A game of fetch on the beach almost killed a woman's dog after he blocked his intestines by continuously swallowing sand when catching the ball. Jacqueline Roe, 51, had taken her five-year-old cockapoo Chester to Fraisthorpe Beach in East Yorkshire on Sunday, May 24, to enjoy the sunny weather.
Dog Swallowed Sand During Hours of Fetch
Ball game "obsessed" Chester spent the next five hours with Jacqueline, who estimates she threw his toy for him nearly 200 times. During the hour-long journey home to Selby, North Yorkshire, Jacqueline noticed Chester became lethargic and not himself. He was sick when he got out of the car and again inside the house, before vomiting a third time with "pure sand."
GP practice manager Jacqueline rushed her pet to the vets, where she and staff were stunned when an X-ray revealed Chester was ill because he had consumed a vast amount of sand during their game of fetch. The seashore silt was so abundant inside Chester's stomach it had impacted and blocked his intestines. Vets told Jacqueline if she had not brought her dog for treatment, he would have died that night.
Treatment and Recovery
Chester needed multiple enemas over three days to shift the blockage before he was able to return home. Mum-of-two Jacqueline said: "We think what happened is because he's a small dog, he only has a small mouth and to get a good grip on his ball, he was almost taking a mouthful of sand every time. As he's doing that the sand is going back in his throat. He is also a bit of a whirlwind so when he runs for the ball he'll skid and stop and there was sand going in his face. He's obsessed with his ball. I probably threw it between 150 to 200 times. He didn't stop and this went on for hours."
Warning to Other Pet Owners
Jacqueline said she wants to warn other pet owners to look out for the signs their dog may have ingested sand during an innocent game on the beach. She had pet insurance so the vet procedures cost only £125, but without cover the bill would have come to around £4,000. "I grew up in Devon and on the beach and I had never heard of this. I was beating myself up as you think 'I've killed my dog'," she added. "It's called sand impaction and after putting a post up on social media it was quite reassuring that lots of other people had never heard of it either. I would just tell pet owners to be cautious. I would never take a ball on the beach again but Chester was having fun. He is a bit bonkers. At the moment I am not going to rush back to the beach with him."
After posting her sand impaction warning on social media, other pet owners came forward and thanked her for spreading awareness.
