What to do if a yorkie eats a Chritmas Ornament....Better late than never?!?!
 

This is a bit late...but better late than never!

What do you do if your puppy or mischievious older dog gets into your
holiday decorations and eats some of the glass ornaments? This
potentially lethal mishap can darken even the brightest holiday
season. Here's a solution that works.

BEFORE the holiday go to a pharmacy and buy a box of cotton balls. Be
sure that you get COTTON balls...not the "cosmetic puffs" that are
made from man-made fibers. Also, buy a quart of half-and-half coffee
cream and put it in the freezer.

Should your dog eat glass ornaments, defrost the half-and-half and
pour some into a bowl. Dip the cotton balls into the cream and feed
them to your dog.

Dogs under 10 pounds should eat 2 balls which you have first torn into
smaller pieces. Dogs 10-50 pounds should eat 3-5 balls and larger dogs
should eat 5-7. You may feed larger dogs an entire ball at once. Dogs
seem to really like these strange "treats" and eat them readily. As
the cotton works its way through the digestive tract it will find all
the glass pieces and wrap itself around them. Even the teeniest shards
of glass will be caught and wrapped in the cotton fibers and the
cotton will protect the intestines from damage by the glass.

Your dog's stools will be really weird for a few days and you will
have to be careful to check for fresh blood or a tarry appearance to
the stool. If either of the latter symptoms appear you should rush
your dog to the vet for a checkup but, in most cases, the dogs will be
just fine.

(An actual experience: I can personally vouch for the cotton ball
treatment. While I was at the vet waiting for him to return from lunch
a terrified woman ran in with a litter of puppies who had demolished a
wooden crate along with large open staples. The young vet had taken
x-rays which did show each of the puppies had swallowed several open
staples. He was preparing them for surgery when my wonderful vet came
in and said no surgery. I watched him wet several cotton balls,
squeeze out the water and pop them down their throats. Within 24 hours
every staple was accounted for. This was a lesson I learned in the
mid-1960's and have had to use several times on my brats. I wet the
cotton balls and smear on some liverwurst and they bolt it down and
ask for more. The cotton always comes out with the object safely
embedded.)

i saw this on Craigslist and thought it was awesome!!!!

I always wonderd what to do. That is interesting. This year my grandson broke 2 bulbs and I had to quickly put the dogs in another room before they could get to the bulbs. Next year I am going STRESS free and buying all plastic bulbs!! That is an awesome post! Accidents do happen.

This is very good to know. Thank you for the info.

A couple of times, my German Shepherd (deceased now, from old age) tore open a stuffed toy and some of the stuffing was caught in her throat. She was still breathing, but in distress. I grabbed a piece of bread and spread a thick layer of butter on it. She gobbled it down and the greasy bread took it down and cleared her throat. So I can see how the cotton-ball trick would do the job.

We all need to be prepared for anything and have some home remedies at hand for emergencies. I would love to hear any other first-aid techniques.

That is so awesome! I will not forget this trick. =]

I had to take one of mine in to the vet last year to the vet because she ate one. It liked to scared me to death.

THanks for posting this... I had never heard of this before.

I would NEVER feed cotton balls to my pup! PLEASE anyone who thinks this is a proper first aid technique, call your vet and inquire about it.

I know of a young lady whose Weim. puppy almost died this month because of an intestinal blockage caused by one of those TINY mouse toys that are stuffed with cotton.

Perhaps bread would be a better idea? I don't know...but I DO know I would consult with my vet before messing around with something like that.

even MY vet said this was fine...and it goes according to weight and size of dog. No one should just stuff cotton balls down their dogs throat..lol.

What is your vet's name?

Actually, this cotton ball method is pretty well-known but I think I'd rather do bread.

No way would I ever advise nor do this.

If your pet ingests glass, broken plastic, staples orother small, sharp objects, call your veterinarian.

In the meantime, you can give your dog supplemental fiber in the form of whole wheat or other high-fiber bread, canned pumpkin or Metamucil, any of which can help bulk up the stools the help the foreigh material pass through the dogs digestive system. Dosages depend on the size of the dog. For Metamusil, try a teaspoon for a small dog, a tablespoon for a big dog. For pumpkin, feed one-quarter to two-thirds of a cup. Some folks recommend feeding the dog cotton balls to help pass the foreign objects, but others in the veterinary field caution against this since cotton balls can compound the problem. Source: Partnership for Animal Welfare

I have never heard of it, but if my pup ate glass, I would be running straight to the vet and follow his/her advice.

And, yes, bread over cotton balls. :)

:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

Agreed.....the vet is the first plan of action!

I did a quick google of this and I found cotton balls are not vet recommended.

I also found this:
(source: Partnership for Animal Welfare)
What if my dog eats glass or other sharp objects?
In the meantime, you can give your dog supplemental fiber in the form of whole wheat or other high-fiber bread, canned pumpkin or Metamucil, any of which can help bulk up the stools the help the foreigh material pass through the dogs digestive system. Dosages depend on the size of the dog. For Metamusil, try a teaspoon for a small dog, a tablespoon for a big dog. For pumpkin, feed one-quarter to two-thirds of a cup. Some folks recommend feeding the dog cotton balls to help pass the foreign objects, but others in the veterinary field caution against this since cotton balls can compound the problem.

:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:LOL we had the same reaction I see.:p:D

:thumbup:

Yes please check with your vet before you do any homemade remedies.

:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

Great post!

This article is by Sandy Brock, btw.

If one of my pets swallowed anything sharp, obstructive, or potentially poisonous...we'd be on the way to our vet or any Emergency Clinic.

You know the texture of the inside of your mouth? The entire digestive tract surface is just as soft, and in some areas softer.

And an obstruction is so very dangerous bc, first, they actually have to *find* the obstruction...

Yes but those toys do not have real cotton in them. Cotton is what is used in the veterinary field and the MDs also use cotton for children who ingest sharp objects like screws or staples. But it MUST be real cotton.

I think the key word here is veterinary field or people trained in something as serious as this.

Absolutely the vet should always be the first choice. And bread or any other food product will break down so it would be useless for this. The cotton wraps itself around the sharp object so it doesn't tear any part of the digestive tract as the sharp object passes through. And is far safer then surgery for certain things but you should NEVER do this without taking your pet to the vet First.

:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

This really is the point Linda was trying to make about going to the vet First...

Yeah.....and next thing I see will probably be a post about in home spay and neuters. :(

I can see it now....

Use a wrestling hold until the pup passes out...and then hurry before they come to......and......With a steak knife, make a small incision, turn the pup over and let the little marbles fall out, flip him back over again and take a needle and thread and stitch him up. Give 5cc of vodka twice daily for 7 days fo pain.

Same procedure for spays ... carefully remove the ovaries, use "real" cotton balls to clean up the blood....be sure to count the cotton balls before stitching up the pup. Use the same procedures above for anesthesia and pain management.

Tune in tomorrow for cataract surgery. :p

I think the vet is the ONLY choice.

Tell me....all of you who think this is appropriate....if YOU accidentally swallowed glass, would you eat cotton balls or rush to the ER?

OK your too funny, lol. :D

Now that would be scary.

Well just so happens my nephew did. So aunt rushed him to the ER and Guess what they did. You guessed it they fed him cotton. And when I was working at the vet they used cotton for certain things that were ingested . However never without an x-ray to see what and where the object was.

There ya go....vet or doctor first. Always.

I swallowed a fish bone and was given bread. But...maybe the doctor was a quack? :p

I'd be eating cotton balls on my way to the ER. A punctured bowel/intestine and the surgery to repair it (if they could find it) and then taking the drugs to treat the resulting peritonitis, and any additional surgeries needed to remove the sponges and/or surgical instruments they leave inside you, would be far worse than clearing a blockage caused by cotton balls.

Also, anything sharp can cause injury, including plastics, so switching to plastic ornaments may not remove the threat.

This thread just reminded me of my second Yorkie. She would eat the metal zipper slides you find on a pair of jeans. Never knew it till after the fact, ie: put on a pair and try to zip them up!:eek: I found one in her poop one time. She also liked to eat the snaps off western type shirts, which almost caused death by hubby. (JK):D
Yorkies will teach you to put your clothes away...at least until they learn how to open the closet!

yorkiemama1986 I just want to say that I know that you meant well by posting this tip, but you have to be careful when you read tips over the web. Craigslist it not a place where I would get recommendations on what to do in an emergency. I know that cotton balls can cause problems, my son's dog ate one, and it was a real cotton ball, not synthetic. It was whole and perhaps that's why it caused the problem, but it’s a 15 pound dog, and still it took a long time before it passed, about 5 days. I just don't want you to feel bad about posting the tip, you have helped educate by doing this. :)

Same here. Bread did the trick.:thumbup:
(You know I have never been able to eat fish since then without searching through it CAREFULLY and chewing tiny bites like 100 times. Totally tramatized me as a kid....Choking on a bone.)