Throwing up corn cobs

[LisaP]

Sunday morning I woke up to two piles of vomit, one had one 2" pieces of a corn cob and the other had 2 2" pieces. At the time, I wasn't sure which dog was sick and I was puzzled where the corn cobs came from. All three dogs were acting normal, BEAM was good, they were all eating, running, playing, doing normal stuff. Everyone ate breakfast on Sunday and Monday, I wasn't too worried, I figured, whichever dog ate something that she shouldn't have, she's now thrown it up and we're good. Fast forward to last night. Naya wouldn't take a treat, now I knew something was wrong, and I was pretty sure she was the one who had been throwing up. Overnight, she threw up another corn cob and also a small plastic take out container! This morning, she didn't want to eat breakfast, she's been very lethargic, she wants to be outside where she can lay on the cold flagstone. She threw up two more times this morning, including another corn cob. We are definitely confused over this situation because we hadn't had corn for at least 3-4 weeks and we always throw our cobs in the trash, we don't compost them, and I have no idea where she got the plastic take out container, of course, now I'm wondering what else is in her stomach! I can't get her to drink any water, so I'm worried that she will become dehydrated. Do I just let this run its course? I guess I should be thankful that she isn't chewing at her paws or scratching her ears! Should I try to get her to eat? I didn't know if there is anything I should add when she does start eating again? Probiotics? Kefir? Pumpkin? Yogurt? I'm trying to think of things to line her stomach. I'm at a loss. Any advice would be helpful.

 

[Dr. Sue]

Hi Lisa,

Oh no! In this case I wouldn't wait to let it play out. Take her to your vet for x-rays and supportive care if needed. You don't want to mess around with things gettting potentially stuck in her stomach or digestive tract. Corn cobs are infamous "foreign bodies" that don't typically pass on their own.

Even though her BEAM is good, her appetite is down and she's thrown up multiple foreign objects. She needs extra her from your vet. Keep us posted!

 

[LisaP]

Thank you Dr Sue. I’ll call the vet now. She just drank some water about 5 minutes ago and immediately went outside and had explosive diarrhea. She did pass another corn cob. Ugh!

I’ll send an update.

 

[Dr. Jeff]

Thanks Lisa and Sue.

Lisa, as Dr. Sue said, please do not wait and watch in this situation. It sounds like those corn cobs have already been in her intestines for weeks.

Your vet will need to rule out a corn cob obstruction. Please let us know what they say.

 

[Dr. Sue]

Yes Lisa, do keep us posted! We are sending healing thoughts her way.

 

[LisaP]

Well, I spent four hours in the parking lot at the vet's office, they did an ultrasound and radiograph and they didn't see any other blockages. He said that some times they blockage may be situated in a way that things can still get through, so there's no guarantee that there isn't anything still there. They had to sedate her because she has major anxiety at the vet's office. They gave her subcutaneous fluid before we left and they gave her Metronidazole and Cerenia, which I am supposed to start tomorrow. I asked if it would be a good idea to stop the vomiting and diarrhea because I would think that we would want to get everything out of her system. He said that would make sense in most situations, but in this case, it might cause more harm. I don't know anything about these medications, so I'm at a bit of crossroads. Should I also give her a dose of arnica tomorrow morning?

Thank you so much for the quick responses! I would waited this out hoping that it would pass.

After cleaning up vomit from two dogs over the past week, I'm really hopeful that my third dog just makes my life easy for a couple days. ?