Rottweiler saved after eating 30 PPE gloves

Surgical team perform three-hour operation

Vets have saved the life a Rottweiler who had eaten 30 rubber PPE gloves without his owner realising.

Rambo’s owner Darren Coyle didn’t know  anything was wrong until his beloved dog was sick and brought up one of the gloves.

Darren, who works at the Holiday Inn in Leeds, said Rambo must have been secretly eating the gloves in the car.

He explained: “I had a number of boxes of gloves and just assumed I’d used all of one box, which is why Rambo got away with eating and hiding them.

“When he was sick with one glove I instantly recognised it and searched the car for any evidence of him eating anything else.

“That was when I found the box hidden underneath his bed and the missing gloves.”

It was then that seven-year-old Rambo was taken to Wakefield Westgate Vets4Pets for a check-up and then to Leeds Birstall Vets4Pets 24/7 hospital for an endoscopy.

Veterinary surgeon Keith Leonard said: “When Rambo was referred to us by our colleagues at Vets4Pets Wakefield Westgate, we didn’t think we’d be finding much; particularly as he literally bounced into the hospital seemingly without a care in the world.

“But the seemingly brief endoscopy turned into a three-hour operation as we removed 29 further PPE gloves from Rambo’s stomach, making it 30 in total that he had seemingly eaten.

‘Quick thinking’

“Each time we pulled a glove out, we went back to check it was the last one and found another one – it was something we’ve never seen or heard of before.

“While Rambo was outwardly in a healthy condition, it wouldn’t have taken much for his situation to have turned critical and his owner’s quick thinking to bring him in to the practice and then our hospital, effectively saved his life.”

Darren added: “I can’t thank [the vets] enough for how they helped Rambo, particularly as he seemed to be his normal self and oblivious to the dangerous situation he was in.”

Rambo was discharged from the the Vets4Pets hospital in Leeds less then 12 hours after arriving and has since made a full recovery.