A Poodle’s Sand-wich

In the summer, there’s no better place than the beach for dogs to run, swim, and play fetch with their owners. Living in Southern California, I’ve visited plenty of “dog beaches,” and other than the occasional aggressive dog, I’ve never had any problems, concerns, or $3,600 emergency veterinary bills. Unfortunately, VPI policyholders Kay and Bob Hammond of Grand Rapids, Mich., can’t say the same. An unusual claim submitted recently for their standard poodle Beau, serves as an important reminder of pet safety at the beach. The last week in May, the Hammonds and Beau were spending time at a cottage on Lake Michigan. Beau was enjoying his favorite game of chasing a tennis ball. As the temperature started to drop, Kay stopped throwing the ball into the lake and instead continued to play fetch with Beau on the beach.

The next day, the Hammond’s saw that Beau was not his usual playful self. He was breathing fast, pacing, panting excessively, and wasn’t able to lie down. They decided to take him to an emergency animal hospital 45 minutes away to see what was wrong. It turns out that Beau had ingested so much sand from playing fetch on the beach, that his small intestine was impacted! The veterinarian quickly got Beau into surgery to suction the sand out and clear the intestine. The Hammonds were told that if they had waited much longer, the blockage would have caused irreparable damage and Beau might not have recovered.

So, when you’re at the beach this summer, remember to keep an eye on your dog and do your best to keep them from eating or accidentally ingesting sand. And while a small amount of sand will most likely be passed, larger amounts can cause an intestinal blockage requiring an emergency visit to the veterinarian. Here are some warning signs to watch for:

• Distended stomach
• Panting
• Pacing
• Vomiting
• Unable to defecate, or straining
• General malaise

If you think your dog may have ingested a large amount of sand and is exhibiting some of these warning signs, you should take them to your veterinarian and have them checked out.

Within two weeks of the surgery, Beau was back to normal and chasing tennis balls again. However, he’s only been playing fetch in the back yard, and the next time the Hammond’s go to the beach the ball is only going in the water, not on the sand!