The freaking dog ate the shamwow (only a piece)

March 16, 2009 12:51 PM

My friend's bulldog just ate a 4 inch square piece of Shamwow before we could stop her. Is she in danger? Should we make her throw up? Is it going to swell in her stomach? Has anyone had any experience with dealing with this?
posted by Tesseractive to pets & animals (15 comments total)

Call a vet.
posted by brevator at 1:00 PM on March 16

Also, check MSDS sheet or call shamwow customer service-
1-866-879-3813
posted by brevator at 1:04 PM on March 16

You should definitely call a vet.

Shamwow is made in Germany, though - you know Germans make good stuff.
posted by CRM114 at 1:08 PM on March 16 [13 favorites]

It's just like any other cloth. Your dog will poop it out in pretty much its normal state. I am not a vet.

You're gonna love my nuts.
posted by tehloki at 1:11 PM on March 16 [7 favorites]

Calling the vet is a good idea. I'd be surprised if they don't expect it to just work its way through though.
posted by Frasermoo at 1:12 PM on March 16

Call the vet, but you're basically going to be on poopwatch for the next 48 hours.

Make sure he's drinking plenty o water, and make sure he's pooping in 24-48 hours. If he changes his activity level or stops drinking water then it's right to the vet for probably an ultrasound.
posted by iamabot at 1:12 PM on March 16

Due to the fact that bulldogs have breathing difficulties in general, my wife (the vet tech) does not recommend inducing vomiting, as that could cause an airway obstruction. If it was a solid piece of Shamwow, it may be too big to pass through and may have to be surgically removed.

The best bet is to get to a vet that can do endoscopy (are ya with me camera guy?) to take a look down there, but if that is not possible, give small, frequent meals for the rest of the day to try and get things moving along.

If there is any vomiting or if he is straining to poop, you need to get to a vet right away.
posted by Rock Steady at 1:15 PM on March 16 [2 favorites]

My dogs have eaten much much worse, many times. Examples include: a real football, a pound of mixed halloween candy, a bicycle tire tube, a gallon-sized plastic bag with four peanut butter sandwiches stacked inside (bag included) and innumerable bird and vermin corpses in various states of decay/dessication. The only time we ever called the vet was when they ate rat poison. A four-inch piece of shamois cloth isn't going to hurt your dog.
posted by M.C. Lo-Carb! at 1:31 PM on March 16 [2 favorites]

Phone your regular vet and ask for their advice. Don't take a bunch of data points about other people's animals, typical or anomalous, as a substitute for professional advice.

(I just had my cat put to sleep on Friday because he couldn't even fucking digest kibble any more. Nothing was moving through him at all. I'm probably a lot less sanguine than most people about the heroic nature of animal digestive systems right now.)
posted by maudlin at 2:15 PM on March 16 [1 favorite]

Call your vet. Depending on the size of the dog, the time that he ate it, other symptoms, they might have you induce vomiting. I had to do that when my puppy ate a giant sock. But you don't really want to do that if it's already in his digestive track. He'll probably poop it out but you don't want to mess around with the little guy!
posted by barnone at 2:22 PM on March 16

Stop dogs might pass it, some might not. We're not performing an experiment here. Call the goddamn vet.
posted by Optimus Chyme at 4:24 PM on March 16 [2 favorites]

and let us know what happens, please
posted by cda at 7:26 PM on March 16

Thanks for all the advice, much more helpful than more than a few frantic google searches were...she's my friends' dog so I don't know what is up right now (they are watching this page too though) but I will post when I know how she is.
posted by Tesseractive at 8:01 PM on March 16

On Christmas my mom's cocker spaniel ate most of a Shamwow. The next day they visited the vet and they did the x-rays and all that. It ended up being poopwatch, and it turned out that before he ate the Shamwow he also ate part of a towel. Within several days, he passed it all. (Yes, he has PICA.)

That said, impactions happen, too! From kind of a small piece, in my experience I wouldn't *expect* that to happen in this case, but it could. But at least you know it isn't an instant death sentence.

Good luck!
posted by iguanapolitico at 2:30 PM on March 24

Oh god, forgot to come update this. The vet said to watch her poop but she'd probably be fine since it was a smallish piece, and so they did. The dog is fine now.
posted by Tesseractive at 1:46 PM on April 14