A Scots dog nearly chocked to death after her tongue was punctured by a twig in a freak accident during a walk.
Sprocker Lola was quickly rushed to a vets in Livingston after the hidden injury caused her tongue to swell so much she could barely breathe.
The four-year-old pet was drooling from the side of her mouth as she tried to catch a breath but the vets initially could not find the cause of the injury.
As owner Daniel Mainland raced to the local vet clinic, animal specialists were left baffled by Lola's case.
Edinburgh Live reports the vet discovered two pieces of stick lodged into her tongue after a CT scan.
The twig had punctured the dog's tongue in two places causing the dramatic swelling.
Grateful owner Daniel was delighted to welcome back his beloved pet but was left mystified as to how the pieces of stick had become embedded in Lola’s tongue.
He said: “My first reaction was disbelief at what was happening and obviously I was extremely concerned as it was an emergency situation.
“When I was told they’d found a foreign object in Lola’s tongue I was amazed and couldn’t imagine how or when it had happened.
“Lola loves tennis balls so we can only image that maybe she has opened her mouth to pick up a ball and the sticks have gone in then.
“The vets were really good and kept us fully informed at every step of Lola’s treatment and progress."
The vet working on Lola eventually found the source of the problem by administering general anaesthetic and doing an ultrasound examination as she identified two pieces of stick embedded inside Lola’s tongue.
The problem was that Lola’s tongue was so swollen it proved difficult to place an endotracheal tube to anaesthetise her and, as a result, a tracheostomy tube was inserted.
Dr Sam Woods, clinical director of the Livingston vet clinic, took charge of the procedure and said: “We identified two pieces of suspected stick, one about 3cm and another of around 5cm.
“An incision, under ultrasound guidance was made at the site of the sticks and released a large volume of pus.
"I then used forceps to grasp and successfully remove the two separate sticks."
Luckily following the procedure Lola's condition improved dramatically.
“Lola recovered really well and we were able to remove the tracheostomy tube two days after surgery, as the swelling subsided," Dr Woods added.
"Lola was then allowed home when it had subsequently resolved and she was eating well again.”
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