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Dog recovering after impaling herself with stick

A beloved Twin Cities pooch is recovering after impaling herself with a stick she was chasing.
A beloved Twin Cities pooch is recovering after impaling herself with a stick she was chasing.

ID=25610557BLAINE, Minn. - A beloved Twin Cities pooch is recovering after impaling herself with a stick she was chasing.

Piglet the boxer was retrieving a 12-inch stick her owner was throwing last Friday when one end became stuck in the ground. The dog ran up to it at full speed and it stabbed through the tissue under her tongue and into her neck. Owner Wyatt Towner and his girlfriend saw how bad the damage was, quickly improvised a stretcher of sorts and rushed Piglet to BluePearl veterinary clinic in Blaine.

"The stick actually went all the way down her neck and was sitting in front of her shoulder," said Dr. Heather Hadley, DVM. "The stick measured about 12 inches so it literally spanned that whole distance."

Piglet was going into shock by the time she reached the clinic. Emergency clinicians stabilized her, and then transported the dog to BluePearl Veterinary Partners hospital in Eden Prairie for surgery to remove the stick. Fortunately it missed the vital structures of the neck, including the esophagus, trachea, larynx, carotid artery and jugular vein.

"We were able to remove the stick with minor bleeding," explained Dr. Hadley. "That's always one of the biggest concerns, is the stick actually preventing bleeding while it's still in place, and that's why you want to remove the stick in a controlled setting, in a surgical setting."

After a long weekend of recovery Piglet was able to go home to begin her recovery. A checkup Friday morning showed positive progress. "She looks great now," said Dr. Hadley. "Her incision, which is right there, you can barely see it, along here is healing beautifully."

The remaining concerns center around the possibility of infection, something the dog's owner is looking out for diligently.

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