My Dog Ate A Tampon—What Do I Do?

Your dog has a dirty little secret: he (or she) is obsessed with your most intimate personal items. To them, your used tampons, sanitary pads, condoms, and dirty underwear are like forbidden candy. But this habit is more than just gross and creepy, it can be downright life-threatening.

If your dog ate a tampon or other personal care product, contact your veterinarian immediately! 

Diapers, tampons, sanitary napkins, and toilet paper are designed to absorb liquids. When swallowed, they immediately begin to soak up the gastric juices in the digestive tract and swell in size and density. This robs the dog of vital fluids and puts them at risk for a life-threatening intestinal blockage. Unused and high absorbency tampons are especially dangerous.

Even the tiny string attached to a tampon can cause serious damage, and potentially be the most dangerous part, if it becomes tangled or tears away at the lining of the esophagus or intestines¹.

Items like condoms and menstrual cups are non-absorbent, but may still pose a threat. According to Dr. Claire Jenkins of the online veterinary consultation site, VetChat, it often comes down to size—both of the dog and the item.

"Any foreign object has the potential to be dangerous when eaten," she writes. "Obviously it depends on the size of the object in comparison to your dog, so a condom might be okay to be passed by a full grown Labrador, but not, for example, a Chihuahua. While some objects go straight in one end and out the other, there’s also a chance of them getting stuck in the intestines and forming a blockage along the way."

Before you label your pooch a perv, consider the reasons behind their nauseating behavior:

When faced with a pungent odor, your dog can't help but explore it. It's the same thing that drives them to roll in that identified poop and come back inside with the worst perfume you can imagine. Check out this video to see just how powerful your dog's nose really is!

Wild canines prefer live prey, but will also scavenge for carrion (a.k.a. dead animals) when necessary. To your dog's powerful nose, discarded tampons, pads, and condoms reek of decaying biologic material.

Chances are your pooch loves to snuggle up on your hoodie you tossed on the floor, especially if you just got home from the gym. To your dog, your unique aroma is the best smell on earth, and nothing carries your scent better than bodily fluids.

Being curious about (or even eating) your more personal items is just a natural (but dangerous) next step to your pup.

Your first instinct might be to freak out, not only because your dog might have eaten something dangerous, but because now you'll have to have that awkward conversation with your vet about how many used tampons your dog has fished out of the bathroom trash can. But we promise, your pup's vet sees these kinds of cases often. You aren't the first!

Dogs eat weird things all the time and then poop them out, but that doesn't mean you should wait until your dog shows signs of illness. If you know your dog ate a tampon or other personal care product, call the animal hospital right away.

When it comes to foreign objects, the earlier your pet gets care, the better their chances of recovery.¹ Based on your dog's size, what they ate, and if you actually witnessed them eating it, the staff can advise you on what to do. They may suggest x-rays or other diagnostic procedures, or have you monitor your dog's appetite and bowel movements.²

Dogs can be pretty sneaky, so there's a chance you may not catch them in the act. If your dog ate a tampon on the sly, you'll need to recognize the signs of illness that accompany an esophageal or intestinal blockage. These may include²:

• Excessive drooling
• Difficulty swallowing
• Loss of appetite
• Constipation
• Diarrhea
• Lethargy
• Vomiting
• Abdominal pain (they may adopt a change in posture or have trouble standing or lying down)

If your pup seems ill or you just cannot shake your anxiety, head to the vet. You can't put a price tag on peace of mind!

Your dog might have pooped that tampon out this time, but you'd rather not go through that stress again (or the embarrassment watching them poop it out in the middle of the dog park for all the world to see).

Intestinal blockages are no joke! Make sure you keep your products out of reach of any paws, or invest in those handy safety locks people use for childproofing. If your dog likes eating used sanitary products or condoms, get a trash can with a lid.

If your dog is safely tampon/sanitary napkin/condom-free and you've made sure to take all the steps possible to prevent it from happening again, breathe a sigh of relief and then go ahead and make lots of jokes. You've earned it.

Rifling through the garbage and eating foreign objects might be your dog's way of telling you they're quite bored. Even if they have plenty of toys, they could be tired of the same old plushies and squeakers. Make sure you never get a text from home saying, "dog ate tampon" again. Expand their play horizons with a rotating selection of enrichment toys to keep those minds on the job and out of the gutter.

Sources

¹Brooks, Wendy. “Linear Foreign Bodies In Dogs And Cats.” Veterinary Partner, 30 June 2020, https://veterinarypartner.vin.com/default.aspx?pid=19239&id=6075371. 

²Callahan Clark, Julie. “Endoscopic Foreign Body Retrieval in Dogs and Cats.” Today's Veterinary Practice, 18 May 2020, https://todaysveterinarypractice.com/endoscopic-foreign-body-removal-dogs-cats/.