His owner, Vicki Hooper, of Hamersley, returned from work to find Yoshi had raided her sewing room and pulled a pin cushion down from a shelf. 

“Normally, he’s at the door with his tail wagging but he was very subdued,” she said. “When I picked him up, he cried and I thought maybe, he’d swallowed a pin, so I took him to our local vet.” 

An x-ray, however, revealed a 4cm long needle was lodged in his chest cavity. 

Yoshi was referred to TAHMU where a CT scan was ordered. It was then discovered that the needle was embedded in his heart. And Yoshi had not swallowed the needle, it had penetrated his chest - perhaps from rolling or pressing on the needle while it was in the pin cushion or on the floor. 

Veterinary surgeon Dr Tesheena Nash said Vicki’s quick thinking had likely saved Yoshi’s life. 

“Once we saw where the needle was located, he was rushed into surgery, led by our head of soft tissue surgery Professor Giselle Hosgood,” Dr Nash said. 

“The most dangerous moment of the surgery was the removal of the needle itself, as there was a risk of a fatal haemorrhage. As the needle was removed, we needed to place mesh over the hole to plug it and stop any bleeding. It was a tense moment, but it went beautifully.”

Dr Nash said the way the needle ended up in Yoshi was highly unusual and none of the veterinarians at TAHMU had ever heard of a similar case.  

"We've seen a few cases where dogs have swallowed needles or a fishhook, where it’s got stuck in their oesophagus or further down in their gastro-intestinal tract, but nothing as unlucky as this,” she said. 

“It’s just a freak accident where he lay on the needle in the exact wrong way.” 

Radiology registrar Doris Ma said if the needle injury had gone undetected, there was a risk it would have migrated through the heart over time, or into another area of the chest, like the lungs, causing bleeding or an infection.  

She said it was incredibly fortunate that Yoshi had a tenacious owner, and - combined with quick action from the veterinary team – this saved his life.  

Vicki and husband Craig are relieved to have Yoshi back home and healthy again. Now six months of age, they describe the kelpie cross as comical, happy and feisty.  

“From what we’ve been told by the veterinary staff, there was a one in a million chance of this happening,” Vicki said.

“There is now a baby gate on the sewing room door, and he has a few new squeaky toys to keep him occupied!” 

The School of Veterinary Medicine at Murdoch University operates TAHMU to provide exceptional veterinary care for the most complex animal health issues and to support the training of Western Australian veterinary students. 

You can see their amazing work in action during Murdoch University’s Open Day on Saturday, 5 April. 

TAHMU will open its doors to the public from 11am to 1pm for behind-the-scenes tours and interactive and informative stations, highlighting many aspects of veterinary medicine, including anaesthesia; anatomic pathology; the Blood Bank; clinical pathology; emergency and critical care; equine care; farm animals; small animal medicine and oncology; surgery and radiology. Parking is available in carpark 9, accessible from Discovery Way, Murdoch.  

You can find more information here and the full program of Open Day activities on the Murdoch University website.