My dog ate a condom. What should I do?

Any foreign object definitely has the ability to be hazardous when consumed by a dog, especially condoms given their elasticity and unwillingness to be digested.  Ultimately, it highly depends on the size of the dog compared to the item whether or not you should be worried.  For instance, a large Golden Retriever might be fine to pass the condom while other dogs like a Chihuahua won’t be able to pass a condom out.  The greatest fear when your dog eats a condom is that it will get stuck in the intestines and form a blockage.  The good news is that condoms shouldn’t contain anything that is toxic to your dog.

Immediate Steps When Dog Eats Condom

• In most cases your dog will try to swallow the condom whole.  Immediately check your dogs mouth to see if you can easily pull the condom out without injuring yourself.
• If the object has already been swallowed, do not attempt to put your finger down your dogs throat to remove it as this may damage sensitive mouth structures like the throat or esophagus.
• Inducing vomiting after your dog ate a condom is common.  Try 2 tablespoons of hydrogen peroxide, or take your dog to the vet if you are uncomfortable doing it yourself.  Also, check our post “Is Hydrogen Peroxide Safe for Dogs?”

Symptoms to Watch After Dog Eats Condom

• If your dog is severely choking or has respiratory distress, you need to act quickly and perform the Heimlich Maneuver for your dog.  
• Any sudden choking that affects your dog’s breathing should be addressed immediately by a veterinarian.  
• Signs of intestinal or digestive distress will typically involve close monitoring.  Typically, these symptoms include vomiting and diarrhea.

Veterinarian Care Because Dog Ate Condom

If you choose to take your dog to the veterinarian, they will typically do three things.  First they will diagnosis, then they will treat, and lastly, they will take some preventative measures.

Diagnosis

I would be honest with my veterinarian and say “My dog ate a condom.”  If you’re uncomfortable explaining your personal situation, you can say that your dog swallowed a balloon or a piece of plastic.  Most vets will immediately treat this as a gastrointestinal obstruction in your dog.  In extreme cases, the vet will do an ultrasound or x-rays to see where the condom is located and figure out the severity of the blockage.  Based on where the condom is located, the veterinarian may have to perform surgery.

Treatment

Treatments will widely vary.  If your dog is choking on the condom, the veterinarian may induce vomiting to try and release the condom out of the dog’s mouth.  Another method may be to sedate the dog while the veterinarian attempts to remove the condom from its mouth.  Another possible outcome could be intestinal surgery to remove the condom.

Prevention

Stopping dogs from placing objects in their mouth is virtually impossible, especially objects that have heavy smells and are chewy like condoms.  It’s important to clean up any objects that your dog may swallow and keep an eye on what they are chewing at any given time.

Gastrointestinal Blockage Because Dog Ate Condom

In most cases, there will be partial blockage of the intestines because your dog ate a condom.  However, the good news is that gastrointestinal obstruction is fairly common in dogs because they tend to eat everything.  This helps their stomach and intestines develop over time.  It’s important to monitor intestinal blockage symptoms after your dog eats a condom:

• Vomiting
• Gastric secretions of fluids
• Dehydration
• Sluggishness

I would also monitor when the condom is released in your dog’s fecal matter.  This could happen anywhere from 1-3 days depending on your dog’s metabolism and intestinal blockage.  If your dog doesn’t release the condom a few days after it ate it, I would contact my veterinarian to see if they need to surgically remove the condom.

Conclusion for My Dog Ate Condom

In most cases, your dog should be fine after eating a condom.  I would contact a veterinarian if your dog is severely choking or you haven’t seen the condom in their poop after a few days.  After it is all said and done, remember to throw away your condoms and make some funny jokes because this will be a memorable moment.

For more interesting questions, come view our other Question and Answer topics!

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