Who hasn't thought that while you're eating, the dog is sitting next to you and doesn't take his eyes off you and, at the first false move or carelessness, when you drop something, he devours like a vacuum cleaner Many times nothing happens because the piece is small and even, sometimes, just crumbs. But what happens if what is lost is a bone? Or a small toy of our children that had a nice aroma? These things are usually very important, from veterinary emergencyHowever, as owners, there are a series of actions that we can take as first aid before running to the nearest veterinary clinic. On our site we will help you know what to do if your dog has something stuck in his throat? We hope you find it useful!
How do you know if a dog has something stuck in its throat?
How do I know if my dog has something stuck in his throat? Many times it happens that we cannot follow in the footsteps of our furry in everything he does. There are animals that are more energetic than others, breeds that are more gluttonous than others and, therefore, sometimes we only see certain signs that make us suspect, but also doubt, about what is happening to our dog.
Canines can cough for many reasons, but sometimes they can have objects such as toys, bones, a plant or simply something that is difficult for them to digest. Let's remember several things before addressing the topic such as dogs chew very little or not at allThis is an issue that owners often don't consider, especially in breeds that are naturally greedy like:
- The farmer.
- The golden retriever.
- The beagle.
It is common for us to wonder why my dog has a cough as if he had something stuck, but we must also consider that if our animal coughs it may be for other reasons. There is laryngotracheitis or kennel cough.
The signs are very similar to those a dog shows when something is stuck in its throat, being coughing and gagging for try to expel what is stuck the most frequent symptoms. You can even vomit. If we observe these signs, we must go to the veterinarian to make a differential diagnosis and start treatment to avoid possible contagion to other animals.
If you want to know more about Kennel Cough: symptoms, treatment and infection.
What to do if I see you swallow something that gets stuck?
Now that you know the reason why "my dog is coughing like something is stuck", let's take a closer look at what to do if my dog really has something in his throat. Before rushing to the vet, if your dog has something stuck in his throat you can try these tips:
- Open his mouth immediately: so we can look at the entire cavity and see if we can extract it manually. It will depend a lot on what type of object you have swallowed to perform this maneuver or go directly to the veterinarian. Now, how to get a stuck bone out of a dog? It is not recommended to remove objects that have sharp points or edges such as broken bones, needles, scissors, etc.
- If it is a small dog we can turn it upside down when we try to remove the object: in the case of large dogs, raise the hind legs will be of great help.
- Heimlich Maneuver: We stand behind the dog, standing or kneeling, we surround him with our arms and hold his paws with our hands. legs. We press behind the ribs inward and upward, so that he begins to cough or gag. The more you salivate the better, since it will be easier for the object to slide and be able to expel it.
Even if we remove the object by any of these techniques, we must go to our veterinarian to evaluate injuries and possible treatments.
The ingestion of any object can cause our animal serious digestive problems. For this reason, we must consider, depending on the type of object ingested, what will be the possible damages that we will face. It may be some food or plant that makes you sick and show certain characteristic signs such as:
- Sialorrhea (hypersalivation).
- Vomiting and/or diarrhoea.
- Apathy and reluctance.
- Lack of appetite and/or thirst.
After seeing that how to help dogs to expel the bones is sometimes not the best idea, because we can inadvertently hurt them due to the sharp points, next we are going to explain other treatments to follow.
Treatments for
We said this is a veterinary emergency, so if we try all of the above without success, we should go to the vetThe more time has passed, the worse the treatment will be, having to go to the operating room to remove the object that the dog has stuck in the throat.
First of all, we must detect where the foreign body is, and we will do this by means of an X-ray as soon as possible. The possible treatments will be discussed according to the criteria of the veterinary professional who attends the emergency. Next, from our site, we will comment on the most common treatments:
- If we are within the first 48 hours of knowing the episode occurred, depending on the location we may be able to remove it with sedation and an endoscopy, or we can try oral liquid petroleum jelly.
- If more than 48 hours have passed, we should evaluate a surgery to remove the foreign body, since we will surely already have adhesions to the walls it is in contact with.
It is very important to consult the veterinarian and not to medicate our pet with antidiarrheals, antiemetics or painkillers because the only thing we will achieve is to hide the picture and worsen the solution. So, if you wonder what to do if your dog has something stuck in his throat after trying the first aid mentioned in the previous section, don't hesitate and go to the vet.
