CAUGHT OUT - A FISHING EXPERIENCE
Kai has to be one of the most accident-prone dogs in the world – he has had to have three surgeries so far this year ! ( Touchwood there won ’ t be any more .)
We regularly visit the vet , at least twice a month if not more . Kai has ripped his dewclaws , scraped his belly jumping over things , and eaten chocolate and a week ’ s worth of antiinflammatories in one go . He got a 3-centimetre hole in his side just from walking on the beach ( I ’ ve no idea how he did that !). He ’ s reacted to sutures when stitched up . Honestly , it ’ s an evergrowing list . Luckily , he loves the vets !
Out of all his ‘ Kai moments ’, the worst and scariest by far was when he swallowed a fish hook . We were fishing at Muriwai , and had taken the four-wheel drive half an hour up the beach .
We have taken the dogs fishing before and there are strict rules that we follow to ensure there are no accidents : one , any time the hooks are not in the water or inside the box the dogs are tied up so they have zero access to the tempting bait or hooks ; and , two , as the hooks are taken off the line they are counted to ensure they have all been collected .
mouth . On closer inspection , I realised it was a tracer with fishing line going down his throat , and I knew exactly what was at the other end of that line : a hook ! Although we thought we had got all the hooks , it turns out we had missed one since we never knew how many to collect .
This is where my PET First Aid training came into its own . When you see a trace hanging out the corner of your dog ’ s mouth it is very tempting to try and pull it out . But being trained in pet first aid I knew that this was the WORST thing I could do .
I couldn ’ t see the fish hook . I didn ’ t know if it had gone straight to his stomach or whether it was hooked somewhere internally . If I had pulled the line to get it out I could have done a LOT of damage ! We had to get Kai to the vet as quickly as possible .
A quick call to Nick and he was on his way back . While the others packed up our gear – I ’ ve never seen people move so quickly – I held Kai still so that he didn ’ t swallow the trace or encourage the fish hook to do more damage .
It was then a half hour trip back down the beach and another 20 minutes down forest roads to the main highway , followed by another 20 minutes to the emergency vet – the only vets open on a Sunday . The whole time I had to keep Kai still and calm , and kept checking him for any blood or signs of shock .
At the vet , an X-ray showed that the hook had passed straight through to his stomach and not caught on anything on the way .
Anyway , it was an amazing day and we had our spot all to ourselves . The sun was shining , the dogs were running around the dunes and then into the water to cool off . It was a picture-perfect kind of day .
But even on beautiful days and with rules in place something can go wrong . And it did . While reeling in the long line it got caught on something and snapped . We could see the end sitting on the bar . Nick , my partner , drove to the neighbouring fisherman to see if they had a kayak we could use to get it back , while we collected all the hooks that we had managed to reel in . The dogs were then untied so they could go for a wander while we waited .
But disaster struck . When I looked at Kai I could see something hanging out the side of his
Luckily , the bait had provided soft cushioning to prevent the hook from catching on Kai ’ s stomach on its way down , although if the bait hadn ’ t been on the hook he probably wouldn ’ t have bothered with it in the first place . The hook was surgically removed and he was able to come home with us late that evening .
Accidents do happen but it is important that we do what we can to keep our pets away from fish hooks , as they can be very dangerous . When walking your dog at the beach , keep an eye out for any hooks that may have washed up or been left behind . Also , at home , make sure you keep those fish hooks out of reach just in case any lingering bait smells tempt your pets .
Story by Laura Purkis Kai ’ s owner and director of PET First Aid & Training ( NZ ) Ltd
CAUGHT OUT - A FISHING EXPERIENCE
Kai has to be one of
the most
accident-prone dogs
in the world – he has
had to have three
surgeries so far this
year! (Touchwood
there won’t be any
more.)
We regularly visit the vet, at least twice a month if not more. Kai
has ripped his dewclaws, scraped his belly jumping over
things, and eaten chocolate and a week’s worth of anti-
inflammatories in one go. He got a 3-centimetre hole in his side
just from walking on the beach (I’ve no idea how he did that!).
He’s reacted to sutures when stitched up. Honestly, it’s an ever-
growing list. Luckily, he loves the vets!
Out of all his ‘Kai moments’, the worst and scariest by far was when
he swallowed a fish hook. We were fishing at Muriwai, and had
taken the four-wheel drive half an hour up the beach.
We have taken the dogs fishing before and there are strict rules
that we follow to ensure there are no accidents: one, any time the
hooks are not in the water or inside the box the dogs are tied up
so they have zero access to the tempting bait or hooks; and, two,
as the hooks are taken off the line they are counted to ensure they
have all been collected.
mouth. On closer inspection, I realised it was a tracer with
fishing line going down his throat, and I knew exactly what
was at the other end of that line: a hook! Although we
thought we had got all the hooks, it turns out we had missed one
since we never knew how many to collect.
This is where my PET First Aid training came into its own. When
you see a trace hanging out the corner of your dog’s mouth it is
very tempting to try and pull it out. But being trained in pet first
aid I knew that this was the WORST thing I could do.
I couldn’t see the fish hook. I didn’t know if it had gone straight
to his stomach or whether it was hooked somewhere internally.
If I had pulled the line to get it out I could have done a LOT of
damage! We had to get Kai to the vet as quickly as possible.
A quick call to Nick and he was on his way back. While the
others packed up our gear – I’ve never seen people move so
quickly – I held Kai still so that he didn’t swallow the trace or
encourage the fish hook to do more damage.
It was then a half hour trip back down the beach and another
20 minutes down forest roads to the main highway, followed by
another 20 minutes to the emergency vet – the only vets open on
a Sunday. The whole time I had to keep Kai still and calm, and
kept checking him for any blood or signs of shock.
At the vet, an X-ray showed that the hook had passed straight
through to his stomach and not caught on anything on the way.
Anyway, it was an amazing day and we had our spot all to
ourselves. The sun was shining, the dogs were running around the
dunes and then into the water to cool off. It was a picture-perfect
kind of day.
But even on beautiful days and with rules in place something can
go wrong. And it did. While reeling in the long line it got caught
on something and
snapped. We could
see the end sitting
on the bar. Nick, my
partner, drove to the
neighbouring fish-
erman to see if they
had a kayak we
could use to get it
back, while we
collected all the
hooks that we had
managed to reel in.
The dogs were then
untied so they could
go for a wander while
we waited.
But disaster struck.
When I looked at Kai
I could see
something hanging
out the side of his
Luckily, the bait had provided soft cushioning to prevent the hook
from catching on Kai’s stomach on its way down, although if the
bait hadn’t been on the hook he probably wouldn’t have bothered
with it in the first place. The hook was surgically removed and he
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