Meet dog who glued his own jaw together after eating junk mail

Ten-year-old Ottis was rushed to Beech House Veterinary Centre, which is part of the independently-owned Willows Veterinary Group, on Wilderspool Causeway, after chewing a leaflet posted through owner Donna Fisher's letterbox.

It had formed a papier mache-like substance, which cemented his jaws together, leaving the dog needing immediate medical attention.

Ottis was sedated, while experts at the practice used forceps and dental equipment to remove it.

Vet Becky Milner, who has worked at the practice for 11 years, came to Ottis' rescue.

She said: "I'd recently read an article in a veterinary publication in disbelief about a dog whose mouth was glued shut after chewing a glossy leaflet, so when Donna called the surgery, I knew exactly what had happened.

"When Ottis came in, we sedated him and used forceps and dental instruments, including a dental scaler, which has water and a probe, to allow us to remove the hardened glue and paper from between his teeth.

"Because dogs' upper and lower teeth interlock so well, the paper and glue had cemented and became amazingly solid.

"It took us more than half an hour to remove it all."

Owner, Donna Fisher, is now warning others to keep their pets away from the post and has since invested in a dog-proof letter cage.

The mum-of-two, from Carrington Park, off Battersby Lane, said: "Never for one minute could I have dreamed anything like this could possibly happen so I'm very keen to raise awareness and urge people to keep their pets away from the post.

"I can't thank Becky and all the staff at Beech House enough for what they did for Ottis that day, they were brilliant."

Ottis has since made a full recovery from his ordeal but Donna said he hasn't yet learned his lesson.

She said: "When he got home, he carried on going for the mail, so we went straight out and bought a letter cage.

"It's not nice seeing your dog like that and it's not how I planned my Saturday."