The Yellow Lab Who Ate 18 Items

Casey the Canine Consuming Character. Casey is one lucky canine whose abnormal consumption has made her stomach contents worthy of a story.

​When she was rescued in 2009 as an 8 year old yellow lab with serious skin issues, and bad hips. She also had a history of an insatiable appetite and eating socks. She had had two exploratories  for foreign bodies even before they adopted her. The kind family that took her in knew of her many issues. In time she became their love and family companion. They even added to the family by rescuing a black lab with emotional issues at the same time. 

By coming to MASH and using integrated medicine, Casey’s new Life took off. She went through with endocrine immune tests and holistic health options like homeopathy, chiropractic,herbs, nutrition and acupuncture. Her many complicated health issues began to heal.

Her skin which was once thickened and flaking with shedding improved, her chronic GI issues and weak hips became healthier and stronger. She really started to look like a healthy normal yellow Labrador. Her diet was changed to mostly raw meat and vegetables. It even included some vegan meals, which all had helped to make many of  these improvements.

The one bad habit she still had problems with was, garbage pails. If she was left unattended with near one,  parts of it would disappear. She would always seem to be able to pass the trash by taking 2 tablespoons of vaseline petroleum jelly given orally. Then here at MASH I had to give her ozonated NaCl fluids. Those are given subcutaneously to hydrate her and allow the intestines to become hydrated and reduce CO2 levels.  I then did Acupuncture points St 36 25 LI 11 4,BH, Bl 27, at the base of tail, above the anus, Sp 6, Bl 20  which was to stimulate peristalysis.

Another remedy I used was the Homeopathic remedies called Nux Vomica 200C and Calendula 200C  which addressed the overeating and gastric motility.  I had the caretakers repeat the Vaseline treatment at home, as a bread sandwich. Homeopathy remedies are easy to give at home as a liquid or tablet, so the nux vomica and calendula had to be given 15 minutes apart when they took her home.

On 2/9/11 she passed some pieces of fabric and a sock with this procedure without any problem. But then on 5/10/11 she was being cared for by a pet sitter and she escaped from her home for about an hour before being found. There was no evidence that she had gotten into anything as she continued to eat normally. Her stools were normal shape and consistency. Later when she returned to her owner she started to have occasional vomiting and looked a little wider in the belly. On 5/31/11 she was having more vomiting and was give some medication for vomiting by another veterinarian. When she came here again, I tried again all my integrative approaches and she stopped vomiting but still seemed not right. She was still taking her walks and wanting to eat. 

Her caretaker kept giving her coconut oil for another week but Casey was not herself. She was better but we felt she was still not quite right. So an Xray was taken and soon it was obvious that there was some type of fabric taking up a large portion of her stomach.
The next thing I did was to make one last attempt to perhaps get her to vomit with a dosage of apomorphine given subcutaneously. Her response to apomorphine, usually a forceful vomit response, was just a little gag. 

So an exploratory was done….
The surgery was incredible. As I removed the first sock we brought out a bucket and I placed the item in, I went after the next item..and the next item and the next item and on and on. My technician commented that it was like the clown car in the circus watching another clown coming out the from the smallest space.

Here is what was found :
5 socks of different sizes, one child, one  cotton peds, one large sport sock, one slipper sock, one colored sock, one full cotton work glove that was in two pieces.
2  rectangular pieces of fabric 8 inches by 20 inches with Bow Wow and dogs all over it.
10 pieces of shammies about 5 inches by 12 inches.

​Pictured below.

Because of her serious issues with yeast and allergies we managed her with ozonated fluids subcutaneously. I used acupuncture of pain post-operatively  and some oral ozonated saline, as well homeopathy. And she healed without antibiotics.