When Mrs. Smith gets home from work, Toby, a terrier mix, doesn’t seem too happy.
Normally he was happy to see her, but it bothered him that she pounced on him like an overexcited kangaroo, and he slumped and disappeared into the corner of the room.
Or was it guilt that made him gulp when his owner looked at him disapprovingly?
Mrs. Smith became suspicious and checked the kitchen for signs of unusual behavior, but everything seemed fine.
Toby emerged from the corner of the dark room, crawled into her heels, and swallowed hard. This is how a defendant behaves in court when a stern judge looks at him.
Usually, at least in dogs, this is a sure sign of anxiety. But it was in the living room that the problem became apparent.
The remains of a chewed-up TV remote were scattered on the floor.
Pieces of plastic crunched under her feet, but what really caught her attention was the punctured battery. Oh, Toby!
(Image: Unsplash) Toby gulped again, long drops of saliva dripping from his trembling lips.
Mrs. Smith reached out to calm him down and noticed that his muzzle was soaked. The conspiracy thickened.
Mrs. Smith lifted poor Toby’s lips and saw that his teeth were black and his gums were red.
There are various types of batteries. The classic AA and AAA batteries are ubiquitous in our environment, powering almost all small electrical appliances, and are powered by acid in the form of zinc chloride, or usually alkaline manganese batteries. May contain alkalis such as potassium hydroxide.
Both can cause painful chemical burns if the battery is damaged and leaks, exposing tissue.
Button batteries used in watches, hearing aids, calculators, etc. may contain zinc and lithium.
When in contact with tissue, button cells can generate low voltage direct current due to the high electrolyte composition of the interstitial fluid.
This causes cell death and electrical burns. If a battery gets stuck in your esophagus, it can be uncomfortable and potentially life-threatening.
Some handheld devices use rechargeable lithium-ion polymer (Li-Po) batteries that are not consumer replaceable. The electrolyte in these batteries is an irritant.
Of course, car batteries are another matter. Contains lead plate and sulfuric acid.
These can cause lead toxicity in cattle if carelessly disposed of, causing symptoms such as desensitization, blindness, head compression and loss of coordination, but the main risk to dogs and cats is the acid spillage. Corrosion damage caused by
Toby was lucky. Mrs. Smith felt very negative about the situation, so she took him straight and washed his mouth out with copious amounts of water, but the tissue damage was found to be minor. This is a positive result.
Other patients were not so lucky.
Fortunately, batteries show up well on X-rays, so diagnosing whether they have been swallowed is not difficult.
If it becomes stuck in the esophagus, it must be removed.
An intact battery can be left in the stomach and usually passes through the intestines without incident.
However, a leaking battery can cause damage to the intestines.
And the dilemma is…what to charge the owner? And how does Mr. Smith change the TV channel?
