Dogs in Portsmouth and Hampshire: Petersfield dog survives after swallowing ball whole during play time

Ringo, a beautiful labradoodle, found himself in a pickle and had to be rushed to the vets after the ball that him and his owner, George Hickman, were playing with disappeared.

Although his pet initially seemed fine, George became increasingly worried about Ringo when he started vomiting and he too him straight to St Peter’s vets. After an ultrasound examination revealed that the ball was sitting in Ringo’s stomach and causing a dangerous blockage, it was decided that surgery was the only option.

The ball in question was the approximate size of a tennis ball and they were playing fetch when the ball suddenly vanished.

Abi Warby, the vet that performed the operation, said that this was the first time that she had ever seen a dog swallow a ball whole and the seven-year-old dog has bounced back after his surgery.

Abi said: ‘We see dogs that have chewed up a ball or toy before eating it, but it’s very unusual for them to swallow one whole. It’s possible Ringo’s ball collapsed in on itself which made it easier for him to swallow, then it popped open again when it was inside his stomach.

‘It was very important that we removed the ball because it was acting like a plug and stopping food leaving Ringo’s stomach and making its way through his digestive system, which was the reason he was being sick. There was also a risk the ball could make its way into the intestines and cause them to rupture.

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‘Sometimes, when a pet has swallowed a foreign object, we use a long tube called an endoscope to bring it out the way it went in, but in Ringo’s case the ball was too big to do this. This meant surgery was the only option, but luckily it was straightforward because we’d been able to find the exact location of the ball using ultrasound.’

Following the dog’s experience, the vet is urging owners to chose a ball that is the appropriate size for their pet to avoid the same situation happening.

Ringo is back at home with George and his family in Petersfield and his owner has praised the veterinary team that saved his dog’s life.

He said: ‘I had a good look around, but there was no sign of the ball and it left me wondering whether Ringo could have swallowed it. He seemed fine, though, and was racing around like he always does, but when he couldn’t keep any food down we took him to St Peter’s Vets to get him checked out.

‘After his operation, Ringo stayed at the vet’s overnight and next morning he was back to normal – he’s a very lively, bubbly dog and you wouldn’t have known he’d had surgery just a few hours before. I’m really grateful to the team at St Peter’s Vets for saving him. He was in very good hands and they were brilliant at keeping us informed about how the operation went and how Ringo was recovering – I can’t thank them enough.’