Dog left fighting for life after eating Nintendo game

'We don’t own a games console so we’re baffled as to where he got it from'

Rocco the Staffordshire Bull Terrier had to have emergency surgery (PDSA/PA)

A dog was left fighting for its life after eating a Nintendo video game.

Rocco's owners became concerned when the Staffordshire Bull Terrier began vomiting and refusing to eat.

They took the four-year-old dog to vet charity PDSA’s Glasgow Shamrock Street hospital, where an X-ray revealed a rectangular object in its small intestine.

The dog underwent emergency surgery and vets discovered the object was a Nintendo DS cartridge.

But its owners were left confused about where the game had come from, as they do not own one of the popular hand-held consoles.

Sean Johnston, 27, Rocco's owner, said: “He wasn’t acting himself at all and we were worried he’d eaten a corn on the cob, but we were so shocked when the vet said it was from a video game.

“We don’t own a Nintendo or anything like that so we’re baffled as to where he got it from.

“He’s a rescue dog and we’ve only had him for about six months so the only thing we can think is that it was from his previous owners – who knows how long it’s been in there.

“Even though we haven’t had him that long, he’s already such a big part of the family, so we’re delighted to have him back home.

“He’s made a brilliant recovery.”

Left untreated, the cartridge could have caused a fatal blockage.

The dog, from Cumbernauld, North Lanarkshire, was discharged after an overnight stay for rest and recovery.

PDSA senior vet Susan Hermit said: “We see dogs that eat strange things all the time but none of us had ever seen anything like this.

“Objects can sometimes sit in the stomach for a while, but they cause problems when they try and push through the guts, which are much narrower.

“It was a good job Sean brought Rocco in when he did, as an object of this size trying to pass through the guts could have caused a deadly blockage or pierced his internal organs.”

Additional reporting by Press Association