A Birmingham family faced a festive nightmare when their mischievous Golden Retriever swallowed sharp pieces of a Christmas decoration, requiring urgent life-saving treatment.
A Festive Feast Gone Wrong
One-year-old Milo, a Golden Retriever with a taste for household items, was caught red-handed by his owner's daughter after attacking a teddy bear bauble. The incident occurred approximately three weeks ago, shortly after the family had put up their Christmas tree. Milo managed to smash the ceramic ornament and consume around half of it.
Owner Mike Adams, a 61-year-old carpenter, explained that Milo had a history of chewing things, having already destroyed several TV remotes. "We try and keep things high and out of reach," said Mike. "But for some reason he has taken a liking to this Christmas decoration. There's nothing nice on it, it is just ceramic, so I'm not sure what he was thinking."
Emergency Veterinary Intervention
After discovering the shards around the tree, owners Mike and Rachael Adams, 46, rushed Milo to Blaise Veterinary Referral Hospital in Longbridge. The situation was critical due to the sharp nature of the ceramic fragments.
Veterinary surgeon Camilla Piazza stated that while Milo showed no external injuries, the internal risk was severe. "The pieces were very sharp so we were really worried that the shards he had swallowed could have caused severe damage to Milo's insides," she said. "This could easily have been a fatal accident."
Milo was incredibly fortunate. Being a large dog, the pieces passed through his oesophagus into his stomach without causing punctures. The team performed an endoscopic procedure, a minimally invasive technique, to retrieve the majority of the shards from his stomach over a couple of hours.
Recovery and a Stripped-Back Christmas
Following the successful procedure, Milo was able to return home the same evening. Some smaller fragments had moved to his intestine, so the vets provided a special dietary plan to help him pass these naturally.
The Adams family endured an agonising wait. "Those few hours were the longest afternoon of my life," Mike admitted. "He is part of the family and we've only had him a year. When we left him there, we thought that was it."
The experience has led to a drastic change in their Christmas décor. Their tree is now stripped back to just tinsel and lights for safety. "It looks like it's had a bit of a hair cut," Mike joked, "but we just want to make sure its safe and everything is out of Milo's reach now."
Vet Camilla Piazza used the incident to warn other pet owners. "Everyone loves to put decorations up at this time of year, but you do have to be careful about what is in reach of your pets," she advised. She noted that while her team commonly sees pets who have eaten foreign objects like batteries or stones, a teddy bear bauble was a first.
