Hungry labrador Ellie – May was brought into our Eccleshall practice after swallowing a number of pebbles that had become dangerously lodged in her stomach.
Our vet Ellie Chiswell performed surgery to ensure all of the stones were removed so that Ellie-May could make a full recovery.
Ellie-May’s owner Robert Price, from Gnosall, realised the severity of the situation and didn’t delay in bringing her in.
“She had swallowed 11 stones in total. I found seven when she vomited up her breakfast and she managed to pass one at the other end.
“I still took her straight to the vets, though, where they found a further three lodged in her stomach.”
Vet Ellie told us “This was a pretty unique and remarkable case.
“We took a series of abdominal radiographs which demonstrated multiple stones within the stomach, with the size and number of stones making it a very unusual occurrence.
“Ellie-May promptly had an exploratory laparotomy (which is surgery to explore her abdomen), with an incision made into her small intestine to remove the large stones, and the rest of the intestine was checked to ensure no further stones.
“The procedure was successful. All stones were removed and Ellie-May has now made a full and uneventful recovery.
“She spent a couple of weeks recuperating, with exercise on her lead only for the first week due to the size of her abdominal wound, with this exercise gradually increased as her recovery progressed and the wound healed.”
Relieved owner Robert admitted his beloved pet’s recovery is a weight off his mind, saying: “Ellie-May’s as fit as a fiddle again now and we’re hoping she has learned her lesson.
“Thankfully, we can look back on it now without any adverse effects but it could have been very serious, so we’re grateful to Shires Vets for their expert help.”
Ellie-May’s story was so unique, that she even made the national press, with coverage in the Daily Mail, The Mirror, The Mail on Sunday and the Daily Star.
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