YT's can learn from Oprah's loss - YorkieTalk.com Forums

Buddy-licious · 07-20-2007, 04:44 AM

Most of us have all heard about the sad death of one of Oprah's dogs ....her dog Gracie choked on a "light up ball".
This is an article that Oprah wrote about Gracie's death:
http://www.oprah.com/omagazine/20070..._mission.jhtml

This was a "wake up call" for me....what items do I have around that could cause my furbaby to choke? Who better to ask than our YT friends? I think we all could learn from Oprah's loss. Please post items that could be dangerous or any experience you might of had with your baby choking. This is so scary!!! Hopefully, we can prevent others from going through what Oprah is going through.
(Note: I looked around to see if there was any other threads about dangerous choking items...I did not see any at the moment. Hopefully, I did not miss another thread about this)

Ozzie'sperson · 07-20-2007, 05:12 AM

For those of you in multi-species households:
Watch out for cat toys! They have little bells and cords on most of them. This is a real potential hazard for houses with puppies AND chewers!!!

Ozzie tries to play with some of Toby the Cat's toys sometimes. Luckily, he never tries to destroy them the way he does his own. I try to keep vigil when Toby is playing with these toys just in case they break or the little springy cords come lose so I can quickly scoop them up so that NEITHER pet gets into trouble.

ARCHIE · 07-20-2007, 05:26 AM

I did not know she lost Gracie. I love Oprah and I know how much she loves
her dogs. I remember the episode when she went to the breeder and
bought all three. My heart is heavy for her.

Emmsmom · 07-20-2007, 06:03 AM

I have posted several times about my grandmothers dog. He has had to have 2 surgeries now due to eating things he shouldn't have.

Choking is not the ONLY thing to watch for. Charlie had eaten pieces of paper, cloth, dental floss, the back of earrings, and so on. He could not pass any of them and had to have surgery to remove the mass lodged in his stomach. He started to act a little funny. She laying around and not being quite as active. He also wasn't eating anything. So the next morning she took him to the vet. The vet said that had she waited any longer he would have died.

So even if they swallow something small it doesn't always mean they can pass it.

TinyBit · 07-20-2007, 06:08 AM

OMG how very sad for all of these little dogs.
I'm going to check my house out better.

Judy in Waco · 07-20-2007, 06:17 AM

That story made me cry. I too remember the episode where she started working with a trainer.

I got worried too, so I posted a thread about how to tell what size of ball is safe, and it got some good responses...plus some funny ones! LOL

http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=87040

scoobiedooiscoo · 07-20-2007, 06:36 AM

as i took her heart worm pill out of the wrapper she was righ there and snatched it out of my fingers. she inhaled the whole thing and it got stuck in her throat, she couldnt breath at all and started to wobble and fall to the ground. i couldnt get it out i tried to do something close to doggie heimlich
( dont know how to spell that one for sure) and that wasnt working. hubby tried to reach it out of her mouth and could feel it but not get it outbut that did help her to at least try to cough. by that time foam was comming out of her nose i took her and ran to my neighbors who works at the vet and she couldnt get it out eather, by the time we caled the vet (after hours of course grrr) and got to the vets office it had gone down he did an ex ray to make sure and she had a bit of fluid in her lungs but was going to be ok. needless to say now she stays in her pack and paly while i get the pill out and crush it.

scoobiedooiscoo · 07-20-2007, 06:39 AM

all this happened after a baby i was watching died at my house from strept and pulminary adema in sept. so now i freak out at everything again. dont know how much more stress i cant take this year

Jenn218 · 07-20-2007, 06:42 AM

I know someone posted awhile back about treats too! Sometimes, they are either sticky or whatever and get stuck in the mouth/throat....that thread wasn't too long ago. They can choke on eating their food to fast too....
I think there are many things that "can" happen to cause them to choke.

I seen this about Oprah on ET or one of those shows....very sad!!!

Buddy-licious · 07-20-2007, 06:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Judy in Waco

That story made me cry. I too remember the episode where she started working with a trainer.

I got worried too, so I posted a thread about how to tell what size of ball is safe, and it got some good responses...plus some funny ones! LOL

http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=87040

Judy....great posting!! I had not seen your thread. Everyone needs to measure their balls!!!!

Buddy-licious · 07-20-2007, 06:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scoobiedooiscoo

all this happened after a baby i was watching died at my house from strept and pulminary adema in sept. so now i freak out at everything again. dont know how much more stress i cant take this year

OMG....you poor thing!!!!!! I cannot imagine how you must of felt about the baby. That is so sad!!! Then your furbaby gives you such a scare.
I hope things are going much better for you!!!
Lots of hugs & prayers coming your way!!!

VickiesMomma · 07-20-2007, 08:00 AM

I feel bad for Oprah and I feel we can all learn from her loss. However, does anyone else get the feeling her dog may not have died if she herself had been walking Gracie? I noticed a lot of celeb bashing lately, but O is seem imune to it. I just got odd feelings reading how choked up she is about the loss, just mere minutes before Gracie's death O could not be bothered to walk her.

Maybe it's just me. All I'm saying is I think this may not have happened if O had walked them herself...

linz06 · 07-20-2007, 08:13 AM

I felt like such a bad mom after this happened... a few months ago some friends came over to my house and these guys were all eating corndogs. They had never seen Layla before and they thought it was hilarious that she was jumping at them and their food. They were all laughing and I was doing other things and not really paying attention until one guy was like "Oops she got it!" I looked back and saw Layla looking at me with her tail wagging and the end of a chunk of wrapped hot dog in her mouth. I tried to grab her to take it out of her mouth but she wanted it bad so she ran. When I caught her, she swallowed it... WHOLE. She started wheezing and trembling and trying to bring it back up. I took her to her pee pad to try to get her to throw up on it. One of the guys came over with me and everyone was silent and we were rubbing her back and her stomach and tears started rolling down my face... it was about a minute that seemed like 10, and I was about to call an emergency vet when it finally came... about an inch and a half of hot dog covered in white goo. The bun part of it stayed down I guess. It was the scariest thing ever for me, but Layla was running around and happy as soon as it was over!

chachi · 07-20-2007, 08:19 AM

You have to be careful of stuffed animals with button eyes on them. Myy dogs have this puppy stuffed animal they play with and the other day I notced it was mssing both of its eyes. Luckily they didnt choke on them and they must have passed them.

ladybugg74 · 07-20-2007, 08:25 AM

Choking hazards:

-money(coins falling out of pockets ect)
-pen caps
-pee pad(We believe Hallee choked on her pee pad that caused us the big scare and rush to the vet because a ball of it came out in her poo, she shredded it and ate some of it)

-clear plastic part of price tags(We have fished this out of Gracie's throat several times. We now cut the tag over the toilet and flush the platstic thing down to be sure it does not fall out of the trash ect.)

-parts of toys that are pulled off(never buy toys with the hard eyes and we alway tugg and pull on the toys in the store to be sure the will be durable)

That is all I can think of right now.

07-20-2007, 04:44 AM	#1
Buddy-licious Donating YT Addict Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Charlotte,nc Posts: 1,976	YT's can learn from Oprah's loss Most of us have all heard about the sad death of one of Oprah's dogs ....her dog Gracie choked on a "light up ball". This is an article that Oprah wrote about Gracie's death: http://www.oprah.com/omagazine/20070..._mission.jhtml This was a "wake up call" for me....what items do I have around that could cause my furbaby to choke? Who better to ask than our YT friends? I think we all could learn from Oprah's loss. Please post items that could be dangerous or any experience you might of had with your baby choking. This is so scary!!! Hopefully, we can prevent others from going through what Oprah is going through. (Note: I looked around to see if there was any other threads about dangerous choking items...I did not see any at the moment. Hopefully, I did not miss another thread about this) __________________ Rhonda, Buddy-licious and Sammie

07-20-2007, 05:12 AM	#2
Ozzie'sperson Donating YT 500 Club Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Metro St. Louis Posts: 2,809 Blog Entries: 1	For those of you in multi-species households: Watch out for cat toys! They have little bells and cords on most of them. This is a real potential hazard for houses with puppies AND chewers!!! Ozzie tries to play with some of Toby the Cat's toys sometimes. Luckily, he never tries to destroy them the way he does his own. I try to keep vigil when Toby is playing with these toys just in case they break or the little springy cords come lose so I can quickly scoop them up so that NEITHER pet gets into trouble. __________________ Nicole RIP my sweet boy, Ozzie 1997-2011 http://thisdmnhouse.blogspot.com/

07-20-2007, 06:03 AM	#4
Emmsmom YT 500 Club Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Virginia Posts: 989	I have posted several times about my grandmothers dog. He has had to have 2 surgeries now due to eating things he shouldn't have. Choking is not the ONLY thing to watch for. Charlie had eaten pieces of paper, cloth, dental floss, the back of earrings, and so on. He could not pass any of them and had to have surgery to remove the mass lodged in his stomach. He started to act a little funny. She laying around and not being quite as active. He also wasn't eating anything. So the next morning she took him to the vet. The vet said that had she waited any longer he would have died. So even if they swallow something small it doesn't always mean they can pass it. __________________ MICHELLE DIESEL "The Weasel" and little brother TUCKER

07-20-2007, 06:08 AM	#5
TinyBit It's a Yorkie Thing Donating Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Walton KS Posts: 1,529 Blog Entries: 1	OMG how very sad for all of these little dogs. I'm going to check my house out better. __________________ Loving Gizmo, Teddy, Duchess,and Faith : In Memory of My Duke of York 7-24-06 ~6-21-07 and Victorian Lacie Pearl 3-1-07 ~ 4-22-11

07-20-2007, 06:17 AM	#6
Judy in Waco Gizzy & Kandi spoil me Donating Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: Waco, Texas Posts: 8,477	That story made me cry. I too remember the episode where she started working with a trainer. I got worried too, so I posted a thread about how to tell what size of ball is safe, and it got some good responses...plus some funny ones! LOL http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=87040 __________________ The fullness of our heart is expressed in our eyes, in our touch, in what we write, in what we say, in the way we walk, the way we receive, the way we need. -Mother Teresa ( RIP Gizmo 3/9/07-8/18/12)

07-20-2007, 05:26 AM	#3
ARCHIE No Longer A Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: NEW YORK Posts: 16,218	I did not know she lost Gracie. I love Oprah and I know how much she loves her dogs. I remember the episode when she went to the breeder and bought all three. My heart is heavy for her.

07-20-2007, 06:36 AM	#7
scoobiedooiscoo Donating YT 500 Club Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Texas Posts: 1,423	my puppy lacey as i took her heart worm pill out of the wrapper she was righ there and snatched it out of my fingers. she inhaled the whole thing and it got stuck in her throat, she couldnt breath at all and started to wobble and fall to the ground. i couldnt get it out i tried to do something close to doggie heimlich ( dont know how to spell that one for sure) and that wasnt working. hubby tried to reach it out of her mouth and could feel it but not get it outbut that did help her to at least try to cough. by that time foam was comming out of her nose i took her and ran to my neighbors who works at the vet and she couldnt get it out eather, by the time we caled the vet (after hours of course grrr) and got to the vets office it had gone down he did an ex ray to make sure and she had a bit of fluid in her lungs but was going to be ok. needless to say now she stays in her pack and paly while i get the pill out and crush it. __________________ [url]http://www.dogster.com/dogs/585863

07-20-2007, 06:39 AM	#8
scoobiedooiscoo Donating YT 500 Club Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Texas Posts: 1,423	plus all this happened after a baby i was watching died at my house from strept and pulminary adema in sept. so now i freak out at everything again. dont know how much more stress i cant take this year __________________ [url]http://www.dogster.com/dogs/585863

07-20-2007, 06:42 AM	#9
Jenn218 Mojo, LilyGrace & Me Donating Member Moderator Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: cuddling with my babies<3 Posts: 17,329	I know someone posted awhile back about treats too! Sometimes, they are either sticky or whatever and get stuck in the mouth/throat....that thread wasn't too long ago. They can choke on eating their food to fast too.... I think there are many things that "can" happen to cause them to choke. I seen this about Oprah on ET or one of those shows....very sad!!! __________________ Hi I'm Jenn Mom to..... Mojo,LilyGrace & DD Kate RIP Mojo FOREVER in our hearts!

07-20-2007, 08:00 AM	#12
VickiesMomma No Longer a Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: NJ Posts: 212	I feel bad for Oprah and I feel we can all learn from her loss. However, does anyone else get the feeling her dog may not have died if she herself had been walking Gracie? I noticed a lot of celeb bashing lately, but O is seem imune to it. I just got odd feelings reading how choked up she is about the loss, just mere minutes before Gracie's death O could not be bothered to walk her. Maybe it's just me. All I'm saying is I think this may not have happened if O had walked them herself...

07-20-2007, 08:13 AM	#13
linz06 Donating YT 500 Club Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Saskatchewan Posts: 3,154	I felt like such a bad mom after this happened... a few months ago some friends came over to my house and these guys were all eating corndogs. They had never seen Layla before and they thought it was hilarious that she was jumping at them and their food. They were all laughing and I was doing other things and not really paying attention until one guy was like "Oops she got it!" I looked back and saw Layla looking at me with her tail wagging and the end of a chunk of wrapped hot dog in her mouth. I tried to grab her to take it out of her mouth but she wanted it bad so she ran. When I caught her, she swallowed it... WHOLE. She started wheezing and trembling and trying to bring it back up. I took her to her pee pad to try to get her to throw up on it. One of the guys came over with me and everyone was silent and we were rubbing her back and her stomach and tears started rolling down my face... it was about a minute that seemed like 10, and I was about to call an emergency vet when it finally came... about an inch and a half of hot dog covered in white goo. The bun part of it stayed down I guess. It was the scariest thing ever for me, but Layla was running around and happy as soon as it was over! __________________ Lindsey and Layla, Lucy, and Kash

07-20-2007, 08:19 AM	#14
chachi I Love My Yorkies Donating Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Indianapolis, Indiana Posts: 37,147	You have to be careful of stuffed animals with button eyes on them. Myy dogs have this puppy stuffed animal they play with and the other day I notced it was mssing both of its eyes. Luckily they didnt choke on them and they must have passed them. __________________ Chachi's & Jewels Mom Jewels http://www.dogster.com/?132431 Chachi http://www.dogster.com/?132427

07-20-2007, 08:25 AM	#15
ladybugg74 Donating YT 500 Club Member Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 1,054	Choking hazards: -money(coins falling out of pockets ect) -pen caps -pee pad(We believe Hallee choked on her pee pad that caused us the big scare and rush to the vet because a ball of it came out in her poo, she shredded it and ate some of it) -clear plastic part of price tags(We have fished this out of Gracie's throat several times. We now cut the tag over the toilet and flush the platstic thing down to be sure it does not fall out of the trash ect.) -parts of toys that are pulled off(never buy toys with the hard eyes and we alway tugg and pull on the toys in the store to be sure the will be durable) That is all I can think of right now. __________________ Heather - Mamma to Gracie & Hallee