Wheaton Terrier Eats a Sewing Needle
Josh the Wheaton is Relieved of his Sewing Needle
Josh is a 6 year-old Wheaton Terrier, beloved by all. I received a frantic call on a Wednesday morning, “Josh ate a straight needle! What do I do?”
“When did he eat the needle? And by the way, are you sure? And by the way, you sew?!”
“Last night, when my husband was watching him. He saw him eat it! I don’t know how I have time, but sometimes I sew.”
Now, I’m not at all shocked that a curious, rambunctious Wheatie will eat a sewing needle. I was very surprised, to say the least, that a busy mom, dental hygienist, running her husband’s dental practice, had a sewing room! People are amazing.
“Bring him right over, I’ll take an x-ray.”
There it was — 2 inches of Made-in-China steel — straight needle. The funny thing was, it had made it through 17 feet of intestine and was just inches away from being pooped out uneventfully. Which it was the next morning. Problem solved. Dad off the hook (er, needle.)
Not to make light of the situation, a hole in your innards from a needle, or a needle loose in your insides doing what it wants can necessitate emergency surgery. But you’d be surprised how often things work out, in spite of the vet.
