Emergency vets at Stanley House in Colne save dog's life by removing socks lodged in throat

Owner Jessica Dewhurst feared the worst when her 13-year-old border collie Jip mysteriously started to choke late at night at the family home.

The beloved pet was rushed to Stanley House Veterinary Group’s branch in Colne where vet Lauren Jolley and veterinary nurse Leanne Boyd had just minutes to save Jip who was struggling to breathe and almost unresponsive.

Stanley House Vets has a 24-hour emergency service run by its own in-house team, and Lauren and Leanne were on duty at the branch in Albert Road that night. They sedated Jip and took X-rays, expecting to find tumours on his chest because of his senior age.

To their surprise, the X-rays instead revealed a pair of socks blocking Jip’s airwaves.

Lauren said they carefully put forceps down his throat to pull the socks out just moments after they had been considering whether to carry out a tracheostomy – a surgical incision in the windpipe to relieve an obstruction to breathing - because Jip had been on the verge of dying.

“We were surprised to see the socks. He is 13 years old; chewing is not your typical behaviour at that age. If he had got here any later, he would have died.”

Jip is owned by Jessica, partner Steven and daughter Delilah.

Jessica paid tribute to the team at Stanley House Vets for their quick actions in the middle of the night which saved his life.

“As we were putting Jip in the car, I thought he was taking his last breath. He had gone floppy. He couldn’t breathe. I said my goodbyes. I was distraught.

“Soon after I got a phone call and they said he was absolutely fine. They had managed to pull a pair of socks out. They were brilliant with him. He has bounced back to his normal self and is absolutely fine.

“Jip is terrible for chewing things. He has chewed the odd sock or shoe before.

“On this occasion, there were only the toes left. I guessed he had chewed the end off and swallowed the rest, and it was too large and blocked his airwaves. I don’t bundle my socks anymore.”

Stanley House Veterinary Group has branches in Colne, Barnoldswick, Burnley and Higham.