The Vet Thought This Dog Had Cancer—Turns Out, She Had 4 Teddy Bears In Her Stomach

Sometimes it seems like dogs will eat almost anything, from sticks to chicken bones to other dogs’ poop (ick). But, somehow, they still manage to surprise us!

Take eight-year-old Maisy, a St. Bernard from Yorkshire, England, who had not been feeling well. After she underwent a CT scan that showed a mass on her spleen, her doctors and owners feared the worst.

They thought Maisy might have had cancer, but surgery revealed something entirely different. The surgeon discovered not one, not two, not three, but four teddy bears in the dog’s stomach.

“It’s fair to say this was not something we were expecting to find!” Nick Blackburn, a veterinarian surgeon at Paragon Veterinary Referrals who carried out the operation, said in a press release. “We all know certain dogs enjoy chewing things they shouldn’t, but managing to devour four full teddy bears is quite a feat.”

Here are a few of the (gross-looking) soft toys found in Maisy’s stomach:

Maisy’s owners, James and Jane Dickinson, were shocked, as they had never known their beloved pet to even chew on, let alone eat, stuffed toys.

“When Maisy went in, I did think ‘Is she coming out?’ but she is loving life now — it’s like she’s got her youth back,” Jane said. “The toys weren’t even hers! She will steal the chihuahuas’ toys and play with them but I’ve never seen her trying to chew them. Her eating habits had been completely normal.” 

Luckily, Maisy has made a full recovery, shows no sign of cancer and is back to her old self. Hopefully, the chihuahuas, Mabel and Guinness, whose toys she snacked on, have since forgiven her.

If you believe your dog has ingested a foreign object like a toy, it’s important to take her to the vet or 24-hour emergency animal clinic as soon as possible. Some symptoms to watch out for include signs of intestinal or digestive discomfort such as vomiting or diarrhea, lethargy and changes in behavior.

This is definitely a situation that you should leave to veterinary experts.

“Owners should not wait to see if the object will pass on its own. Do not try to induce vomiting without a veterinarian’s okay, as there are some foreign bodies that can cause just as much harm coming back out,” veterinarian Sharin Brown told Cesar’s Way.

We’re so glad Maisy is OK! Here’s hoping she sticks to dog biscuits from now on.