Dog survives a year with five shards of glass in her stomach

This x-ray of Billie the labrador cross shows five shards of glass in her tummy, one of which was more than 12cm long. Photo/ supplied

A dog lived for more than a year with five pieces of glass in her tummy, one of which was more than 12cm long.

Billie the labrador cross ran through a window about a year ago, her owner Caron Thornton said.

"We rushed her to our local vet who cleaned and sutured the wound then we went
on our way."

What they didn't realise was that a large shard had pierced Billie's abdomen and broken up into five pieces over time.

Billie is recovering just fine and wants to go for runs even though she's supposed to be resting. Photo/ supplied

Incredibly, Billie showed no symptoms until a few weeks ago, when a large lump started sticking out of her flank.

"When I noticed the lump on her side a few weeks ago I took her back to our vet
thinking it was a tumour," Thornton said.

She took her dog to the Veterinary Specialist Group in Mount Albert, who took an x-ray.

What we found was quite unbelievable," said Dr. Damian Chase, a surgeon at the veterinary specialist referral hospital.

"The glass did not damage anything vital and has just been sitting in her body. She is one very lucky dog."

Billie is recovering well and keeps giving Thornton her ball to throw, but she's on vet's orders not to run at the moment.