She presented to our Carina Vet  Clinic on Thursday after vomiting consistently over the previous 12-24 hours.
She had a digital X-ray taken at our Holland Park practice and a small intestinal foreign body was obvious. What would it turn out to be? See our xray picture below.
Holly was taken to surgery where she was supported with pain relief and intravenous fluids. During the anaesthesia she was constantly monitored including heart and respiratory rates, body temperature, oxygen saturation and blood pressure.
After an incision was made into her abdomen the offending foreign body was located in the small intestine. An incision was made to remove the foreign body – it was a hair tie.
The intestine was repaired using two layers of absorbable sutures and checked for leaks. Her abdomen was routinely closed and she woke up well. She was transferred to our Holland Park practice and nurse Erin monitored her throughout the night . She was discharged home Friday. Follow up recheck the next day and all is well.  More photos on our Facebook page. 

Foreign bodies are a fairly common cause of persistent gastro-intestinal disease, especially in younger pets. They are not always clearly visible on xrays and  therefore the diagnosis may be difficult. Sometimes they can be “palpated” as an unusual shape in the abdomen. Apart from Holly’s hair ties we have performed surgery on other pets to remove macadamia nuts, stone fruit seeds, corn cobs, small balls, toys, string, dental floss, stones, fish hooks  and children’s dummies. I am sure other vets have encountered other unusual foreign bodies. It pays to be vigilant regards the availability of potential objects that can be swallowed.  I our pet’s environment we need to identify  the safe and perhaps the not so safe.