California Vets Remove 44 Foreign Objects from Stomach of 7-Month-Old Bernese Mountain Dog

Veterinarians in California were shocked to find a Bernese Mountain Dog's stomach full of dozens of foreign objects, including socks and hair ties during an operation.

Luna, a 7-month-old Bernese Mountain Dog, was brought to the Corona Animal Emergency Center in Corona, about 50 miles east of Los Angeles, "vomiting" with "a firm, distended abdomen," the animal center said in a post on Instagram.

She was rushed into surgery and as Dr. Jenny Elwell-Gerken and her team inspected her stomach, they were stunned to find her stomach stuffed with almost 44 items including 24 socks, a small onesie, a hair scrunchie, two hair ties, a shoe insert, and 15 "miscellaneous cloth pieces."

Multiple X-rays shared by the hospital showed the various items lodged in Luna's stomach.

"We all laughed at how big the stomach was because it was bigger than any stomach I've ever seen that was full of things," Dr. Jenny told USA TODAY over the phone Thursday.

The center said Dr. Jenny, during the surgery, performed gastrotomy and cleared her stomach and an enterotomy to remove the "onesie causing an intestinal obstruction."

Dr. Jenny told USA TODAY the items were probably not in Luna's body for very long and that she assumes Luna ate the majority of the socks the day of and the onesie a day before. However, the items "were stretched enough in the intestinal system that there would've been some pretty significant damage to those intestines" had her parents not taken swift action.

"It was crazy," Dr. Jenny said.

While Luna has a history of eating socks, she normally pooped them out, so her parents were not aware of how many items she had consumed until she was brought to the hospital with a hard stomach.

"It probably would not have taken that much longer before we started to have some pretty serious damage to the intestine, so I'm glad they caught it when they did," Dr. Jenny said.

The entire procedure took Dr. Jenny and her team about 45 minutes, especially since Luna's intestines were healthy and the onesie hadn't gone too far along. The doctor explained the surgery itself is "fairly straightforward," and in such cases they normally start with taking a good look at the whole abdomen "to see what we're dealing with" before starting, but because they were so many items involved in Luna's case and her stomach was "so stretched," they started by going into the stomach and pulling things out.

"There were so many, and it (the stomach) was so stretched that it took several minutes to pull out all the things," Dr. Jenny said, adding she had to use sterile spoons to get into the deeper corners, "cause her stomach was so big."

Once Luna's stomach was cleared, it shrunk back "pretty quickly", and Dr. Jenny closed it up before removing the onesie from the intestine.

"It was a crazy surgery for sure," Dr. Jenny said. "All the staff watching me pull out thing after thing was fairly entertained."

However, all's well that ends well and Luna pulled through "against all odds" and "is now wagging her tail again!" the center said in its post.

Dr. Jenny said she saw Luna Thursday and "she is doing great."

"She's bouncing off the walls like nothing ever happened to her," Dr. Jenny said.

Dr. Jenny shared that while the hospital gets cases of pets with foreign items in their bodies "all the time," most of them "are nowhere near this." The doctor said that most cases involve a single sock or a toy and that she sometimes removes unusual items like a peach pit.

"Removing foreign body obstructions is common in dogs," Dr. Jenny said. "But I've never seen this many in my entire career."

While sharing Luna's story, Corona Animal Emergency Center also took the opportunity to remind pet owners to be careful with their furry friends and take immediate action if they feel that their pets are behaving out of the ordinary.

"Luna’s story is a reminder to trust your instincts," the center said. "If you notice vomiting, lethargy, or a firm abdomen, don’t wait—act fast and contact your vet. Prevention is key, but we’re here for emergencies 24/7."

Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at sshafiq@gannett.com and follow her on X and Instagram @saman_shafiq7.