Dog Ate Bamboo Skewers

If your dog ate bamboo skewers, you may need to take your dog to the vet for a thorough examination. When a dog chews on a wooden skewer, pieces of it can puncture the stomach wall, and vital organs or damage the digestive tract or small intestines. Internal bleeding can result in emergency surgery.

What Happens After a Dog Ate Bamboo Skewers

Wooden skewers like the kebab skewers you use at a family barbeque to cook meat and vegetables are like little sticks. Many pet owners don’t think there’s anything wrong with letting their dog play and chew on them because they are just like sticks.

Unfortunately, dogs should play or chew on wood sticks either. Just like a splinter, a piece of the kebab skewers can break away from it and end up in the stomach and then the digestive tract and small intestines.

The foreign body can remain the way it is or break into more little splinters. A dog’s stomach doesn’t know the difference between a kebab stick and a hard piece of food, so it starts to try to break it down. The sharp edges of the stick can lead to serious issues in the dog’s stomach.

As it makes its way down into the GI tract, the sharp edges can wreak havoc on the intestinal wall. The sharp ends hit the sides of the intestinal tract and then as it tries to leave the body, it can cause issues in the bowels and even as it leaves the body in feces.

Should You See a Vet After a Dog Ate Bamboo Skewers

Many vets will tell pet owners to bring their dogs to the vet immediately to determine where the kebab stick is and if it has caused any damage. It’s better to get the foreign body out of the dog’s stomach as soon as possible vs letting it make its way out of the body where it can cause more damage.

The problem is that emergency surgery is expensive. That’s why Dog Ownership Guide believes it’s a good idea to have dog insurance. No one knows when something will happen, and it’s never a good feeling when you have to decide between your finances vs. your dog’s life.

Dog owners that take risk sometimes get lucky after their dog ate bamboo skewers. They leave the body with no damage to the stomach or intestinal wall.

It’s always a good idea to consult with your vet when something like this happens. You and your vet can make the decision on what is the best course of action after your dog ate bamboo skewers.

Other Things that Can Hurt Your Dog

In addition to bamboo skewers, there are many other items that can hurt your dog.

• String from a rope toy or eating curtains can slice parts of the intestines or cause an obstruction.
• The same thing can happen to dogs that swallow ribbons and other types of long foreign objects.
• Grass seed is highly dangerous to a dog’s inner body. They have sharp ends that can be like daggers inside of the body.
• Peach pits are big and rough. Not only are they a choking hazard, but they can also break apart at the entry point and act like pieces of wood inside of the body.
• Raw or cooked bones from chicken, beef, pork, or fish are a huge risk because they break off into small pieces and can do the same thing as when a dog eats bamboo skewers. Never let your dog eat raw or cooked bones.
• Corn cobs are fun to chew on but they are not so fun inside of the body. Again, they can break apart into small pieces that cause problems in a pup’s tummy and GI tract. Keep corn cobs away from dogs at all times.

Contact Your Vet If Your Dog Ate Bamboo Skewers

If your dog ate bamboo skewers, contact your vet immediately. Your vet will likely advise you to come into the office for an x-ray to identify where the kebab stick is at this point and depending on where it is, the vet will make a recommendation on whether to wait it out or perform surgery to remove it from it causes damage.