My DOG just swallowed a 470uF electrolytic cap (SMD type)

[Mecanix]

I know I know, he does weird shit like that sometimes...
Dropped the cap on the shop floor and the Canine Cleaning Service activated before I had time to reach to the part.
Now what? My vet claims he'll be fine and pass it if indeed the canister is sealed.
Dog looks fine, no lights in his eyes, no glowing in the dark, just a normal dog

Worried.

[PaulAm]

An SMD type, without any protruding leads, he'll probably be fine.  How big is the dog and how small is the cap?  Anything small pebble size should pass right through.

Keep a close watch and have your emergency vet on speed dial, but if you vet thinks it's OK, you'll likely be fine.

Could have bought some nice test equipment with the money I've spent on emergency vets in the last couple of years (all were fine, just an excess of caution)

[Mecanix]

56kg/120lbs Rottweiler with a tiny brain. Cap is a OD10x10.5mm. It's an hydrib smd type, so no pins, just two pads

Vet advice to keep him relax until a 470uF shows up in his stool,
He also said I can (at my own risk) try to force in a teaspoon of peroxide to induce vomiting however this may create problem due to sharp/hard edges of the part.

Are we sure those electrolytic are sealed and can withstand digestion abuses?!

[themadhippy]

Feed him a large value resistor to make the discharge a bit gentler

[Mecanix]

Vet: are you absolutely sure he swallowed it? Looked everywhere to make sure?
Me: hold on, let me go get my LCR

I'll let him have a day off and get him on easy-to-digest chicken to speed things up a bit. Damn...

Silly dog. Watch out @dog owners.

[MikeK]

Well, you know what *not* to do...Don't reuse that cap.

[pcprogrammer]

Get out the strainer and some rubber gloves. All for close examination of his poo.

Edit: Our cats never ate electronics, but I once had a charger, with a fixed cable on the low voltage side, lying on my bed and when I went up to go to sleep one of the cats had shredded the cable into two parts

[Kjelt]

I found small tiewrap in the cats stool once. Perhaps it is best you don't know 

[T3sl4co1l]

Yeah, he'll be fine...

Probably the can is lacquered and doesn't digest.  It ought to be aluminum, so it should corrode pretty quickly in stomach conditions.  So, maybe nothing, maybe pitting, probably not total dissolution.  I'm not sure what hybrids all use inside; the polymer part anyway, might not be toxic, I think it's pretty much just going to stay together through the process?

And, copper leads, the tin plating might tarnish or something, and the plastic base brackety thing, fine of course.  So I'd expect it to largely remain together.

The awkward shape, of course could always lead to complications, but it's most likely fine.  Heh, growing up, a friend of mine accidentally swallowed a roofing nail.. did nothing, fortunately.

As for electrolyte part if any, dunno.  Haven't seen an SDS for anything like that.  I want to say several things wouldn't be too bad, but there could well be something nasty mixed in there from time to time.  And I may be underestimating the polymer electrolyte part.

Tim

[nigelwright7557]

Give him a diode to eat too, that should rectify the problem ?

[Black Phoenix]

Give him a diode to eat too, that should rectify the problem ?

 

[Brumby]

I think this thread needs to be merged with the bad electronics jokes thread.


(but I did chuckle ... just a bit.)

[Whales]

Stomach acid will be strong enough to dissolve aluminium.  I suspect it wont stay in the stomach for very long before leaving (where the remaining acid is then neutralised by bile).

The rest of the digestive tract is not equipped to dissolve aluminium AFAIK.  It will probably treat it like any other fibre and pass it.

From what I gather: mouth to bum time for a dog is approximately a bit less than half a day.  As of me posting this message it has been about 12 hours, it will probably have passed by now.   I hope your dog remains unaffected and I hope you find the cap.  Please post photos if you can.

[pcprogrammer]

Please post photos if you can.

You wanna see the poo, the cap or the dog? 

[Black Phoenix]

Please post photos if you can.

You wanna see the poo, the cap or the dog? 

Why not. For around 2 weeks when I got my cat in June I spend everyday looking at her crap to know how it was her digesting system.

When you had animals since you remember as I had, it's very common. Poop can tell you a lot way before symptoms appear.

Dogs, cats, rabbits, chickens, pigs, cows, horses... I'm a country boy, my grandparents were in the agricultural and live stock business.

[magic]

Please post photos if you can.

You wanna see the poo, the cap or the dog? 

The capacitor after cleanup, please

[Squarewave]

Has he gone a bit leaky yet?

[EEVblog]

I've heard some tall stories about why a project is late, but "the dog ate my parts" 

[Fraser]

Loved reading the jokes in this thread but I do hope that the capacitor makes an exit soon so that the OP can relax. Sadly the story would have been very different and even deadly had the item swallowed been a button cell. I have read warnings from Vets regarding Watch batteries etc as they actually cause serious internal damage to soft tissues. I saw a picture of a lithium cell placed on a piece of meat….. the meat was burned at the point that bridged the cells contacts

Be careful what you leave laying around when you have inquisitive pets !

We have 4 cats and the youngest, Bailey, likes to see what I am doing. He occasionally lends a paw to help but has been known to literally rip the wiring loom out of a chassis (scrap thank goodness!) Pets eh! 

Fraser

[Black Phoenix]

I've heard some tall stories about why a project is late, but "the dog ate my parts" 

A different take of "the dog eat my homework..."

[Ed.Kloonk]

I've heard some tall stories about why a project is late, but "the dog ate my parts" 

A different take of "the dog eat my homework..."

My dog ate some scrabble tiles. When I went out on the lawn the next day it spelt disaster.

[pcprogrammer]

Yours made me laugh the loudest, so 10 points to Ed.

[Howardlong]

Dropped the cap on the shop floor and the Canine Cleaning Service activated before I had time to reach to the part.
Now what? My vet claims he'll be fine and pass it if indeed the canister is sealed.

Thoughts and prayers for a safe discharge.

[Ed.Kloonk]

Dropped the cap on the shop floor and the Canine Cleaning Service activated before I had time to reach to the part.
Now what? My vet claims he'll be fine and pass it if indeed the canister is sealed.

Thoughts and prayers for a safe discharge.

I'm betting it will be monolithic.

[golden_labels]

Tell us the truth. You wanted to feed asortment of electronic parts to your dog, to once for all exprrimentally disprove a smaller version of Hoyle’s fallacy.

I doubt anything will happen to the dog and I hope you will soon feel less stressed by the situation.