Meet Buddy Riberdy, a gorgeous one year old Siamese. Buddy is the sweetest kitty but has one flaw - he thought it was tons of fun to chew up and swallow his mom's hair ties! Buddy had been feeling just fine the day before, and when he suddenly started to vomit (which included a hair tie!) his mom rushed him down to see Dr. Scharg.

When Dr. Scharg examined Buddy he was acting normally and did not exhibit any painful symptoms. Nevertheless, Dr. Scharg knew that hair ties have a metallic banding that would show up on an x-ray. He recommended that Buddy have a diagnostic x-ray to determine if there were more hair ties. Indeed there were! The x-ray showed that Buddy had swallowed so many that they would not pass through Buddy naturally and he needed help fast.

Dr. Scharg recommended a gastric endoscopy, a much less invasive procedure than abdominal surgery. An endoscopy has a shorter anesthesia time, requires no sutures and results in a quick and easy recovery. The procedure is similar to that done on humans. At the end of a three foot flexible tube there is a fiber-optic lens with a halogen light. The lens can be focused and the stomach can be inflated to visualize inside the stomach and up to 6 inches into the intestine. A pronged instrument is threaded through the endoscope and foreign objects can be grabbed and extracted. The procedure is done under general anesthesia and the pet is sent home at the end of the day.

Buddy's mom decided to proceed with the gastric endoscopy right away. Dr. Scharg successfully extracted five, very large ties out of Buddy's stomach! He recovered from the anesthesia quickly here in our office and went home later in the day. His mom said he ran meowing to his food bowl as soon as he got home, happy as can be!

Cats are attracted to many things that can be harmful to them if swallowed. Rubber bands, plastic, end caps on door stoppers, ribbons and ear plugs are just a few common items to keep away from cats. Dogs can also eat things you would never think of. Dr. Scharg has previously performed gastric endoscopy on dogs to remove such things as AA batteries and coins! It's not unusual to treat dogs that have eaten rocks, socks and towels. It is important to keep a close watch on our pets, and to react quickly to any sudden onset of symptoms such as vomiting, loss of appetite, diarrhea or change in behavior ... just ask Buddy!