Dog ate a dice!

My dog swallowed a dice late Sunday. Everything I’ve read said he should pass it on his own but as far as I know he hasn’t yet. At what point do I take him in to ensure it’s not stuck somewhere? He is acting normal, eating, drinking…normal bathroom habits. He did have a bowel movement tonight and it looked like there might be some red in it but didn’t seem blood like (not sure what else it would be thought). He is a cockapoo, 8 months old, 30 ish lbs.

Hello - it is surprisingly common for small foreign bodies to take a very long time to pass.   I picture it as a bit of jetsam in a river.  Even though the river is mostly flowing in the one direction, sometimes a small, light bit of litter can get caught going round in circles for a while, or become lodged in one place.  I have operated on dogs to remove a large, known foreign body and found several unexpected foreign bodies from years previously!  The risk is of the dice getting caught somewhere and causing pain, an ulcer or a blockage; this is perhaps most likely in the small intestine.  Usually, when a foreign body is known to have been swallowed, the vet responsible for your dogs' health will weigh up the size of the object, the size of the intestines and any clinical signs (eg symptoms) before reccommending a course of action. Please do give them a call.

Courses of action might include, stimulating vomiting (for objects still in the stomach), retreiving via endoscopy, giving meds / lubricants to help it to pass, imaging (eg radiography or ultrasound), surgery, leaving it be.   The vets' choice will depend on a midge-modge of factors including the size of the patient, the size and potential threat of the FB, when it was swallowed, the synptoms and so on.