Gracie is a young Golden Retriever with a stomach of steel. Gracie's parents called us after she ate an entire box of Brillo pads!
Okay, maybe curiosity got the best of her when she decided to eat the first one..... but one would think that after eating the first, she would have no interest in the rest of the box! Not so! Our little Gracie proceded to eat every last one! When she showed up at the clinic, she acted like nothing even happened! She was as happy as ever! That's a Golden Retriever for you!
Dr. Kate took an x-ray to confirm that the steel wool pads were, in fact, in the stomach (and what a large, distended stomach it was) and then booked her for surgery that same afternoon with Dr. Corey. An intravenous catheter was placed, she was started on antibiotics and medication to protect her gastrointestinal tract, and she was anesthetized for surgery. Dr. Corey removed 7 and 1/2 large steel wool Brillo pads from Gracie's stomach and flushed her abdomen. We saved the offending Brillo pads for Gracie's family to see and save as a souveneir!
Gracie was in for her suture removal today and looks great!!! Her family tells us that a friend brought over a box of Brillo pads the other night as a joke and Gracie's mom said, "No way! I don't even want them in my house!!!!" We can't say we blame her.
We are so happy that Gracie is all better and we hope that she learned her lesson! Gracie no longer has a stomach of steel but she will always have a HEART OF GOLD!