When Daniel Rechelbacher's lab-mix Chai lost his tongue after playing with a chew toy, he blogged about the ordeal to warn other pet owners. Now the toy manufacturer Four Paws has recalled its pimple ball, after hearing about Chai's incident and other reports of dogs suffering similar problems.
Rechelbacher writes on his site, "While chewing on the toy, a vacuum was created and it effectively sucked his tongue into the hole in the ball. From speaking with my vet, this likely occurred because there is not a second hole in the ball preventing the vacuum effect from happening." Chai was taken to the animal hospital, where the ball was removed. However, his tongue was found to be very swollen and was ultimately amputated.
Rechelbacher, who also posted videos and photos of Chai, told the Daily News, "It's been devastating... [Chai] was depressed, he was in pain and he couldn't chew his food," explaining he had to re-teach the pup how to eat and drink. Chai's walks have been shortened too, since he's "unable to cool himself through panting." He also told WCBS 2, "I'm angry, because it all could have been prevented because there was evidence of this a long time ago." While Four Paws did respond to e-mails about the defective product, saying they would stop shipments, Rechelbacher says the company forwarded his correspondence to their insurance company first.
