Pet of the month for January is Max, who often accompanies his owner on long runs over the Downs. Last month unbeknown to his owner Max sustained an injury at the base of his tongue, which was not witnessed. Neither was there any evidence of blood or oral discomfort.

Understandably Max went off his food and became listless. A swelling became palpable below his jaw and on examination, bruising was discovered under the tongue. The injury became septic and was flushed under anesthetic. Max is now doing very well and has finished all his antibiotics.

Although we cannot be sure how Max sustained this injury, a number of dogs love to carry a stick and some will actively find their own stick when exercising off the lead on a walk. The majority of the time, this is harmless fun but sometimes part of a stick can go further into the mouth than planned! Stick injuries in dogs can be serious.

Occasionally, a section of twig can get lodged across the hard palate (this is the roof of the mouth), between the upper molar teeth.  If a dog has run at speed to pick up a stick then he/she may in effect ‘run onto the stick’, and there is potential for sections of stick or twig to penetrate deeper into the mouth, neck or throat.

Although not applicable in Max’ situation, a good tactic to try and avoid your pets chasing and carrying sticks is to provide other toys for them to play with whilst on their walks, and definitely, as pet owners, we should avoid the temptation to actually throw a stick for our dogs!