Off the hook

A Jack Russell has been fed a diet of banana sandwiches to dislodge a fish hook it swallowed from its stomach.

Candy went fishing with her owner Elwyn Thomas but as he cast-off she jumped up taking the bait hook, line and sinker.

She was rushed to vet Richard Gibson in Llanelli and an x-ray showed the two inch (5cm) steel hook stuck inside her.

Rather than operate he prescribed a diet of banana sandwiches to let nature take its course and two days later the problem was solved.

Mr Gibson said fortunately the line snapped close to the hook, so 10-year-old Candy swallowed very little of the chord.

"Dogs swallow all sorts of things - two days before we had one that had swallowed a needle and thread," he said. "In the majority of cases surgical intervention is not needed." He said it was often better to feed them on a soft high fibre diet. "Banana sandwiches come very high up on the list," added Mr Gibson.

Mr Thomas's wife Sylvia told the South Wales Evening Post: "We really panicked and thought that the fish hook would have damaged her insides and that she would need an operation.

"After an x-ray the vet advised us to let nature take its course, and sure enough, two days later Candy passed it.

"She proudly brought it to the back door to show us."