Dogs have a reputation for trying to eat anything within reach. Every pet owner can agree that pups often put the oddest things in their mouths.
Many of us have caught our furry companions attempting to swallow items that are definitely not food. That is exactly what happened to the unlucky Spaniel in this story.
“What The Duck?!”
Dr. Shelby Baden summed it up best in her caption: “What The Duck?!” While humorous, it described the unusual scene unfolding in her clinic.
The Florida veterinarian shared an Instagram showing the Spaniel lying anesthetized on the operating table, blissfully unaware of the chaos its stomach contents had caused.
Meanwhile, the medical team worked carefully to remove an object from the pup’s belly.
The footage also included the dog’s X-ray, which clearly revealed something lodged inside the stomach.
Even though Dr. Baden already knew the culprit, she and her colleagues were still taken aback when performing the endoscopy.
The surprising discovery was a small green rubber duck. Somehow, the Spaniel had managed to swallow it whole. The team successfully extracted the toy, ending the dangerous ordeal.
Getting His Ducks In A Row
The pup’s owner had rushed to the vet as soon as they realized what had happened. Despite the stressful emergency, they brought along the remaining five ducks from the same set, apparently as a show of “support” for the swallowed sibling.
In an interview with Yahoo News Australia, Dr. Baden explained, “Even though they were in a state of emergency, the owner remembered to take other ducks from the set (five of them) as moral support for their rubber brother.”
The veterinary staff decided to have a little fun with the situation. After cleaning the retrieved toy, they placed it alongside the other ducks, creating a quirky reunion scene on the exam table.
A Serious Message Behind The Humor
The clip quickly gained attention online, and many viewers expressed confusion about the ducks appearing in the video, since no explanation was included.
Although the video made people laugh, Dr. Baden had a more important reason for documenting the surgery. She wanted to raise awareness about the dangers of toys and other everyday items that dogs can easily swallow.
According to Growls And Howls Animal Rescue’s, more than 200,000 choking incidents involving dogs occur in the United States each year.
Thankfully, most do not result in tragedy, but far too many cases still end in heartbreak for owners.
This incident serves as a warning: even if a toy appears safe or too large to swallow, it should always be monitored. Dogs are notorious for trying to eat things they should not, and once they decide to chew, they rarely give up until it is swallowed.