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A hungry hound from Glasgow has undergone life-saving surgery to remove 4ft of his intestines – all because he swallowed an item of food that many people eat on a regular basis.

Food based emergencies are frequently seen by vets, whether it’s food that is toxic to dogs, dogs eating too much of a food or dogs eating things they thought were food but weren’t. Regularly human food often finds itself in to the stomachs of our dogs and in most cases it’s no cause for alarm, but sometimes dogs eat things that can prove fatal to them.

Eating a corn-on-the-cob is not a good idea if you’re a dog.

Rhodesian Ridgeback crossbreed, Sam (7), had an emergency operation to remove around half of his small intestine after PDSA vets discovered the corn husk was causing it to rot away.

PDSA Senior Vet, Susie Hermit, from the vet charity’s Glasgow Shamrock Street Pet Hospital, said it was one of the most severe cases she had ever seen:

“We found that the corn on the cob husk was causing a major blockage in Sam’s small intestine, restricting the blood supply.

“Unfortunately, some of the damage was irreversible and we had to remove around half of his intestine, which had begun to die off and rot. Sam was very lucky to survive. He was at high risk of developing potentially-fatal blood poisoning and the operation to remove such a large section of his intestines was incredibly risky.”

Sam’s owner, Lorraine Graham (43), from Tollcross, was petrified at the thought of losing her beloved pet.

She said: “We first noticed something was wrong was when Sam started being sick. and it gradually got worse until he was being sick every 20 minutes.

“I couldn’t believe it when PDSA x-rayed him and told us what was causing the blockage. We hadn’t been eating corn on the cob so he must have picked it up while outside,” she said.

“He was so weak and lethargic that I knew he was facing the fight of his life. Thankfully he pulled through and I can’t thank PDSA enough for saving him.”

“We’re extra careful with him now but I’m really happy that he’s made such a good recovery. He’s back to his old self again and is eating normally which is great.”

PDSA vets are issuing a warning to pet owners ahead of the Bank Holiday weekend, as many people may be planning barbecues.

Corn on the cob was one of the most common items removed from pets last year with 28 cases treated by PDSA. Other strange items swallowed by pets include bones (51 cases) and kebab sticks (7).

Thanks to funding from players of People’s Postcode Lottery, PDSA is educating pet owners about the phenomenon of pets eating strange objects – known as ‘pica’ – and how to keep their animals’ safe.

Susie added: “Pets like to use their mouth to investigate objects as well as to eat. Puppies and younger pets will often swallow an item by mistake, even though they had only meant to investigate it.

“Something like corn on the cob might seem harmless enough but if an object moves along the digestive system, as it did with Sam, it can cause a tear or life-threatening blockage.

“If you have pets at home, try to keep anything dangerous or easy to swallow out of paws’ reach. Only let them play with suitable pet toys and try to supervise them to avoid any accidents. If you do suspect your pet has swallowed something you should contact your vet for advice immediately.”

BBQ safety tips

Skip the scraps: Eating barbecue scraps can upset your pet’s stomach. Undercooked, unfamiliar or fatty food can cause vomiting and diarrhoea
Bit it: Throw away any leftover food and rubbish into a lidded dustbin. At PDSA our vets often see pet who have eaten corn on the cob cores. These can cause a serious blockage and need removing by surgery
Keep fuel well out of reach: Lighter fluid can prove fatal if ingested as it contains hydrocarbons, which are derived from crude oil
Keep pets well away from flames and glowing embers: With all that fur around, your four-legged friends could get severe burns. So make sure they steer clear
Slap on the suncream: Pets can suffer from sunburn and heatstroke just like us. So give your pets some suncream, shade and plenty of water. For white fur or damaged skin, special pet suncreams are available from pet shops
Think when you drink: Keep glasses and drinks out of reach of thirsty pets. Alcohol can be particularly hazardous for pets. Use plastic cups as glass bottles, mugs and tea cups can easily smash into splinters to pierce paw

We all know the score. We watch a movie, see a horse go down, we wince, a bit, but we then reassure ourselves that “No Animals Were Harmed”(R) when the end-credit disclaimer at the end of theatrical film rolls.

It is the assurance of the filmmakers that the animal actors used in those productions were not killed or injured in any way, and that their well-being and safety were assured by the trusted and the right to use this motif is issued by the American Humane Association. However, some recent movies are misleading the public, so says the AHA.

The movies falsely using the AHA are creating a significant breach of trust with audiences by inserting unauthorized “No Animals Were Harmed” end credits that have not been granted by American Humane, and whose productions were not monitored on-set by American Humane and its international cadre of highly trained Certified Animal Safety Representatives(TM).

“American Humane sets standards of care for animals in entertainment, upholds our Guidelines for the Safe Use of Animals in Filmed Media, and records objective reports from the set attesting to the treatment of the animals,” said Karen Rosa, American Humane’s vice president in charge of its Film & TV Unit. “Films that meet these standards are eligible to carry the end credit, and this misuse of American Humane’s registered trademark is an affront to those producers who legitimately and conscientiously meet those standards.”

American Humane’s Film & TV Unit, based in the Los Angeles area, exposed these recent films as using deceptive and unauthorized end credits:

— Adam by Olympus Pictures, Deer Path Productions, Serenade Films, Vox3
Films.
— District 9 by WingNut Films Limited, Key Creatives and LLC/QED Intl.
— Easy Virtue by Ealing Studios, Fragile Films, Endgame Ent., Odyssey
Ent.
— How to Lose Friends and Alienate People by Number 9 Films.

— Shrink by Ignite Entertainment, Ignite Productions, Ithaka
Entertainment and Trigger Street Productions.

In each instance, American Humane has sent the production entities, studios and/or distributors a cease-and-desist letter demanding that the unauthorized end-credit disclaimers be removed immediately from the theatrical version, the DVD version and any other versions they are releasing. Some studios and producers have indicated they will remove the illegitimate credit, while others are making excuses or taking no action and, thus, are potentially compounding possible infringement of American Humane’s protected trademark. This furthers the willful deception of the public as to the veracity of the safety and well-being of the animals used in those films.

“We encourage filmmakers to work with American Humane, and for distributors to verify the legitimacy of the ‘No Animals Were Harmed'(R) credit, before approving and finalizing any film prints for theatrical release or DVD distribution,” Rosa noted. “Viewers, too, should always look for the ‘No Animals Were Harmed'(R) end credit, and they can check our Web site, www.americanhumane.org/film to see what rating we assigned to films, based on their use of animals, and to find out how the animal action was achieved on films that we monitored.”

Dogs in the UK are less fertile than they were 26 years ago according to a new study and this could reveal some interesting findings about male, human fertility.

Changes in environment are thought to be the main cause of the fertility drop.

The study, led by researchers at The University of Nottingham, has discovered that the fertility of dogs may have suffered a sharp decline over the past three decades.

The research, published in the academic journal Scientific Reports, found that sperm quality in a population of stud dogs studied over a 26-year period had fallen significantly.

The work has highlighted a potential link to environmental contaminants, after they were able to demonstrate that chemicals found in the sperm and testes of adult dogs – and in some commercially available pet foods – had a detrimental effect on sperm function at the concentrations detected.

The Guardian reports:

Richard Lea, of Nottingham University’s school of veterinary medicine and science, and colleagues collected samples of semen from a carefully monitored population of Labradors, Border Collies, German shepherds and Golden Retrievers used as stud to breed dogs intended to help the disabled. They tested 1,925 samples of ejaculate from a total of 232 different dogs at the rate of between 42 and 97 dogs every year.

And they found a drop in sperm motility – the ability to swim in a straight line – of 2.4% per year from 1988 to 1998. Even once some dogs were excluded from the study because their fertility was in some way in question, from 2002 to 2014 the scientists still measured a decline of 1.2% per year.

“Why the dog?” said Dr Lea. “Apart from the fact that it is a great population of animals to work with, dogs live in our homes, they sometimes eat the same food, they are exposed to the same environmental contaminants that we are, so the underlying hypothesis is that the dog is really a type of sentinel for human exposure.”

The decline in canine sperm quality does not, for the moment, augur the end of the dog as a species. “It’s very unlikely” Dr Lea said. “It’s very difficult to say at what point this becomes a problem.”

The researchers saw increases in cryptorchidism in the study dogs’ pups over the years. They also saw a clear connection between environmental chemicals and declining fertility. How this might work, however, is not so clear.

“If you think about it, we are exposed to a cocktail. Who knows how many chemicals are out there and what they are doing? It gets even more complicated when you start to look at the effects of mixtures of chemicals,” Dr Lea said.