Readers have responded to a recent article about the weirdest things dogs have eaten, sharing their own stories that range from the amusing to the alarming.
Marbles and envy
Martin Jeeves from Cardiff recalls a story from the 1960s about friends in Hampshire who had a dog and later got a kitten. The kitten loved chasing marbles, but the dog became slow and unwell. A vet operation revealed more than 100 marbles accumulated in the dog's stomach. The dog had swallowed them out of envy for the kitten's attention.
Nipple cream, underwear, and a rock
Sarah McKeown, owner of Bertha from London, lists her dog's unusual diet: a tube of nipple cream bought a week before giving birth, underwear extracted from a lidded laundry basket (later excreted that evening), a brand new mouth guard prescribed by the dentist, and a rock. The mouth guard incident led to the classic excuse: 'my dog ate it.'
Plumber's tape incident
Julia Cartlidge from Portishead, Somerset, describes how her lurcher, Rodney, ate some plumber's tape left by her son. She discovered it when a piece was hanging from his mouth and pulled it out easily. However, the next morning on a walk, Rodney needed to expel the rest. Julia found herself standing on the pavement, pulling yards of plumber's tape from the dog's bottom. She notes it made her laugh and no vet was needed.
Expensive rubber duck and red nose
Tom Seymour from Cardiff reports that his border collie ate a rubber bath duck and a Red Nose Day red nose. The cost to have them removed surgically was £1,400.
