Jane Scarola’s new puppy seemed ill. For over two days, the Saint Bernard didn’t show the spunky signs of a normal six-month-old puppy; she had passed a little piece of cloth, she didn’t walk and seemed sore when touched.
Out of concern, Scarola took Elsie into the vet for an emergency visit to the Imperial Point Animal Hospital in Fort Lauderdale. But, the owner and doctor alike were surprised by the ailment.
X-rays show the puppy had swallowed a 13-inch serrated knife.
“We have a few pranksters at our hospital, and I really thought that someone had laid down a knife and had the dog on top of it just as a joke, to kind of mess with me,” says Dr. Jon-Paul Carew, the veterinarian who treated Elsie. “I couldn‘t imagine how a dog could put such a big knife down its throat, down its esophagus.”
Carew says the owner made a turkey on Sunday, carved the turkey with a knife, put it on a counter, and never saw it again — until the x-rays two days later.
“Thank goodness the dog did it handle first, or there‘s no way that dog could have passed that all the way down to the stomach. So it‘s a miracle it didn‘t do any damage,” says Carew.
With a small incision to the stomach, the doctor was able to remove the knife in a two-hour operation.
The owners says she plans to frame the knife and give it to the vet, as a gift.
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