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My dog swallowed a tampon. Is it an emergency? Should I call the vet?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed Medium (23 - 60lb) | Male | neutered | 30 lbs

My dog has just eaten a whole, used tampon! He snuck into my trash when I looked away and then came running downstairs with the tampon in his mouth. I went to grab it from his mouth, but the crazy dog swallowed it! He's a thirty pound basenji-jack russell mutt who has previously eaten many things he shouldn't have and been fine. Is he in immediate danger that requires a vet? He swallowed it around ten minutes ago and hasn't been choking or coughing.

2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Andrea M. Brodie, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on May 21st, 2018

There are two possibilities to deal with that: 1) you take him to a Pet ER right away where they will give him some apomorphine to make him regurgitate his stomach contents. 2) you wait until it leaves the body via the stool. This can take a few days, but also bears the risk of causing an intestinal obstruction. It may be possible that he will regurgitate it without intervention, however the earlier you have vomiting induced , the less likely the tampon will leave the stomach into the intestine.

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Other Answers

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    Answered By Laura Johnson VMD

    Veterinarian

    Published on April 7th, 2018

    Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Poor guy! Sadly tampons can cause a stomach or intestinal obstruction. Has he passed the tampons in his stool yet? If his symptoms of gagging happened after eating the tampons he should be examined by your Vet for a belly X-ray. It is best to have the X-rays taken after a 12 hour fast so we know his stomach should be empty. If it isn't then we'd be worried that tampons are in there. If you saw him pass the tampons he could be suffering from allergies or kennel cough which would be unrelated to the tampons. kennel cough should resolve on it's own in about 2 weeks. If he is still coughing and gagging by Monday he should be seen. If he stops eating and becomes lethargic over the weekend he should be seen on emergency. I hope this helps!

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