The unexpected can strike at any time day or night. The following story is about Halen (and his hoooomans), a recent emergency visitor to our Coombabah veterinary clinic. Halen’s owners were happy for us to share his story to help prevent this from happening to any other fur-kids, particularly if they are the type to forage through the grass mouth first!
Hook, Line and Sinker (well, almost) – Harlen’s Story
Halen was enjoying a nice, evening stroll through a local park with his hoooomans when they noticed him sniffing at something metallic amongst the grass before picking it up in his mouth!
They quickly sprung into action to try and remove what they then realized was a discarded fish hook but were unable to locate it in his mouth or in the surrounding grass.
Naturally his hooomans were very concerned about the possibility that he may have swallowed it. They immediately contacted us via phone and were already on route to our clinic.
Despite appearing completely normal upon his physical examination, Halen was triaged for x-rays immediately to determine if he had indeed ingested the fish hook.
A few minutes later (although we know this must have felt like a lifetime for his owners), the x-rays confirmed not only had he swallowed the hook, but within a period of approximately 10-15minutes it had already made its way down to his stomach.
Halen was transferred to Veterinary Specialist Services without delay so they could undertake emergency surgery to remove the hook.
We’re so pleased to report, thanks to his fast acting humans, Halen’s surgery was a success and he is now well on the road to being back to his normal floofy, fabulous self.
A Note To Our Clients
The Happy Paws Vet team truly appreciate it when our clients are understanding of last minute changes to our schedule or your appointments as a result of incoming emergencies. To those folk and their fur-kids on the day of Halen’s visit, thank you 🙂
Need an Emergency Veterinary Visit?
If you are experiencing a pet emergency, please contact Happy Paws Vet immediately. For after hours emergencies, please visit the friendly team at Animal Emergency Services.
