A stunned vet operated on a puppy that swallowed a twig - almost half a METRE long.
The St Bernard puppy was taken to the animal hospital when her owner found her having trouble swallowing.
An endoscopy revealed the large stick wedged in the three-month-old pup's oesophagus.
But vets were not prepared for how long the stick turned out to be when they opened the dog's stomach up - and all 40cm of twig just kept on coming.
The dog, which did not have a name at the time of surgery, has now aptly been named Twiggy.
And South Lincs Vet Group, based in Sutterton, Linconshire, shared the remarkable story on their Facebook page this week.
The vet surgery wrote: "Twiggy came to our Sutterton Hospital and was a typical puppy, happy to see everyone and very lively, the only thing was she was gulping a little.
"Twiggy was anesthetised so we could perform an endoscopy (an endoscope is a flexible tube with a light and camera which is inserted directly into the body).
"We soon found the culprit - a stick, which was lodged in her.
"We attempted to remove the stick using endoscopic forceps but was unsuccessful - and we would later realise why.
"The only option was to proceed to surgery. Our veterinary surgeon Luciano carefully opened the oesophagus and located the stick.
"He gently started to remove it, but it just kept coming. We were amazed at just how long the stick was, an impressive 40cm!
"Surprisingly the stick hadn't caused any internal damage, Twiggy was extremely lucky."
The post added: "She was hospitalised for 24 hours with us to ensure she did not encounter any post op complications, as the surgery performed was very complex.
"But Twiggy didn't know what all the fuss was about and recovered well following her surgery - she was able to eat and drink just 12 hours later.
"We all fell in love with this gorgeous girl, who at the time was not named. We think it's only right that she is named Twiggy after such an unbelievable story."
And the vets were not the only ones who were shocked by Twiggy's remarkable feat.
Debbie Foster commented: "Good grief! At first I thought you'd mis-typed and meant 4cm."
And Joan Reed wrote: "Omg what a length that stick was, it's amazing how she managed to swallow it."
