Dog ate maxi pad.

Dr. Marie replied:

It always amazes me that dogs will eat maxi pads, but I have seen this happen several times.

If he ate one of these and you haven't seen it then there are a few possibilities. Yes, it is possible that it is sitting in his stomach and absorbing water. If this is the case then it may eventually work its way into the intestines which could be good news or bad news. If it gets into the intestines it could just keep going and pass. But, if it gets lodged in the intestines then this is a serious matter.

If it is in the stomach and not moving into his intestines then it can actually stay there for some time without causing problems but really should be removed. He could possibly need surgery to get it removed, or he could possibly have it removed via an endoscope. I have seen dogs have objects similar to this (i.e. stuffed toys) in their stomach for months and months without any major problems. But the concern is that, as mentioned before, it can move into the intestines and if it gets stuck then it can be a life threatening situation.

It is also possible that he chewed it up into little pieces when he ate it and that the pieces are too small for you to see in his stool. Let's hope for that!

If you really feel that he did eat it whole and you haven't seen it come out then I would advise having your vet examine him and possibly taking an xray. Unfortunately though, in order to see the pad, the vet may need to do something called a barium xray in order to see it. This is an xray where they give him a liquid that turns up well on xrays and watch as it travels through his stomach. A pad would likely absorb some of the barium and if they take another xray a day later they can see that there is still some barium in the stomach.

I hope it emerges soon!

Dr. Marie.


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