5 Feb 2021
Cockapoo Patch, treated by Abington Park Veterinary Group, is among a growing number of dogs falling victim to a pandemic PPE peril.
Paul Imrie
Job Title
Three-year-old Patch ingested a face mask that needed removing through endoscopy. Image: My Family Vets.
Vets are seeing an increasing number of dogs requiring treatment for ingesting discard face masks and other items of PPE.
Cases of dogs swallowing plastic gloves and masks has risen in the past few months, prompting many in practice and animal charities to issue warnings to the public.
Among the latest batch of affected dogs is Patch, a three-year-old cockapoo that needed a mask removing through endoscopy.
Vet Riccardo Minelli, from Abington Park Veterinary Group in Northampton – part of the My Family Vets network that is part of IVC Evidensia – treated Patch, whose owner believed he had swallowed a sock.
He said: “When we took a radiograph to check the position, we could see there was a piece of metal. That didn’t make sense for a sock, but as it was still accessible in the stomach, we were able to go in with an endoscope. When we untangled it, we found it was a disposable face mask.
“The metal was where you could adjust it around the nose. It was really unexpected and we had no idea how long it had been in the stomach.”
Patch’s owner Sue Fox is now appealing for people so dispose of their face masks and other PPE responsibly, as her dog ate the mask on a walk.
She said: “I know we all need to use face masks at the moment, but people just need to think when they are finished with them.”
