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Terrier left deflated after balloon snack
YORKSHIRE terrier India was left feeling let down after being struck with a mystery illness.
The pooch's symptoms left vets and owner Elaine Mather baffled – until they discovered the mischievous mutt had wolfed down eight balloons.
Elaine, 58, from Fordenbridge Road, Sunderland, got concerned when her pet started vomiting, stopped eating, and was constantly lethargic.
The mum-of-six took two-year-old India to the vets at Southwick's PDSA surgery, but two X-rays failed to reveal the problem.
After a second visit, vets decided to operate on India, and after opening her stomach were astonished to find the multi-coloured party balloons still intact.
Elaine said: "I couldn't believe it when the vet said that's what had been making her ill.
"She said the balloons didn't even have any teeth marks in them, so she must have swallowed them whole."
PDSA vet Morag Templeton said: "Mrs Mather explained that India had recently eaten part of a rubber toy which she had vomited up, so I suspected she may have swallowed some other foreign body."
"We performed an exploratory procedure in her abdomen and to our amazement we discovered eight different coloured party balloons - all still intact with hardly any teeth marks."
Elaine says even though India's illness has been discovered, it's still a mystery how she managed to swallow the balloons.
"I don't have any balloons in the house and she doesn't go anywhere further than the back garden, so it's a mystery how she's got them
"I'm glad she's back to her usual self. I think she's had more than enough excitement, so I'll be keeping a close eye on her when she goes out exploring in future.
"We have a lot of kids' parties with me having 14 grandchildren, but I don't think we'll be having many balloons at the next one."
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Weather for South Shields
Friday 10 February 2012
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