A six month old Staffordshire bull-terrier came within millimetres of death after somehow swallowing a full steak-knife.
Lexi’s owners initially thought the playful pooch just had an upset tummy but when her vomiting continued they took her to their local vet where dramatic x-rays revealed the problem – an 8-inch knife.
The owner’s vet told them to take the dog to the Animal Referral Hospital in Sydney where the medical specialist Dr Jody Braddock and her team of technicians spent 45 minutes trying to extract the implement.
They had to delicately and slowly inch the serrated edge knife back up the dog’s oesophagus.
“I’ve never seen anything like it.” Dr Braddock said. “We knew that Lexi’s best chance for survival would be to remove the knife as soon as possible before it could cause more damage.
“But to do that required a team effort with my veterinary technicians, guiding the endoscope with its camera in such a way that we could see the serrated edge and the tip of the knife and prevent it from cutting Lexi’s tissue as it was slowly and gently inched out with forceps.”
The lucky pooch spent the next three days in intensive care as doctors ensured she could swallow food without pain, and watched for any signs of infection or unexpected bleeding and she’s now on strict bed-rest at home for the next 10 days.