Coins] 



44 [Coins 



the dog, though the owner has been much 

 alarmed as to what was going to happen ; but 

 corks are dangerous, as they block up the 

 intestines, and so are big round stones, but 

 small stones dogs swallow with impunity. Dogs, 

 even small ones like pups, swallow occasionally 

 meat skewers, but even such things as these 

 do not always prove fatal. I recently had 

 under my care a small puppy who swallowed 

 a hat-pin ten and a half inches long, the head 

 passed into the stomach all right, but the puppy 

 was too small to take the whole length of 

 pin, and the point, piercing some of the vital 

 parts of the throat, killed him. 



As a rule, a dog does not show much discomfort 

 after swallowing things like coins, bones, small 

 stones, etc., when they once have reached the 

 stomach, though with young puppies the latter 

 often cause severe colic ; but large round stones 

 and corks often cause serious mischief by blocking 

 up the bowels, inducing inflammation, which, if not 

 relieved by operation, soon causes death. Skewers 

 and long hat-pins when swallowed seldom pass 

 beyond the stomach, where they often remain for 

 some considerable time, but sooner or later the 

 point generally pierces the stomach, and peritonitis 

 follows, which quickly terminates fatally ; but 

 sometimes the sharp point passes direct from the 

 stomach through the walls of the abdomen and 

 skin, and it may be seen sticking out and can be 

 removed. The dog seems none the worse after 

 a few days, as the wound soon heals. 



It is often difficult by manipulation to detect 



