Bezoars and Pancreatitis In Dogs:

Recently, we discovered that our bag of feather meal fertilizer was half gone. The fertilizer is high in nitrogen and great for the garden, but it is not great for dogs. The feather meal can clump up in their stomachs, making a bezoar. According to the VCA Animal Hospital’s website, “a bezoar is any foreign material that obstructs the stomach or intestines.”

Eating this fertilizer can also be a risk for pancreatitis. According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, pancreatitis is inflammation in the pancreas. When you see ‘itis’ at the end of any word, it means inflammation. For example, the definition of arthritis (from the website of the CDC) is “inflammation or swelling of one or more joints.”

We weren’t sure whether or not our dog, Rusty, was the one who had gotten into the feather meal, but we assumed the worst. After researching, we gave him medicine to make him throw up (medically known as inducing emesis). We were worried that Rusty would need emergency surgery but in the end he was fine (after passing a LOT of smelly gas).