27 Nov 2020
Vet warns of dangers posed to pets by face coverings after performing a gastrotomy and two enterotomies on a sprockador puppy to remove three ingested masks.
Paul Imrie
Job Title
Benedict following his surgery at Village Vet to remove snaffled face masks.
A vet has highlighted a 2020 danger to pets after a six-month-old sprockador needed emergency surgery to remove three face masks.
The adage that dogs will eat anything may be true, but few will have seen face masks being among the potential items until COVID-19.
Victoria Henry – head vet at Village Vet in West Hampstead, London – has now spoken out after the alarming case of Benedict came through the practice doors.
Dr Henry said: “This is a very 2020 scenario, because of COVID-19, and it’s important for both pet owners and the public to be aware of the danger. We’re urging everyone to be extremely careful with how they store and dispose of their face masks.
“They need to realise these masks pose a double risk to pets, because they not only have sharp wire inside, they also act as linear foreign bodies that can cause a serious blockage of an animal’s intestines.”
Dramatic x-ray images of Benedict’s stomach showed sharp wires that could have caused serious internal injury, but Dr Henry said the masks themselves were also a potential danger.
She said: “Benedict was brought to us because he was vomiting and had a reduced appetite. He was sent for x-rays, which showed some radiodense foreign objects – raising suspicions of wires in face masks – in both the stomach and small intestine, and an ultrasound scan confirmed gastric and intestinal obstruction.
“He was taken straight to surgery where he required a gastrotomy and two enterotomies to remove three foreign objects. A whole face mask was found causing an obstruction in the stomach, another whole face mask in the jejunum was acting as a linear foreign body with plication and bruising of the gut, and a further sharp piece of wire was found in the duodenum.”
Dr Henry added: “Luckily, the gut was healthy and viable; there were no perforations or signs of peritonitis due to leakage of gut contents. Benedict was carefully monitored overnight and recovered so well he was discharged two nights later.
“He’s just been given the all-clear at his post-op check-up, and is happy and healthy again; however, we hope his experience acts as a warning for everyone – pet owners and the public.”
