Kebab skewer lodged in puppy’s stomach
Eight-month-old puppy Luna

Kebab skewer lodged in puppy’s stomach

IT WAS a lucky escape for an eight-month-old puppy who had to be saved by emergency surgery after a kebab skewer became wedged in her stomach and penetrated her liver.

Luna, a young Belgian shepherd puppy, was rushed to My Vet in Firhouse after her owner Aoife Kelly found a raw swelling on her stomach which turned out to be a sharp kebab skewer penetrating through her abdomen and was piercing her liver.

Luna had began vomiting two days prior to Aoife discovering the swelling, which had initially alarmed her. When Luna was brought into the vet in Firhouse, the swelling was quickly investigated and an ultrasound scan confirmed the horrific injury.

Speaking about the discovery, vet Sarah Martin, who took charge of the case with vet nurse Sarah O’Malley, said: “Luna’s owner said she may have sneakily eaten a chicken kebab on a stick a few days before.

“She’d been vomiting for a couple of days but then her owner noticed the swelling around the left side of her body and brought her into My Vet.

Part of the skewer that pierced the puppy’s stomach

“We performed an exploratory laparotomy to try to locate the skewer and discovered the sharp end had penetrated through the stomach wall, through part of her liver and then pinned her stomach to her body wall.”

The vets proceeded to remove the skewer, which was a complex task that required them cutting it in the centre to free up each end and pulling the pointed end through the skin externally and opening the stomach itself to remove the other end of the skewer.

According to Sarah, injuries like Luna’s can often lead to infection around the abdominal organs, however fortunately for the pup, Luna’s body had formed a seal around the openings preventing any major infection from spreading.

“These types of incidents can be dangerous, even life-threatening, as a skewer can penetrate through any part of intestines or in some extreme cases, can enter the chest cavity,” she warned.

Much to Luna’s owner Aoife’s relief, little Luna has made an incredible recovery since her surgery and fully recovered just ten days later and back to “causing mischief” according to Aoife.

She said: “Luna recovered brilliantly from her surgery at My Vet, having bounced back after two weeks and is now well and truly back to herself.”

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