A ‘terrified’ couple thought their dog had cancer until it chewed a hole revealing a 12cm kebab skewer struggling to escape from its body.
Stanley, a seven-year-old whippet, has always been fond of foraging for food chucked out in black bin liners.
Owners Jack, 35, and Cayleigh Gellatly, 37, thought they had become pros at stopping him.
But they got a shock when they discovered what was causing a growing lump on on his body.
Jack, from Derbyshire, said: ‘He started getting a bit lethargic and off his food and had no effort when out walking.
‘Six weeks later he got this bump on the right side of his rib cage and everything I googled said it was cancer so we were terrified.
‘The vets wanted to do blood tests and did an x-ray but they said there was nothing showing up.
‘It looked to be an old injury that had left a welt behind underneath.’
But Stanley’s condition kept getting words, and just as the first lump vanished, another appeared on his left-hand side.
This time, it was ‘massive’ and it was moving.
Jack said: ‘The night before we could see something bobbing in and out and something small poking out.
‘A couple of nights ago we were sat in the front room watching telly and on top of the lump he was chewing this bald spot and I tried to stop him.
‘I came back in 20 minutes later and the hole was ridiculous – it looked like he had chewed through to his skeleton.
‘The next morning the skewer was hanging out. I thought something had happened during the night, maybe he had had an injury outside.
‘I thought the surgery to remove this would cost too much. We pulled it out knowing it could go one of two ways.’
As soon as they saw it, Jack and Cayleigh knew what had happened. it was the skewer they’d chucked out nearly two months before after overcooking a kebab.
They suspect Stanley got to it after a cat ripped open the bag.
Despite his mood being immediately brighter, they rushed Stanley and his wagging tail straight to Chapel House Vets in Chesterfield.
The vet was shocked to see Stanley still alive after the stray skewer had miraculously caused no damage to his organs.
Jack said: ‘They were amazing. They charged me no further costs and they gave me the cleaning solution for free.
‘The hole was miniscule so it healed the quickest and it scabbed up within half a day.’
He added: ‘He’s made the most miraculous recovery you’ve ever seen.
‘Bouncing around again, back to his old self. The vet said she couldn’t believe he was alive.
‘I think he must have swallowed it and it’s worked his way down his side.
‘If it had gone into his stomach there’s no way it wouldn’t have punctured his stomach.’
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