Thetford dog owner calls for awareness about leaving food out for wildlife after 10-year-old Tiri nearly dies

A dog owner wants to spread awareness of the dangers of putting out food to help wildlife after one of her dogs nearly died from eating a corn cob.

Alex Coghlan, of Nunnery Drive, Thetford, said her English bull terrier Tiri was nearly put to sleep in November after eating a corn cob.

Fortunately, after major surgery, the obstruction in the 10-year-old’s intestine was removed.

Alex said: “We noticed that she had just become unwell and stopped eating, which is very unlike her.

“We took her to the vets, who gave her an anti-sickness jab and sent us home, but overnight she just got worse and was being so sick.”

Alex and her partner Carl called the vets again in the morning and after blood tests it was found that Tiri’s kidney function was elevated, with suspected poisoning being the issue.

Alex said: “They said the situation was so dire that she would probably need putting to sleep or we could get a second opinion, which is what we did.”

The pair took her to Dick Whites Referrals in Cambridgeshire as she was insured and after a scan they found the cob obstructing her bowels and operated on her that night.

The dog owner said: “We genuinely did not know if she was coming home with us as the operation is risky at the best of times and with her age.

“We even took her for a farewell walk with our other two dogs before it, with my partner carrying her – she was non mobile, collapsing and in a really bad way.”

But after a successful operation, a four-day stay at the vets, two weeks of cage rest at home and thousands of pounds in vets bills, Tiri made a full recovery.

Alex said: “We just have no idea where it came from as we do not eat corn on the cobs, but I work in animal welfare and obstructions in pets from food like this are very common.

“I think some people who leave food out for wildlife are not aware that some of the things can be poisonous to pets and the wildlife we are lucky to have in the area.

“Animal-specific food can be bought if they really want to help, but this was just a horrible thing for Tiri and for us to go through and I hope this gets the awareness out there for people to be more mindful about what food they leave out.”

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