Lovable Louie Raids Toddler’s Room: Devours Diaper, Baby Lotion and a Book

With his puppy already weighing in at more than 60 pounds at the age of six months, Stephen Cross of Louisville, Ky., was always concerned that his mixed-breed dog, Louie, might actually have the stomach to match his constantly hungry eyes. However, it wasn’t until the ravenous pooch went on an eating rampage consisting of a diaper, an entire tube of diaper rash cream, a bottle of baby lotion and a children’s book that Stephen realized that Louie will literally snack on anything.

The canine’s consumption spree resulted in a trip to the veterinarian where Louie was treated for gastric foreign object ingestion, earning him the title of August’s “Most Unusual Claim of the Month” by Veterinary Pet Insurance Co. (VPI).

Whenever the Cross family leaves the house for a substantial amount of time, they have a policy of closing all of their bedroom doors to prevent Louie from chewing up or ingesting anything that could potentially harm him. Unfortunately, the Cross’ housekeeper wasn’t aware of their policy, and she unintentionally left the door open to the Cross’ two-year-old son’s bedroom. Once Louie spotted the open door he went inside the toddler’s room and began his foreign object feast.

“With the door left open, Louie went in and must have started nosing around next to my son’s changing table,” explained Stephen. “By the time my wife got home, Louie had eaten an entire tube of diaper rash cream, a bottle of baby body lotion, a size 6 diaper, and a book.”

The ingestion overindulgence took its toll on Louie. He began vomiting to the point where Stephen was asked by his wife to come home from work and take Louie to the veterinarian. At the animal hospital, the veterinarian took X-rays of Louie’s stomach and intestines. Fortunately, Louie had already vomited up all of the foreign objects and was beginning to recover from his eating episode.

“The veterinarian told us how lucky we were that surgery wasn’t required to remove any remaining foreign objects,” said Stephen. “He recommended we feed Louie bland dog food for a day to make sure he could keep food down.”

Following the incident, the Cross family is even more vigilant about keeping Louie from chewing or eating harmful items around the house.

“I was always worried that Louie would chew up rugs or sheets but I never thought he would swallow our son’s items,” said Stephen. “I’m thankful that my employer offers VPI Pet Insurance just in case there are any future incidents.”