A barbeque-loving Fighter that nearly passed away after he ingested a wooden skewer used in cooking is this week going residence with an uncommon location in animal insurance background.
Curtis, a Boxer dog from Princeton, West Virginia, was granted the 7th annual Hambone Award from Nationwide Insurance coverage– a prize that honors the most uncommon animal insurance claim of the year. Curtis was chosen in addition to 11 other nominees for the award, and also was voted the winner by members of the general public after the accounts of all 12 pets were published.
Together with the award, Curtis’s veterinary team at Virginia-Maryland University of Vet medicine– which carried out a lifesaving surgery to get rid of the skewer from his body– will certainly get a $10,000 Nationwide-funded honor with the Veterinary Treatment Structure to treat family pets whose owners might not otherwise pay for therapy.
Curtis ingested the wood barbeque skewer in 2014 during a family bar-b-que at his proprietor Valerie Mould’s residence. The family members had actually prepared poultry as well as beef shish kabobs as well as positioned them on the counter, when Curtis smelled the specials and also made a jump for it.
” I saw him order it and chased him outside,” Mould claimed. “When I caught up to him, I yelled for him to drop it and also got the end protruding of his mouth, yet the skewer broke right as I obtained my hands on it as well as Curtis swallowed it in one bite.”.
Valerie looked for the skewer to pass, however Curtis started throwing up and also broke down the following day. On the guidance of the neighborhood emergency situation vet health center, Valerie took her dog to Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medication at Virginia Tech.
There, Curtis underwent an ultrasound as well as endoscopy however the team couldn’t see the skewer and also believed it had actually broken down.
The Moulds waited for weeks to see the skewer come on Curtis’ feces, yet there was no indicator of the tool. On the other hand, Curtis quit playing as well as really did not eat as long as he utilized to– he looked like a different pet.
” We couldn’t determine what was wrong with him,” Mould stated. “He’s like our child as well as we would do anything for him.”.
After he started to tremble as well as yelp whenever his side was touched, Valerie took him back to the college where staff uncovered a big mass near his liver. Believing it was cancer, the vets performed surgery to get rid of the mass. They remained in for a shock– the mass was in fact a big sphere of scar cells bordering the wooden skewer that Curtis had actually swallowed greater than a year earlier.
The skewer had pierced with his intestinal tracts as well as traveled via his body until becoming lodged alongside his liver.
Currently, Curtis has made a complete healing and will be obtaining the bronze Hambone Award Trophy, in addition to a Across the country gift bag of playthings, deals with and also various animal products.