My puppy ate a thumbtack. What should I do? Is it an emergency?

Question

My 6 month old puppy swallowed a thumb tack last night. What should I do?

Christie Long, DVM · Accepted Answer

Hi, and thanks for writing. I think it's important for you to take your puppy to the vet for a physical examination and an x-ray of his abdomen. I think there's a pretty good chance that the thumbtack will pass through the GI tract without any problems. However, there are no guarantees, and anytime there's something sharp like that in the GI track I would be inclined to recommend getting it out and not letting it pass through. The worst-case scenario is that it punctures his intestines and causes very serious problems. Since it's metal (or at least partially metal) a thumbtack will show up on x-ray and you can see where it is (and verify that he did eat it, if there's any doubt). If it's in his stomach still it should be pretty simple to retrieve if your vet has an endoscope, or can refer you to a specialist who does. If it's already out of the stomach and in the intestines he may need surgery to get it out. Good luck.

My puppy ate a thumbtack. What should I do? Is it an emergency?

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