Your Dog Ate What?

With an average of 80,000 pet insurance claims received every month, we get to see a wide range of items eaten by pets—especially dogs. The last two months have produced a number of claims for unusual ingested items, and we thought our readers might benefit from a roundup of some of the more interesting things eaten by VPI insured pets.

One of the reasons we share these stories is to educate pet owners on some of the less obvious dangers their pets can encounter (who expects their dog to eat a beehive?). But just because they are less obvious, doesn’t mean they are less likely to happen.

Over the past couple of months we had many dogs whose curiosity and appetites got the better of their judgment. One Jack Russell terrier made the mistake of trying to get a piece of turkey off a rat trap. Other dogs found holiday decorations such as garland, Christmas wreaths, scented pine cones, wrapping paper, and Christmas tree ornaments irresistible. Chocolate ingestions followed their annual pattern of spiking in December, and we even had a dog eat a marijuana cookie that he “found at the park.”

Other interesting items dogs ate include:

• Metal spring
• A clam
• A wrist watch
• 3 pounds of raw meat
• Play-Doh
• Cleaning wipes
• An electrical cord
• Cactus
• The skin of a golf ball (not a small feat for a Chihuahua)
• A G.I. Joe
• Aluminum can
• 3.5 pounds of lard
• A couch (that was one hungry beagle!)
• 30 tortillas
• 5 pounds of trash
• 15 vanilla votive candles
• A 5-inch skewer
• Sweatshirt

Hopefully this list helps serve as a reminder to pet owners that no matter how inedible you may think something might be—such as 15 baby pacifiers—your dog may think differently. Especially if it is a Labrador.