Printer friendly

< back

Spring 2009

Nicks From Sticks

Some dogs love nothing better than a trip to the park with Mum or Dad for a good, long session of chasing and retrieving sticks.

 

Unfortunately, we occasionally see dogs with significant injuries incurred from sticks ending up in the wrong places.

 

Sticks come in a wide variety of sizes, shapes and textures. Some have sharp edges and projections that can pierce through the soft tissues of the mouth and the gastrointestinal tract. Some can splinter very easily. Some are just the right size to become caught in an unfortunate location. Even a stick that on first inspection looks to be safe can become an “instrument of injury” after your dog has chewed various bits off it and reorganised it to just the way he likes it.

 

One of the most common injuries we see is a stick lodged firmly across the palate and jammed between the dental arcades. In such instances the stick may “saw” away  at the soft tissues of the gum, leaving a large defect. Often the dog will be so agitated by the presence of the stick in the mouth that he will  paw uncontrollably at his face and severely lacerate himself. Sometimes small splinters will migrate up behind the soft palate and into the sinuses.

 

Sticks which are swallowed can potentially perforate the bowel, leading to life-threatening peritonitis. Sometimes the most insidious injuries we see are those where the initial problem is so minor that the owner may not even notice it; even small sticks can migrate along the tissue planes of the body, potentially penetrating vital structures and becoming extremely difficult for us to locate.

 

Stick injuries almost always require a general anaesthetic, and sometimes major surgery. As you may have gathered by now, a stick is not the preferred dog toy- at least not from a vet’s point of view. But we don’t want to be complete party-poopers and spoil all your dog’s fun. Our advice would be to use alternative, sturdy toys that are safer - Kongs, balls, or frisbees. 

 

That way a good time will be had by your canine companion at the park, and he will also be able to avoid a traumatic visit to the surgery.