AUS Press: Vets worried by more than just a frog in this throat

[Herp News]

NORTHERN TERRITORY NEWS (Darwin, Australia) 07 July 09 Ark vets worried by more than just a frog in this throat (Rebekah Cavanagh)
Photo at URL below: Rare Case: A frog found himself at the Ark Animal Hospital yesterday after swallowing a sheet of plastic. (Katrina Woodward)
A Green tree frog bit off more than he could chew when he swallowed a large sheet of scrunched plastic cling wrap in a Territory backyard.
Vets at the Ark Animal Hospital were last night gobsmacked and waiting in anticipation to see if the hungry croaker could pass the rubbish through his system naturally.
But Dr Rebecca Burgess said that it was likely they would have to operate on the usually insect-eating amphibian.
"It's not something I've seen before," she said.
"I don't know why he would have eaten the plastic - there must have been some flies buzzing around it.
"I am hoping it will pass naturally in the next few days but if it's tangled on anything inside then we may have to do surgery.
"I would really like to avoid doing the surgery as frogs' intestines are so fragile and it would be a 50-50 survival rate."
Dr Burgess said the frog had managed to pass 25cm of the plastic but she could still feel more in his stomach.
"We have given him some pain killers and tried to lubricate his stomach with oils as much as possible to help him pass it easier," she said.
"We'll just keep monitoring him and see how he goes."
Dr Burgess said it showed how important it is for people to dispose of their rubbish appropriately.
"It's a good message - don't litter," she said.
Ark Animal Hospital practice manager Lisa Hansen thanked the good Samaritan who found the frog at their Wulagi home in Darwin's northern suburbs and dropped it off at the vet in Yarrawonga yesterday.
She said the veterinary staff were shocked when the frog first arrived.
"It is certainly a bizarre one - everyone didn't know whether to laugh or cry," she said.
"It's one of those ones that you have to see it to believe it."
Ark vets worried by more than just a frog in this throat - Northern Territory News

[John]

To anyone reading, green tree frogs in Australia are actually what the rest of the world knows as White's Treefrog, or White's Dumpy Treefrog.