# HELP!!! He swallowed an antler!



## LibertyME

I am guessing that your pup will pass it...
Antlers stand a much better chance of being dissolved by stomach acid (at least enough to pass through the digestive tract) than a chunk of nylabone, barbie leg or a sock...

I wouldnt feed tomorrow morning just in case there is a problem...\
Potty the little one on leash so you will know exactly when he poops....not that antler will be easily recognizable... :-(


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## mm03gn

I wouldn't be too concerned...but just keep an eye on him...and breathe...


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## Penny & Maggie's Mom

Gosh, that's scary. I'd keep an eye on him and in close contact with your vet. And for future references, I throw away antlers once they get small or thin. Mary had very good advice.


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## Sucker For Gold

I would think that it should pass without a problem in a day or so. That's a pretty small object compared to some of the things that goldens manage to swallow and then successfully pass. I wouldn't think that a small piece of antler would be likely to cause any problems (like an obstruction) on the way through the system. Just keep an eye him (and his poops) for the next day or so.

Oh, it's OK to wipe the sweat off your forehead now and relax:


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## Oaklys Dad

Watch him close but he should be fine. My Caue passed half a corn cob that he robbed from the trash. :doh:


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## akinr

Oh, thank all of you. You have completely eased my mind. (well at least a little).
I didn't think that the antlers could be digested at all. Little do I know. Of course, I also didn't think that htey could break. It was still relatively new. But if his stomach acid can reduce the size by just a little bit, I feel comfortable that he will be able to pass it. My vet is concerned that it might cause an obstruction, but since he is not familiar with them, I thought for sure someone here would have a similar experience.
I will watch his poop very closely. I just thank God for an on call vet, and for this forum to help out in a pinch.


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## Pudden

antler is made of bone, so this should be little different than swallowing any other piece of bone. I second keeping an eye on him but he'll probably be fine.


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## 3SweetGoldens

I agree as well, just keep an eye on when he poops, so you will be sure it does pass. It should break down enough to not give him problems, but....it is good to know that he has passed it, so you won't be so worried.


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## GoldenJoyx'stwo

I'd keep a close watch on him as others have suggested. My Tucker broke off a piece of antler and we don't allow the dogs to have them anymore. The antlers I purchased were very hard and nothing was cut off. Everything we give them has the potential to be dangerous. I do give my two braided bully sticks and they do well with them, but I really worry about these, too.

I hope everything goes well...


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## Susan6953

Our cattle dog Rascal wolfed down a 2" piece of rib bone last weekend. We just watched her to make sure she was pooping and her belly was soft. 

I bought boneless rib roast for Christmas dinner.


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## pburchins

Wow......You poor thing. I know I hated calling the vet with a sentence that starts-My dog swallowed.......It is especially worse when it is a puppy.

So far my two goldens have swallowed:

1 bottle of Tylenol
1 bottle of Percocet
2 socks
1 pair of wife's underwear
Numerous rawhide chunks
1 coke can ....yes a coca cola can. The vet said it would pass and sure enough it did. It was beyond me how it did not cut up his insides.
pennies and a quarter
Hair scrunchy
chunks of sticks.....

We are starting to sound like bad dog owners.......Of course this is 14 years of experiences with 2 goldens. Most of these happened between 14 weeks and 3 years old. We woke up hearing the 11 month old trying to vomit yesterday. I wonder if God accepts the "Dear Lord....Let my dog vomit prayer." 

I agree about the stomach acid eating the antler. If you could only combine your stomach acid with your golden I am sure it was dissolve instantly, LOL

I hope everything goes right and quickly so you can enjoy the holidays in Peace.

Merry Christmas......and let us know !


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## Debles

The warning signs would be vomiting or trying to poop and can't. Then get to the vet ASAP.

Hope it passes through OK.


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## akinr

Well, Murphy made it through the holiday without a problem. Didn't even miss a beat! Guess I got all worked up for nothing.


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## LibertyME

pburchins said:


> I wonder if God accepts the "Dear Lord....Let my dog vomit prayer."


This made me laugh so hard....!


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## Tristan

Hello Friend !
I am with you with the swallowing things part.
My Trinian ate and swallowed several rocks and we are trying to break him of it.
He did have one very expensive surgery to remove a rock that got stuck in his intestine, but I am thinking that the antler might be smaller and pass more easily.
Watch his poops or hope that he barfs it up.
I have always had labradors who carry logs , but they never EAT them.
I love the Golden breed, and Trini is my first. What an education !!!


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## Tristan

Gee, I had to laugh really hard at the Golden who swallowed the coke can.
I know it's definately NOT funny at the time. We kept wondering where our sponges were going, they just disappeared *poof*.
Down the doggie disposal!
waste paper, toilet paper, what ever else is laying around, including several small soft toys and 2 or 3 pillows.....
( Now it's only the hard kongs or similar hard toys)
Not to change the thread, but has anyone read "A Big Little Life" by Dean Koontz?
It's about his favoritie Golden, Trixie. A beautiful tribute to a loving wonderful dog.
WE are all so lucky to have them in our lives even if it's for a seemingly short time.


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## pburchins

I just started reading it. I have read about 45 pages so far. I got the book for Christmas for my wife. She was hesitant in getting it for me because of Trixie dying and the loss of Riker our Golden of 13 earlier this year. I did not do well with Marley and me. It was like re-living put our golden down. It still brings a tear to my eye. Hopefully, I would get as depressed about this ending.

Speaker of Riker, he was the one with the Coke Can. It drove me nuts waiting for him to have a movement. I still can't believe he digested and passed it. By the way, he did not swallow the can whole. He shredded it up and swallowed it. Also, it was about 1/2 the can. You could see the little red and white of the aluminum can in the stool. He went through a chewing period that drove us nuts. He chewed up the tylenol bottle which was very very dangerous. He digested about 4 tylenol and my wife got him to the vet to induce vomiting. He wanted to give him a shot that would counteract the tylenol. That shot was going to cost $ 400. As it turned out, my parents started a dog rescue group in North GA and the vet that worked with the group told us that you could give the shot after symptoms showed up. Since there wasn't a symptom we did not give the shot. Personally, I think our vet was trying to pull something over on us. I never went back to him after that.

To the original poster.......How did things turn out with the antler ??


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## Tahnee GR

I hope everything came out OK as far as the antler goes  Based on the description, it sounds like one of the Antlerz brand, and I do not recommend those at all. They are smaller than other antlers, with no branches, and are softer as well. Of course, being softer may have helped in this case!


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## JDandBigAm

Be prepared for the antler to come out of the mouth in a couple of weeks. If you hear your dog beginning to upchuck get ready to catch the antler. Mine swallowed a kitty toy ball and I looked in his poop each time. Then one night it came right out of his mouth looking more like a football instead of the squishy pink ball that went in two weeks earlier.


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## DPH

Kimm makes a really good point. Similiar to a child, a dog can be injured by most anything that we give them. It is so important to monitor our dogs when they and gnawing chews or bones. It sounds like Akinr did everything right and still had a scare. Antlers, in particular, have the reputation of being quite safe as they are not prone to splintering or having chunks break off. I will still give them to my dogs but remember to watch closely.


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## Tristan

I also had probelms with the ending of "Marley and Me".
I can't think of anyone who has had dogs that does NOT dread that day.
And they do tell you.
As hard as it is they know when the time is.

My Tristan was a little man in a dog suit.
He loved to chew open the TOPS of beer cans and just pop them up enough to lick out the contents!
It was the days before vidoe cameras, but I have sequenced photos of him doing just that.
He must have fallen off a barstool in a human life and woke up in a dog suit.
There was just something NOT dog in that dog !
I loved "A Big Little Life" but yes the ending is the same. Stop when you get to the last chapters. You can see it coming.


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## Nina's Mom

I came across this thread when my 10 month old golden did the exact same thing this past weekend. (Feb 2016). Obviously this won't help the original person who asked the question but hopefully will help others who have the same problem in the future!

Nina swallowed a chunk of antler just the same size, about 1.5-2 in. and about as big around as a nickel on Sunday. I of course immediately freaked out! She, however, acted completely normal. I took Monday off work and took her to the vet. They did an x-Ray and said the antler was stuck in the stomach, unable to exit into the intestines. You could see on the X-ray that the antler was still whole, about 24 hours after she swallowed it. The vet gave us a high fiber canned food to feed three times/ day, as well as mineral oil three times/ day. Both of these things were to help "move things along" so to speak, and help her pass it. That night she threw up a piece of the antler, perhaps a quarter of what she originally swallowed. By looking at that piece you could tell the marrow had disintegrated in her stomach. Over the next couple of days she passed a few VERY small pieces in her stool. When I updated the vet on these events, he wanted to re-X-ray, but I declined because Nina had not had any vomiting, stool was solid, and her behavior was totally normal. I feel confident that the antler is being digested in her stomach. It is now Friday, 5 days after she swallowed it, and she is still her normal, crazy self! I am still keeping a close eye on her and I will update this post if anything changes. I hope this post helps others as much as the many posts on this forum have helped me with problems and questions about Nina, my first golden!


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