Puppies and dogs are generally known for chewing, eating, and getting into stuff they are not supposed to. No exact number of dogs get into this sort of business, but the causes of this are generally curiosity or boredom. This was the case with a 7-month-old Bernese Mountain Dog puppy, Luna.
On February 16th, Luna’s family noticed her exhibiting unusual behaviors. In the past, Luna had been known to eat and get into things she wasn’t supposed to, such as batteries. When she would eat these strange items, she usually was known to pass whatever it was or poop it out. In this case
Luna’s family saw her constant vomiting and bloated stomach, which caused much anxiety and panic. Concerned and fearful, her family decided to rush her to Corona Animal Emergency Hospital. Once she arrived, she was rushed into surgery where Dr. Jenny Elwell-Gerken and her team discovered, in X-rays, 44 items in Luna’s stomach. 24 socks, a small onesie, two hair ties, a scrunchie, a shoe insert, and 15 miscellaneous cloth pieces. The veterinarian’s reactions were priceless when they saw what was inside Luna’s stomach. “We all laughed at how big the stomach was because it was bigger than any stomach I’ve ever seen that was full of things,” Dr. Jenny told USA Today reporters over a phone call.
Dr Jenny and her team of veterinarians performed two types of surgeries to help Luna out. First was gastronomy. Gastronomy is a veterinary procedure where an incision is created in the stomach wall to allow a surgeon to inspect it for various reasons. These reasons include foreign body retrieval, biopsy, and gastrointestinal treatment. The second form of surgery was enterotomy. Enterotomy is the process of making an incision into an animal’s intestine and surgically removing an object. In Dr. Jenny and Luna’s case, they used gastronomy to clear Luna’s stomach and enterotomy to remove
the onesie. The surgery took around 45 minutes and went fairly smoothly since Luna’s organs were moderately healthy, and the objects she ingested didn’t make it too far down. In most cases, this could have ended badly for Luna and her family, resulting in severe intestinal damage or even death, so they were lucky they came in as soon as they could. “Because her owners brought her in as soon as they noticed signs of distress, Luna’s intestines and stomach remained healthy, and the surgery was successful
with no major complications,” a Corona Animal Emergency Center spokesperson told NBC4 Los Angeles. “Had there been a delay, significant intestinal damage could have occurred within 24 hours, potentially leading to severe consequences.”
After the surgery, Luna was prescribed to wear a cone to prevent her from getting too close and harming her stitches, holding her incision in her stomach together. It took her a week or so to recover and return to her old, troublesome self. “Against all odds, Luna pulled through and is now wagging her tail again!” the veterinary center told People Magazine in their article Vet Finds 24 Socks, 2 Hair Ties, a Onesie, and Other ‘Jaw-Dropping’ Items Inside Ailing 7-Month-Old Puppy. The clinic also stated a reminder in an Instagram post, saying that owners should trust their instinct and make sure to watch their furry friends for concerning behaviors so they can get the help they need from a clinic before it’s too late.
