My dog ate fiberglass insulation. Are there surgery alternatives?

Question

My 1 1/2 year old boxer/shepherd mix ate fiberglass insulation. It was in her stomach for a year before we found it by endoscopy. She sometimes gets sick.. won't eat, very loud gurgeling sounds, gassy & paces, but after a while she's ok again. The vet took out what he could with the scope, but there were fibers left. We tried a bulk diet for 2 weeks, but she's sick again. The vet says major surgery is required to get the rest if the fibers out, but I am wondering if there is any other options. Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed Medium (23 - 60lb) | Female | 1 year and 8 months old | 57 lbs

Dr. Davis · Accepted Answer

I agree with your veterinarian. If there are balls of fiberglass inside she will never be normal until it's removed. The advantage of doing surgery is that they can feel the entire intestinal tract and remove the foreign material, as well as any in the stomach. With an endoscopy they can only see a limited amount. Since Gracie is young and in good health other than this she will recover from surgery quickly. If you wait there is always a chance that it could move causing a full obstruction and then that would be emergency surgery with a sick dog, it would be more expense and higher risk too. Although this does seem extreme, you've already tried a bulk diet and endoscopy which haven't resolved the problem so this would be the next step to get Gracie better. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you care for Gracie.

My dog ate fiberglass insulation. Are there surgery alternatives?

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