# Dog Swallowed String | Talleyville DE Surgery Guide > Dog swallowed string in Talleyville, DE? Why linear foreign bodies are so dangerous, why you must never pull, and what surgery costs. URL: https://dogsurgerytalleyville.com/guide/dog-swallowed-string-surgery-wilmington-de/ Last-Modified: 2026-08-28 Situation Guide # Dog Swallowed String: Linear Foreign Body Surgery and Cost String and thread are the most dangerous things a dog can swallow. The plication risk, urgent signs, and what surgery costs in Talleyville, DE. Published August 28, 2026 · 5 min read ![Wilmington DE dog owner moving a spool of thread out of reach of a curious terrier to prevent linear foreign body surgery](/images/featured/dog-owner-carefully-moving-a-spool-of-thread-out-o.webp) ## This is the urgent one If there is one guide on this site to act on immediately, it is this one. String, thread, ribbon, tinsel, dental floss, and the fibers from shredded rope toys behave completely differently from anything else a dog swallows, and they are far more dangerous. Call straight away, even if your dog seems perfectly well. Our foreign body removal surgery [/dog-foreign-body-removal/ →](/dog-foreign-body-removal/) team treats linear cases as the highest priority there is. > **If you can see string at your dog’s mouth or anus, do not pull it.** > > The other end may be anchored deep in the intestine. Pulling can tear the bowel wall from the inside. Leave it exactly where it is and call. ## What makes a linear foreign body different A solid object lodges in one spot and stops. A linear foreign body does something much worse. One end catches, typically wrapped around the base of the tongue or snagged at the pylorus, where the stomach empties. The rest travels onward, and the intestine does what intestines do: it contracts in waves, trying to move the string along. Because one end cannot move, the bowel gathers itself up along the string instead, like fabric bunched on a drawstring. This is called **plication**, and it has a distinctive look on imaging. Meanwhile the string is pulled tight around the inside curves of the bunched intestine. Every contraction saws it a little deeper into the bowel wall. Given time, it cuts all the way through in several places at once, leaking gut contents into the abdomen and causing peritonitis. Here is a realistic example. Two days after a holiday dinner, a young terrier in a Talleyville home is quieter than usual and vomits twice. Nobody connects it to the butcher’s twine that was tied around the roast, which went into the kitchen trash. On the third morning her owner notices she is drinking but refusing food, and lifts her lip to find a thin loop of string around the base of her tongue. They call immediately, without pulling it. X-rays show bunched bowel loops with small trapped gas bubbles. The surgeon frees the anchor under the tongue first, then retrieves the twine through three short enterotomies. Because she was seen before any perforation, no bowel needs to be removed. ## The signs ![Veterinary surgical team monitoring a sleeping dog during a careful abdominal procedure](/images/misc/veterinary-surgical-team-monitoring-a-sleeping-dog.webp) - Repeated or persistent vomiting - Refusing food - Lethargy that gets worse rather than better - A painful belly - Visible string at the mouth or anus, which is an emergency regardless of anything else - Fever, which suggests a perforation has already happened Some dogs with a linear foreign body look surprisingly stable for the first day. That is not reassurance. It is the window in which the damage is being done quietly. ## What we look for on imaging String itself does not show on radiographs, so the diagnosis relies on the pattern. Plicated, bunched loops of bowel have a characteristic appearance, often with small comma-shaped or teardrop-shaped gas bubbles trapped between the folds. Abdominal ultrasound shows the plication clearly and can sometimes pick out the string itself as a bright line running through it. ## The surgery Linear foreign body surgery is more involved than removing a single lodged object. The anchor point must be found and released first, then the string retrieved, often through several enterotomy incisions along the gut, because it cannot simply be pulled through from one end. Any section of bowel that has been cut through or has lost its blood supply is removed and the healthy ends joined. If a perforation has occurred, the abdomen is thoroughly flushed and broad-spectrum antibiotics are given. The cost starts at around $1,200 and rises with the extent of the damage. Every price includes pre-op radiographs, pre-anesthetic bloodwork, IV fluids, anesthesia with continuous monitoring, and post-operative medications. ## Common sources worth securing Sewing thread and spools, dental floss, ribbon and gift wrap, tinsel and holiday decorations, shredded rope toys, kitchen twine from a roast (which has the added appeal of tasting like meat), and elastic hair ties. ## What to do right now If your dog is collapsing, has a rigid, painful belly, a fever, or cannot keep water down, go to the nearest emergency hospital immediately. ![Sewing basket with thread stored safely on a high shelf out of a dog reach](/images/misc/sewing-basket-with-thread-and-ribbon-stored-safely.webp) Otherwise, contact us immediately [/contact/ →](/contact/) or call Talleyville Dog Surgery on (302) 599-0299. Tell us what kind of string, roughly how long, when it was swallowed, and whether any is visible. With linear foreign bodies, the time between swallowing and surgery is the biggest single factor in the outcome. Guide FAQ ## Questions owners ask 01Why is string worse than other things a dog swallows? Because it does not just sit in one place. A linear foreign body catches at one end, usually under the tongue or at the outlet of the stomach, while the intestine keeps trying to push the rest along. The bowel bunches up along the string, and the tight string saws through the bowel wall from the inside, often in several places at once. 02Should I pull out string hanging from my dog's mouth or bottom? Never. The other end may be anchored deep in the intestine, and pulling can tear the bowel wall from the inside. Do not cut it, do not pull it. Keep your dog calm and call immediately. 03How much does linear foreign body surgery cost? From around $1,200, rising if the string has damaged the intestine enough to need a resection. Linear cases often need several enterotomy incisions along the gut rather than one, so they take longer than removing a single lodged object. 04Can a dog pass string on its own? Occasionally a very short piece passes, but there is no way to know from the outside whether it has anchored. Because the damage can happen quietly over a day or two, every suspected string case should be assessed the same day. ### Still have questions about your dog? Send us the details and we will come back with a straight answer, an honest price, and the soonest surgical date we can offer. Request Surgery Booking [/contact/ →](/contact/) Next Step ## Learn more about Emergency Foreign Body Removal in Talleyville No pressure and no upselling. We will tell you honestly whether surgery is needed, what it costs, and how soon we can schedule it. View the service [/dog-foreign-body-removal/ →](/dog-foreign-body-removal/) Request Booking [/contact/ →](/contact/)