Autopsy

The bulldog had been restless so the owners let it out the back door it had taken 2 steps and keeled over dead. He came into us if the boss could have a quick look for any obvious reason if not he was to go for full autopsy.

Given that it was a bulldog it was cherry pick a reason and that would probably be why it died. The dog was put onto the tub table. (big sink with grid on) The boss opened the dog’s mouth and sure enough the reason it died was because it was a bulldog.

The owners had given the dog a chew. It was large and flat, he had chewed some then swallowed it. The chew had become stuck but because he was a bulldog and his normal breathing was so bloody awful they did not realise that he was choking. All it needed was a quick look in the mouth and pull out the item jamming his airway and he would have been eating dinner that night, not lying cold and stiff on a vets tub table.

Since then l am always wary of any pet chews:
I make sure they are on the larger size.
Once they get small enough for the whole chew to go into the mouth l sling them.
I never leave my dog/s alone with a chew.
I am also wary about how long they have them, because in things like rawhide the bacteria build up and can cause gastro enteritis.