Half A Wing Eaten

When I bought Choya's fwens some toys for their birthdays, I also got her one. The goose or duck looked nice. It was made of cowhide, palm rope and bits of cotton filling. It's a dental toy. There's no squeaker in it. It isn't indestructible, but it should provide a nice chew. 

So this toy had been lying around for a month. She chewed off the tail bit and spat it out. Then she found the wing and chewed it a bit. It tore, but it wasn't a big deal. The labels did warn owners "not to leave it with the puppy after use". Well... Choya hasn't had a habit of eating her toys. All the fabric and fluff chewed out have been left on the floor or the carpet. She doesn't eat them. She generally doesn't eat cables or things like that. So I thought it would be fine. 

Last Saturday, she decided to excitedly chew off half a wing. I didn't notice it till Sunday afternoon. I was like, where is the chewed-off bit then? I didn't see it anywhere on the floor. The man asked if I was over-thinking again. No lor. I distinctly had the impression that the wing was intact till the Saturday evening's furious chewing. Still I left the toy lying around. 

I couldn't ignore it. Searched for old photos in the phone in the library and deleted albums, just to confirm my suspicions. Luckily I had one of the duck on its side, showing the full left wing. That was four nights before she chewed it off. And swallowed it. The photos confirmed that the wing was intact; if I couldn't find the remnants lying around, it was certain that she swallowed it. WALAOEH. And the next day, she promptly chewed off a smaller bit of the wing, and swallowed that too.  I was too slow to stop it. OMG. WTF.  SHE LIKES THE TASTE OF COWHIDE???!!! OKAY, NO MORE TOY. I removed it pronto.

At least she chewed off the soft bit. But the one eaten on Saturday night was quite a big piece for a 7kg dog. The piece swallowed on Sunday afternoon was smaller and wasn't a concern. Accck! I don't even give her rawhide chews at all. I was worried that the bigger piece couldn't be passed out through the small intestines. Strings, socks, anything fabric can cause intestinal blockage that require surgery if owners don't catch it in time to do a removal via endoscopy. Once these items pass through the stomach, it's gotta be a surgery thing to get them out. 

I watched her like a hawk, and looked at her poop for the next few days. I gave her extra food and psyllium husk to improve motility. She pooped per normal, and the volume wasn't smaller than usual. It was fine. But it was only on Tuesday that the first piece came out. Her Daddy took her for the walk and didn't squish the poop to check. He only took some blurred photos for me. She decided not to poop on Wednesday. She pooped today while out with Daddy, so again, I only had a blurred photo for reference. It did seem like the second small piece also came out.  

It has been five days, 120 hours since she ingested the soft cowhide. She hasn't exhibited any symptoms of intestinal blockage. She's eating and drinking, active and being naughty. I'm assuming all should be fine. Haizzzzz. I watch her poop closely all the time anyway, so I'll continue taking a look. But with each normal poop done, at least I don't have the psychological fear that she'll develop a megacolon and sepsis.   

Gosh. This girl. 😐🙄🤦🏻‍♀️

The unrepentant cheeky perp.