The chance of removing strange objects from an animal’s body comes with the territory of being a veterinarian. Now, a team of doctors in North Carolina can tell the tale of how they pulled a knitting needle from the heart of a 17-week-old puppy.
WRAL reported that the white, brown and black Papillon named Tutti was admitted to the Triangle Veterinary Referral Hospital in Durham after she fell onto the needle and pierced her skin.
When her owners got her to the hospital X-rays revealed that the object, which was about the length of a ballpoint pen, had actually gone to her heart.
6ABC noted that the veterinary team needed to sedate Tutti and consulted with her owners about two options. One option was to open up her chest and go in and remove the needle that way, the other was to carefully retrieve it without cutting the pooch open. They decided on the second option.
The procedure was successful and the young canine was kept a day for observation before she returned home.
Since having the foreign body removed, her family said that she is recovering nicely.