Honey rushed to pet emergency hospital following underwear theft

A hungry hound needed urgent veterinary care after nicking a pair of knickers.

Honey wolfed down a pair of undies, leaving shocked owner Sarah Patterson fearing for her three-year-old cocker spaniel.

But, happily, swift action from our team at the Vets Now pet emergency hospital in Manchester saved Honey from potentially worrying complications and possible surgery.

Now schoolteacher Sarah, from Oldham, is keeping an even closer eye on the mischievous mutt to prevent any further underwear misadventures.

“She is prone to chew things and she’s always had a thing for socks which she’ll walk around with,” said Sarah, 48.

“And she will go into the washing basket and grab things, but it’s not the sort of thing she does constantly, so this was a real surprise.”

Sarah was on a late-night lockdown Zoom call with friends and Honey was in 18-year-old daughter Lucy’s bedroom. Nosing around in an open drawer, she picked up a pair of knickers and, before Lucy could stop her, she’d raced out of the room and devoured the blue undies.

Image of spaniel being held by owner for Vets Now article on dog eating underwear
Honey and Sarah in the park

“When Lucy came rushing in and said Honey had eaten the undies I didn’t believe it at first,” admitted Sarah. “But Lucy was so upset and worried that they might kill her, that I realised it had really happened.

“When I thought about it, I knew there was a chance of them getting into her gut and causing a dangerous obstruction.

“And if that was the case, we could be looking at a big operation. I knew right away that we couldn’t wait and we called Vets Now, told them it had happened a few minutes ago, and they said to get her in just as soon as we could.”

The family were just a 20-minute drive from our state-of-the-art hospital in Whitefield. It’s one of a nationwide network of hospitals and clinics that are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week for pet emergencies.

Image of Honey the spaniel for Vets Now article on dog who ate underwear
Honey was rushed into our state-of-the-art hospital in Whitefield

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“It had been about 40 minutes since she’d eaten the undies when we saw her,” said emergency vet Mario Simo. “It’s always important to act as soon as possible and, fortunately, Honey was still otherwise well when we examined her, with clear lungs, no heart murmur and a strong pulse.

“So, we were able to give her an injection to be sick and the underwear soon re-appeared.”

A relieved Sarah was able to take her sheepish, but healthy, hound home soon after the midnight mercy dash.

“She was exhausted when she came home and slept pretty much solidly through until the following afternoon when she was straight back to her normal self,” said Sarah.

“I didn’t want to see the knickers ever again and we’re making sure she can’t get to any clothes in the future.

“I’m so glad we took her to Vets Now as I know you can’t wait and see when they’ve eaten something they shouldn’t.”