What Your Dog's Belly Looks Like When She Eats Rocks

When I was little, I wanted to be a vet. While that didn't end up being my career path, with two dogs and two cats, I am a frequent consumer of veterinary services. With my August addition to the family of Sarah, the 3-year-old golden retriever rescue, I think I'm going to have my hands full for some time.

Sarah is truly a life force--a great fun-loving golden who is always into something. Over Thanksgiving, she somehow got hold of a grackle (a black bird that she either found dead or, as a bird dog, killed) and completely de-feathered it in the living room. She was interrupted before she devoured it, so fortunately the mess was limited to a few feathers.

Yesterday, after a nice long walk and breakfast, she proceeded to vomit four times, with a volume of about three days worth of kibble. I was worried that she was blocked somewhere, so off we went to the Emergency Animal Hospital (the only place open on a Sunday). The vet wasn't able to discern any stomach problems on palpation, but I wanted to make sure nothing was stuck in her colon, so we sent her for x-rays. Here's what the x-ray showed:

Findings: An empty stomach, some gas in her bowels (the dark spots), and two small stones. My baby girl is apparently a rock eater. I'm not terribly surprised, as she sometimes finds interesting things in the rocky area of the park, and it stands to reason that she could choke one down along with a delicious seed pod or a nice clump of dirt. The good news is that the doctor could tell that the rocks were heading toward the natural exit, and after a few days of a bland diet, her stomach should be back to normal.

While I can't "read" x-rays completely, I do think they are fun to see, which is why I am sharing Sarah's abdomen with you. If you aspire to be a pediatrian, you might someday see a rock or two in the belly, so you'll know what to look for!