Pet Owners Please Be Aware Of The Dangers Of Dog Toys

So I just thought I should post the following to avoid something terrible happening to someone’s beloved pet, as mine is currently in a critical condition. I would appreciate anyone who knows anyone with dogs to share this post so that they have the information required to keep their dogs from harm.

A few weeks ago our beautiful French Bulldog Scout started behaving very strangely. She was being sick through the night every night and eventually stopped eating. We kept taking her to the vet and they did xrays and felt her stomach and just couldn’t figure out what was going on.

Eventually after the second set of xrays they decided to do an exploratory surgery. They were shocked to find that her intensities were completely clogged with tiny bits of thread so that absolutely nothing could pass through. In order to remove the thread they had to make FOUR incisions in her intestines, and it had gotten so bad that she had developed pancreatitis as well so it was explained to us that she had to have been in agonising pain for a while now.

 

When I went to visit her at the emergency over night specialist who is looking after her during her recovery they gave me the bag which is photographed below. I instantly recognised the thread as being from her Great&Small rope toys of which she has 5. The toys are designed for chewing. It was explained to me by my vet that such small morsels should have passed through her no problem, but they are made from a substance that instead, sticks to the intestinal lining. It is also made from a substance that does not show up on xrays and when felt doesn’t feel out of place in a dogs stomach. The vet was really concerned about the production of these toys and insisted that I contact the manufacturers immediately.

We are now waiting to see whether or not she will recover. We have no idea what is going to happen as it was such a massive surgery that she might not recover.

I messaged the director of Great&Small and explained the situation. He proceeded to reply stating that there is a note on the toy saying that dogs should be supervised when playing with it and offered me a free dog bed to say sorry.

Now I would like to take this opportunity to state that I do supervise her with her toys. I supervised her chewing her toys which is what they are designed for and always take toys off her if they become so damaged that a large part might come off so that she doesn’t eat it. However she was ingesting such tiny amounts at a time that it shouldn’t have ever been an issue. Any other toy would have just passed right through. It is a design fault and needs rectifying.

I replied saying that I was unhappy with this response as it does not solve the issue, and that the offer of a free dog bed is an insult considering that my vet bills are already at almost £5000.

I received a response just now that states that there is nothing more they can do, and that they will continue to sell the toy.

I’m now at a loss as to what more I can do, but the least I can do is share my story to avoid it happening to anyone else’s pet.

Thanks for reading, and please share the post and/or any advise you might have on what I can do.

Credit Natalie Mossaz