Watch vets save bulldog who swallowed rubber duck

By Jack Evans via SWNS

Vets saved a naughty British bulldog who had swallowed an entire RUBBER DUCK.

One-year-old Ronnie was lucky to avoid surgery after he gobbled the yellow plastic toy and it became stuck in his stomach.

Staff at Pride Veterinary Centre put a video camera down the pup's throat to loop the toy and gently pull it out last month (September 2021).

Ronnie's owner, Joe Fisher, said he is framing the original X-rays and has kept the duck as a reminder of his dog's mischief.

“I came down to get Ronnie in the morning and when I opened the stairgate, he shot past me and right up the stairs," said Joe, 38, from Nottingham, UK.

"He ran right into my nine-year-old daughter's room, picked up the rubber duck that was lying on the floor, and ran back down with it in his mouth.

“I chased him around the house and garden for a few minutes and when I got close to him, I suddenly saw it was gone.

“I’d only been chasing him to stop him chewing it up, I never for a minute thought he’d swallow it. It was so big, I couldn’t believe what he’d done.

“We were obviously really concerned that it might block his airway or something, but he didn’t appear to be bothered at all.

“He was still quite happily running about as if nothing had happened.”

Although Ronnie showed no ill effects, Joe phoned the vets immediately.

Senior Vet Debs Smith said: “We get a lot of cases of dogs having eaten things they shouldn’t, but this was really unusual.

“We’ve never come across one who has swallowed a whole rubber duck.

“We sedated Ronnie so we could get an X-ray and it showed the duck really clearly. It was still in his stomach and hadn’t passed into the intestines, but we were obviously concerned about it causing an obstruction.

“It was possible that we might have to operate but we tried an endoscopy first, passing down a camera and using it to guide us.

“It really was like playing ‘hook a duck’ and after about half an hour we got the loop around it and pulled it out.”

Ronnie was soon back to his old self after the procedure and Joe was able to collect him from the surgery later that afternoon.

Joe, who runs his own business, said: “It was a really worrying thing, but I felt reassured that he was in good hands.

“He was absolutely fine when he got picked up.

“They gave us the duck back and have also been kind enough to give us the X-rays, which I’m having framed.

“It’s just such a crazy thing to have happened.

“Ronnie doesn’t seem to have learned his lesson and still picks up things in his mouth, but we’re trying to be extra careful to keep everything out of his reach.”