A NINE-year-old dog has amazed vets after surviving for five months with an 8-inch kebab skewer lodged inside her chest, perilously close to her heart and lungs.

Bessie the Labradoodle is thought to have snatched the skewer during a barbecue in the summer.

Vets believe the stick broke through her oesophagus and somehow became lodged in her chest.

But until a specialist vet ordered a CT scan of Bessie’s abdomen, experts were at a loss as to why Bessie had lost her appetite, lost weight and lost energy, while also drinking and urinating far more than usual and panting more frequently.

After a plethora of tests were carried out when two lumps appeared on her chest, Bessie was referred to Southfields Veterinary Specialists, in Laindon.

Clacton and Frinton Gazette:

Southfields’ clinical director Henry L’Eplattenier said: “The lumps did not seem painful but nevertheless we carried out a series of diagnostic tests to try to discover their cause.

“The most striking finding was seen on a CT scan of Bessie’s chest, where a long straight object could be seen in the lower portion of her chest, causing lots of reaction around it.

“We strongly suspected this was a foreign body, so Bessie was taken into surgery the following day and I opened her chest bone to seek out the foreign object – and removed an 8-inch long kebab stick.”

He added: “Bessie’s owners have no idea how the stick could have got into Bessie’s chest but the most likely explanation is that she ate it during a barbecue in the summer and the stick perforated her oesophagus and migrated into the chest, where it remained lodged.

“It’s amazing that it pierced all the way through and into the chest but missed all the vital organs, so Bessie was very lucky indeed.”

Bessie has now returned home and is back to her normal, joyful self.

To find out more information about Southfields Veterinary Specialists, go to www.southfields.co.uk.