trick years ago. 1 cc per 10 pounds of body weight and everything on their stomach comes up in no time. As long as you catch it before it gets past the stomach it works like a charm. I actually learned that trick from a vet. Needless to say hydrogen peroxide is part of the doggie 1st aid kit.

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royta
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Re: puppy ate end of nerf gun dart

Post by royta » Wed Mar 27, 2013 5:14 pm

Update!!!! The foam passed at approximately 50 hours and the suction cup piece passed at exactly 144 hours. 6 days of worry is over!!!!!

Yippee!!!!!!

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Echo Hill Kennel
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Re: puppy ate end of nerf gun dart

Post by Echo Hill Kennel » Wed Mar 27, 2013 5:16 pm

Nice! Good news

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Re: puppy ate end of nerf gun dart

Post by nanney1 » Thu Mar 28, 2013 9:02 am

I've had dogs pass socks before. However, I know someone who had to have emergency surgery for a sock that didn't pass. Also had a dog eat the end of a tug rope. The shreds of the rope passed as well. I don't buy those anymore.

Currently, my little Staffy (30lbs) grabbed a smoked chicken leg quarter. The drumstick bone pulled away from the meat. My son grabbed her and she quickly started chewing and the bone disappeared. Never found the bone???? There's no way such a small dog could have swallowed the bone whole and she didn't have time to chew up a bone that size. I really don't know what happened as the snatch and grab was over in less than 5 seconds. Looked everywhere for the bone and never did find it. Of course, if it was under the couch the dogs would have been searching. In any event, she has continued to eat and drink, no vomiting or upset stomach, and I've seen two bowel movements since it happened. I can only guess that she wolfed it down and digested it.

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Re: puppy ate end of nerf gun dart

Post by High Voltage » Thu Mar 28, 2013 11:39 am

Glad to hear all has passed!

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Munster
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Re: puppy ate end of nerf gun dart

Post by Munster » Thu Mar 28, 2013 2:02 pm

nerf toy that small wouldnt worry me a bit. Now when you e this thing go down! Then worry!

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pudelpter
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Re: puppy ate end of nerf gun dart

Post by pudelpter » Fri Mar 29, 2013 9:50 am

Peroxide saved me a few trips with my Golden when he was young. Socks seemed to be his favorite. My wife's friend is a vet tech and showed us a picture of a kong in a labs stomach.

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royta
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Re: puppy ate end of nerf gun dart

Post by royta » Sat Mar 30, 2013 7:48 am

nanney1 wrote:I've had dogs pass socks before. However, I know someone who had to have emergency surgery for a sock that didn't pass. Also had a dog eat the end of a tug rope. The shreds of the rope passed as well. I don't buy those anymore.

Currently, my little Staffy (30lbs) grabbed a smoked chicken leg quarter. The drumstick bone pulled away from the meat. My son grabbed her and she quickly started chewing and the bone disappeared. Never found the bone???? There's no way such a small dog could have swallowed the bone whole and she didn't have time to chew up a bone that size. I really don't know what happened as the snatch and grab was over in less than 5 seconds. Looked everywhere for the bone and never did find it. Of course, if it was under the couch the dogs would have been searching. In any event, she has continued to eat and drink, no vomiting or upset stomach, and I've seen two bowel movements since it happened. I can only guess that she wolfed it down and digested it.

Any updates on your dog?

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roaniecowpony
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Re: puppy ate end of nerf gun dart

Post by roaniecowpony » Sat Mar 30, 2013 8:53 am

A couple years ago, our lab shredded a reath covered in pheasant feathers I had bought many years before in SD. I came home and found the reath and feathers scattered about the living room and hall. I thought no big deal...until I saw all the pins scattered around. The patches of skin that held the feathers were pinned to the straw core of the reath using 2" long pins with little plastic heads. I took the dog to the vet right away and they xrayed the dog and sure enough there was a single pin in her stomach.

The vet said let it pass and check her stool until it does. If it doesn't pass in a few days, come back.

A little trick is to use a clear bag to pick up the stool and smush thru it to locate the ingested object.

Long story...the vets said it was time to operate and the dog was on the table while waiting for a final xray for the surgeon. The xray came to the surgeon and it show some movement of the pin from the earlier xrays. They pulled the plug on the surgery and said look for the pin again. Sure enough it passed. My wife was the lucky winner to find the prize. :lol:

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John S
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Re: puppy ate end of nerf gun dart

Post by John S » Wed Jun 05, 2013 6:39 am

Glad everything came out ok LOL.. but what is it about Brits and Nerf darts? My Britt (Scout) goes nuts when he sees the nerf gun come out. He absolutely loves to play "fetch" with the darts in the house. After he gets it he'll come running back with it hanging out of his mouth like a cigar and spit it out at your feet. Then he'll wait until you reload and shoot it again. I always watch close to make sure he spits out the whole thing.

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