Partial obstruction allows the dog to pass some stool and gas, but this constriction will eventually damage the intestines if not remedied. A complete GI obstruction is an emergency that can swiftly lead to death if untreated.
Symptoms of Bowel Obstructions in Dogs
Straining or unable to poop. Weakness. Loss of appetite. Diarrhea.
Feed a bulky meal of dry food to cushion stones or other heavy objects, and help them move on out. Food also turns on the digestive juices, which can help soften wads of rawhide treats, so they pass more readily.
When something is ingested by your dog, it usually takes between 10-24 hours to move through the entire digestive tract. Some objects, however, can take much longer – even months! Sometimes, objects are too big to progress through the digestive tract, and when this is the case, they cause an obstruction.
Dog intestinal blockage surgery is a major procedure, requiring your dog to be anesthetized. After the surgery, your dog will stay at the hospital and recover for several days. For the intestinal surgery, your vet will make an incision into your dog's abdomen near the blockage site and carefully extract the object.
For a dog with an intestinal blockage, it's imperative that the timeline between the incident and treatment is short. Missing these signs of bowel obstruction and abdominal twisting can lead to very serious consequences. Left untreated, complications typically lead to fatality within 3 to 7 days.
On average, pet owners should expect to spend anywhere from $2,000 to $10,000 on intestinal blockage surgery. To help you plan for this expense, ask your veterinary team for a cost estimate prior to the procedure.
Your dog may have different reactions depending on what they've digested. Some of the more concerning signs that indicate your dog has eaten something they shouldn't include: vomiting, shaking, panting, diarrhea, lack of appetite, and lethargy. Any of these symptoms could indicate that your dog ate something toxic.
If the dog does not vomit a foreign body back up, it may remain lodged in the stomach if it is too large to pass through the valve to the small intestine. Most objects will however pass through this valve, and can make an irregular passage along the intestine if they are small enough.
Options include inducing the pet to vomit, extracting the foreign body through the mouth using an endoscope, removing it surgically, or waiting to see if the object will pass through the pet's intestines naturally. “It is possible for a swallowed needle and thread to safely pass through the pet's intestines,” Dr.
Some foreign objects, given time, can pass on their own. However, when it comes to a timeline for intestinal blockage in dogs, time is absolutely of the essence. If the object does not pass on its own and your dog has the symptoms listed above, your dog will need to be treated as soon as possible.
The two-hour mark is significant when it comes to intestinal blockage in dogs because, at around two hours, the item has likely moved from your dog's stomach into their intestinal tract. While there's no perfect answer to how long a foreign object can stay in a dog's stomach, it's generally about two hours.