Rocking Ruby ! (graphic content at the very end of the article)

By Helen Burns | Dated March 25, 2019

Last week we were visited by a gorgeous Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever called Ruby. She had been quiet since the evening before, though had not been vomiting or showing any other signs of being unwell. As vets we are used to the detective work required to find out what is wrong with our patients who can’t talk. We search for clues in their history, their physical examination and from any diagnostic tests that we do.  At times while we are chatting to their owner at the beginning of the appointment, we are given information that is gold.  Fortunately, Ruby was a prime example.

Ruby having her x-rays taken

While chatting with her astute owner, he mentioned that she liked to eat the garden pebbles at home and often was seen to pass them in her stools. We couldn’t feel any pebbles in her abdomen, and the majority of dogs who have a foreign body stuck in their intestines are vomiting terribly, which Ruby was not. X-rays taken on the basis of the information given by her owner sure enough revealed a pebble in her stomach, and a second pebble  lodged in her small intestine.  By early afternoon Ruby had woken from her surgery, having had both pebbles removed, and her stomach and intestine all stitched up.  The following day she was bright and happy, eating and drinking well, and went home from hospital a day later.

The problematic pebbles

On behalf of Ruby, we are so pleased that her owner gave us the information that led to us being able to identify and fix the problem quickly.