Great news on the poop front there for Tai Soooooo relieved for you, bet he was too after a whole week!

I love this metronidazole, I was always given a week's supply by my vet in the past also for suspected giardia attacks, but now my new vet swears by it so much for gut problems, that Zena is on one a day for life so I have it in jumbo supply here, 6 weeks atm. It does something wonderful according to him for the gut where there are problems.

I wonder though, why was that poop so 'orrible, when there was no plastic in it??? Maybe it was all the tripe and just tripe (not forgetting the chicken), but why would it be like that, is it the fact that it has mixed inside with the toxins then from the plastic? You have to ask hubby please Nikki cos I have to know! If it does mean that, then could it perhaps be that the exceptionally strong stomach acid HAS in fact disintegrated it all and therefore, by the time it gets through the intestines, there will be no sharp bits left? Afterall, dog's guts do take some beating don't they, and that acid can destroy a solid bone. I know that, because my dog once gulped down a lamb chop bone without chewing it, and after x-ray, it had got stuck at the stomach entrance, and just as he was about to go in, he x-rayed again and said it had gone into the stomach, so she would be ok now, it would have no chance in her stomach!

Let's hope the same happens with thick, crinkly plastic like that horrible bird box then Nikki, I'm sure it could be the case.xxxx

Very glad Tai has managed to poo Gnasher, good news!!!

Wys
x

Well done Tai!

OH is asleep on the sofa, conked out and exhausted from the strain and stress of having cooked a Jamie Oliver recipe for us! The kitchen looks like a bombsite so I will try and answer your question myself, from what I know about the human gut - dogs guts are not much different, but it's true their digestive enzymes are much "stronger" than our's in that they can digest bone much quicker and more efficiently than a human. I think the problem with this polythene plastic tray that the suet came in is that it is specifically designed to withstand freezing temperatures and maurauding birds! It is not totally solid and hard like, say, a lock and lock or tupperware box, it is flexible but quite hard at the same time. It would not be denatured much by the stomach enzymes unfortunately, but it could be broken down enough to give off toxins - if you burn plastic on the fire, it makes a dreadful smell and the smoke given off is carcinogenic. As the stomach enzymes attempt to break down the plastic, it could be that some toxins are being released - I don't know, I am guessing here, but I am sure it is possible. In addition to that, Tai would have chomped the plastic trays at least a little bit in order to crush them up small enough to go down his oesophagus, so therefore will have reasonably sharp edges - sharp enough to cause laceration and ulceration to the stomach which the vet viewed with her endoscope. If the plastic can do this to the oesophagus and stomach, which of course are much larger than the small and large intestine, then clearly as it works its way through it could be doing damage all the way with each colonic spasm.

The fact that this massive pile was so 'orrible is probably because at least some of it has been in there for a week - in other words, what we saw today could have been faecal matter in the small intestine which was well ahead of the plastic - I personally doubt this, I think in the main it is faecal matter that has managed to work its way past the plastic purely by build up of pressure - in other words, the plastic could be well and truly stuck. In which case, we are hoping that the digestive enzymes flood out from the gut and denature it enough for the colonic spasms to shift it along. The vet advised raw green tripe because there is plenty of fibre in there from the vegetable matter to aid good digestion and gut motility, along with plenty of water. Cooked chicken is fine from a protein point of view, but there is no roughage in there, nothing to promote motility. In a week's time we have got to introduce raw pureed carrot to add fibre.

I am hopeful that we are going to sort this, but it is going to take time. I will check with OH if all this makes sense - it does to me, but he's the scientist, I'm just a weak and feeble woman according to him!!

Take it from me Niks, there is NOTHING weak and feeble about YOU

Perfectly explained there, thanks Nikki, don't bother to wake up o/h now, I know enough from your own explaination thanks!

It's not a good scenario though is it, to have something as soft, thin and fragile as a dog's bowel to push through these hard bits of plastic BUT, if they're small enough, and food manages to wrap itself around each piece, there is lots of hope there Nikki, and Dogsey vibes always work well, so he's got a lot going for him.

I doubt that cotton wool would work now either would it, because it would probably get stuck behind a bit of plastic causing more problems I suppose if you're going to do the cotton wool treatment, you do it when the food is still in the stomach maybe I don't know, I just remember reading up about it when researching something else.

Still got everything on constant here for your lovely boy, and please keep us updated we're all so worried for him along with you.xxxx

Just caught up and am so please that Tai is still holding his own.

After a week of 'not going' I'm guessing all the gunky stuff was a result of it being stored plus, of course, the anaesthetic would have been held there too. Smelly and gunky isn't that unusual after a GA so let's hope that's it.

Still got everything crossed that the big lad fights his way through this xxx

Hey guys, sorry for radio silence over the weekend. Been up all night with my father aged 91, who's very poorly indeed but refused to be admitted to hospital. Plus brother who is already in hospital, and not doing so well, so I've not been around much over the last couple of days. Now back at work for a rest!

Tai's not doing too bad - he did another poo yesterday apparently, but still no sign of the plastic, so it must be either working its way through extremely slowly, or is stuck but faecal matter is managing to get past the obstruction.

Just a case of steady as we go I suppose, but at least it's still good news, the old git is still with us and still duffing up Ben so he must be feeling OK!

Sorry to hear about your father being poorly and your brother not doing so well - sending get well {{{vibes}}} for them both.

But it is good to hear that Tai is still pooing - and feels well enough to "duff up" Ben!

(((hugs))) xx

Blimey Nikki, you must be shattered with all this. I'm so sorry to hear about your brother not doing so well and now your dad too. It's all happening at once, but I'm very glad to hear that Tai is holding his own.
xxx