astrid Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 HI there, {uh, that would be "a" PSA!!!! Typed to quickly! This is circulating on a few of my dog lists. There are a few new dog owners here, (and soon to be, right Nakia?!) as well as a lot of us old-timers, so with the holidays approaching, I thought this was worth passing along. If your dog should do the unthinkable and chew up and swallow any part of glass Christmas tree ornaments, one thing that can help protect their stomach and intestines from the worst of the glass damage is to dip a few real cotton balls (not the synthetic kind) in heavy cream and feed them to the dog. The fibers from the cotton will wrap around those shards of glass and help it to pass more safely through the digestive tract. For the Christmases that I've had young puppies around, I've made up a few emergency kits consisting of a ziploc bag with five cotton balls soaked in cream and stashed them in the freezer. They thaw quickly in your hands and are a good safety net to have on hand. Thankfully, I've only had to use them once. Hopefully no one needs that tip, but it's an easy thing to keep on hand for the holidays. astrid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hockey Mom Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 I had to do that when my Mastiff ate a DVD once. It really does work! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southernm Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 Great tip! We have all plastic because between kids and dog, well glass anything just doesn't last long! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lang Syne Boardie Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 Thank you, Astrid. I never would have thought to do that, not in a million years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OLG Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 Great advice - I had not heard of it. Fortunately, never had a pup/dog eat glass ornaments before. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SJ. Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 Good tip that every dog owner should know. We had to do that once when our dog ate pieces of a broken plate. He was trying to scarf down the food that was on the plate. Bad pup! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edelweiss Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 Good to know! At this point, our brand new puppy doesn't get one moment when she isn't constantly being watched. Not a second. This won't be changing anytime soon! If she isn't being watched, she is in her cage. I shudder to imagine the things that would happen if we didn't follow these procedures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crissy Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 HI there, {uh, that would be "a" PSA!!!! Typed to quickly! This is circulating on a few of my dog lists. There are a few new dog owners here, (and soon to be, right Nakia?!) as well as a lot of us old-timers, so with the holidays approaching, I thought this was worth passing along. If your dog should do the unthinkable and chew up and swallow any part of glass Christmas tree ornaments, one thing that can help protect their stomach and intestines from the worst of the glass damage is to dip a few real cotton balls (not the synthetic kind) in heavy cream and feed them to the dog. The fibers from the cotton will wrap around those shards of glass and help it to pass more safely through the digestive tract. For the Christmases that I've had young puppies around, I've made up a few emergency kits consisting of a ziploc bag with five cotton balls soaked in cream and stashed them in the freezer. They thaw quickly in your hands and are a good safety net to have on hand. Thankfully, I've only had to use them once. Hopefully no one needs that tip, but it's an easy thing to keep on hand for the holidays. astrid Thank you for this. My sister is bringing home a little beagle in the next week or so. I will pass this along (in addition to encouragement to hang only her wood, metal and plastic ornaments this year). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I talk to the trees Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 Thank you! I never would have thought of cotton balls. I have always been fortunate enough to have (relatively) calm shelties, but our last addition is strung tighter than a banjo string. Our first Christmas with her, we didn't even put up a large tree for fear that it she would topple it and get hurt! We used a little 3-ft. table-top tree with jingle bells. She has since calmed down (a bit) and we can put up the real tree, but we still use plastic and metal ornaments. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingnlearning Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 I saw that was making rounds but I really don't think it's vet recommended. This was mentioned over on the COTH boards and one vet mentioned something like "as long as you don't mind my doing surgery to remove the cotton balls along with the sharp object!" I think plain white bread in small doses was mentioned-bread swells in a dog's stomach so only give in small doses- and lots of water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SweetMissMagnolia Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 great tip-never heard of it either.....I don't have many glass ornaments now thank goodness..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SJ. Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 I saw that was making rounds but I really don't think it's vet recommended. This was mentioned over on the COTH boards and one vet mentioned something like "as long as you don't mind my doing surgery to remove the cotton balls along with the sharp object!" I think plain white bread in small doses was mentioned-bread swells in a dog's stomach so only give in small doses- and lots of water. When my dog ate plate shards the emergency vet recommended cotton balls. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snickelfritz Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 Also, baby gates aren't just for babies. I saved ours, in case a visiting toddler needed a boundary. But, we've set them up around the tree to keep our boxer pup away from the tree and cords. Much less frustration. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alte Veste Academy Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 When my dog ate plate shards the emergency vet recommended cotton balls. I got the same recommendation when Milo ate a chicken wing bone with an extremely sharp point when he was a puppy. Seriously, that thing was a miniature sword and I was petrified. He ate up those cotton balls and it worked beautifully. It wasn't the highlight of my life to monitor his cottony poo the next day but I did see the bone with the cotton packed all around it. :ack2: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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