Children’s Ooshie toy threat to puppies and dogs

The popular children’s Ooshie toy has also proven popular with curious puppies and dogs, leaving one dog requiring emergency life-saving surgery at Lort Smith Animal Hospital in Melbourne recently.

A two-year-old Pinscher cross Doberman called Coco had a lion Ooshie and another plastic object removed from her bowel during emergency surgery, highlighting the threat that small plastic children’s toys pose to our dogs, particularly young puppies, when left laying around.

Fortunately for Coco, her carer Troy Collins noticed something was not right after she began vomiting a lot of plant matter. However it was her loss of appetite that really caught his attention, refusing to eat before deteriorating rapidly.

The family rushed her to a local vet, where x-rays suggested a foreign object was blocking her bowel. She was referred to Lort Smith for emergency enterotomy surgery.

Mr Collins was surprised to hear it was two pieces of plastic including a lion Ooshie that was causing Coco’s internal damage, suspecting it might have otherwise been Lego, another popular children’s play toy.

With Lego and the Ooshie toy being popular choices for many children over the past year it isn’t surprising that Foreign body surgeries at the Lort Smith Hospital increased increased by 75% in comparison to last year over the April-May period.

This situation is a reminder to all parents of small children and dogs to be vigilant about any toys and other objects that may be left laying around and ensure they are kept well out of reach of our pets.

If Coco she had been left in this state much longer the situation could have been dire, according to Hospital Head Dr David Cunliffe.

Creating physical boundaries around certain activities can help to minimise these unfortunate but increasingly common instances.

“Most importantly always keep an eye on you dog; and if you are concerned about your pet, please see your vet,” added Dr Cunliffe.

Coco spent a total of four days at Lort Smith, and is now back at home with her beloved family, feeling rather sorry for herself. It is also a good reminder of the need for having pet insurance to ensure you and your pet are covered for emergencies like this.

Many other common dog toys can also pose a risk, so to read about the dangers of cheap and chewable dog toys click here or how to select the right toy for your dog click here.

Lort Smith continues to offer emergency, urgent and essential care to animals across Melbourne. At present Lort Smith’s opening hours are 8:30am-10pm every day of the year.