Meet Bo, a gorgeous ShihTzu who loves his liver treats! And Bo likes them so much that he grabbed a large one out of his owner’s hand and tried to swallow it whole without even chewing – meaning trouble!

As little as 15 minutes later, he vomited up his dinner so his owner thought the liver treat must have been swallowed properly. Unfortunately, the next morning he was moping around and gagging up white frothy fluid. Not a good sign!

Worried that something was very wrong, his owners brought him into Pet Doctors Palm Beach where Dr Kathryn noticed that he was making repeated and exaggerated attempts to swallow.

She started by giving Bo a light anaesthetic and, upon closer inspection, discovered the liver treat was still lodge in the Shih Tzu’s throat. The offending piece of liver treat was retrieved from the entrance to his airway. The treat had become stuck despite repeated attempts by Bo to cough it back into his mouth.

Bo was one lucky dog: his airway could have been blocked had the treat gone down any further.

Make sure when giving your pet treats that you only offer bite sized pieces by hand. Throwing a treat to your dog so he catches them can mean it can slip down the throat before he has a chance to chew properly and become lodged, meaning a possible trip to the Vet to remove it!