# Miles just ate an earring!



## RileysMommy

Oh lord! I have absolutely no advice or experience with this kind of thing but I would probably panic and take him to the Vet or at least give them a call and see what they suggest!

I'll be praying for you guys and please update us!


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## Indiana

Well, there are always exceptions but my dogs have eaten so many bad things! And it all passed through just fine. Some of the items my dogs have eaten include, my sunglasses (including the lenses, chewed into shards); rocks (lots); sticks; toys, particularly super-hero action figures; the power supply to our laptop; numchuks for our Wii; a hole chewed out of our drywall; a maxi-pad; lots of branches off my Weigela shrub; mint plants; and a green knitted glove. And that's not a complete list! I heard that when they eat something hard you should give them a bun or some bread, so if I were you I'd do that. But I'm sure he'll be just fine  Thinking of you!


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## MyMiles

I've read the bread suggestions in other places online as well. I fed him some bits of a bun, hopefully that will do some good. I think right now I'll just wait out the night and call the vet in the morning to get their opinion. 
I have a feeling I'll be on poo-patrol for a few days at the very least... 

Thanks for your input, I'll keep you posted!


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## outwest

:bounce:
I know what you'll be doing for the next couple days.


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## peppersb

Well, I have a bit of experience that might be helpful. Several years ago, before I had my own dog, I was taking care of a friend's young golden retriever while she was on vacation. To make a long story as short as I can, the puppy (he was about 6 or 8 months old) chewed the bottom of one of my chairs and swallowed a 3 pronged metal thing that was in the bottom of the wooden leg of the chair. I was worried that the metal prongs would pierce his intestines as they passed, or that they would cause a blockage, so I rushed him to the University of Pa vet hospital. An Xray confirmed that the 3 pronged metal thing was in his stomach, along with a coin. To my surprise, the doctors were not at all worried about the sharp prongs. They were not worried about blockage. But they were worried about metal poisoning! We ended up electing not to do emergency endoscopy to get rid of all possiblity of metal poisoning. To make a long story short, there was some difference of opinion on the issue of whether the metal poisoning was or was not a real risk. The metal prong thing and the coin (a dime) passed a few days later.

My take-home lessons: (1) A golden-retriever sized dog can easily pass an object that is the size of your thumb or smaller. (2) Sharp objects, so long as they are not too big are less of a problem than you might think.


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## tortoise

A penny made after 1982 will kill a dog through zinc toxicity. It is a slow painful death.

Warning: graphic photo! Click if you dare. This ia photo of a necropsy done at University of Missouri Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory on a dog with zinc toxicity from eating a penny. The photo is of the dog's stomach with the corroded, imbeded penny. 

Please call your vet. I believe the bread trick only works if you feed a huge amount immediately. I don't think this is urgent, but you should trust your vet's opinion.


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## Kellogs12

Scary stuff! I would call the vet just to be sure. 

-Kell


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## peppersb

tortoise said:


> A penny made after 1982 will kill a dog through zinc toxicity. It is a slow painful death.


Very, very interesting. The dog that I mentioned who swallowed the coin is alive and well 10 years later, and it turned out to be a dime anyway. But I am very interested to hear that the problems are with pennies made after 1982. At the time (10 years ago) I was asking every question under the sun about the toxicity issue. No clear answer, except one young doctor said we couldn't even be sure it was a US coin so there was really no way we could know anything at all. (I assured him that there were no non-US coins lying around my house...) It would have been really nice if someone had given us a simple explanation like the one you gave. We were AGONIZING about what to do.


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## MyMiles

Ok, I talked to my vets office this morning. They say that an earring doesn't make them panic, but to keep an eye out for blood in the stool, weird behavior, etc. It should pass within the next day or so... 

On the bright side, I did make the earring so I know for sure that it's just sterling silver and copper, without any other base metals. 

I guess all I can do now is keep my gingers crossed that everything comes out okay.


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## kukukachoo

Hi- glad to hear they aren't worried at this point!


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## Lily's-Mom

Any update? I hope he's OK


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## MyMiles

I've been keeping a close eye on his stool- no blood, but no earring yet. He seems to be eating alright and drinking alright and hasn't been showing any signs of discomfort. 

However, he has been on a role lately. In the past week he's gotten into more stuff than he did in the first several months of having him combined. 
Last Thursday, it was an entire bag of salmon dog treats. I wasn't worried since it was my own dumb fault for leaving the bag within reach and he didn't eat the bag itself. 
On Friday, he ripped into the treat bag on his leash (also consuming an earring and possibly a zipper pull). 
Saturday, he grabbed some cooked pork off the kitchen table. 
He behaved himself on Sunday, but yesterday he got the leftover meatloaf. 
Today I came home to the contents of our trashcan all over the kitchen and living room floor. 

For not being very food driven when it comes to training, he's become quite the scavenger overnight.

I'm not sure if this is relevant, but I changed his food about a little over a month ago (Blue Buffalo Chicken and Rice to Blue Buffalo Fish and Sweet Potato) to cut down on his gasiness. That's improved, but he's eating less food overall, maybe 2 to 2 1/2 cups instead of 3 cups a day. 
Do you think he might not like the new food and is seeking out better smelling options, or is this just a behavior problem?


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