THE mystery of why eight-year-old boxer dog Joe was under the weather was finally unravelled by vets carrying out an emergency surgery.

Following two days of being sick, Joe’s concerned owners, Gordon and Susan Forbes, sought professional help and were astonished to find what their pet had been eating besides his dog food.

After being rushed to an operating table and opened up by the director of the practice, it was finally confirmed – Joe had eaten an entire ball of wool.

Mr Forbes, a health care assistant from Middlesbrough, said he had gone out for the day with his wife when they received a phone call from their daughter to say that Joe had been sick.

The boxer had been left in the house with his eight-year-old brother, Louie, as they had been for years, however the couple became anxious after returning to find dark wool material in his vomit.

It was not until Joe was taken to White Cross Vets in Coulby Newham, Middlesbrough, where he was examined and a bundle of Mrs Forbes’ crochet wool was discovered in his stomach.

Mr Forbes, 62, said: “It must have been like a piece of spaghetti, once he started sucking on it, it kept on going.

“He ate the whole thing. When I saw the size of it I must admit it was a bit of a shock.

“I didn’t think he would be able to eat a whole ball of wool.

“I was pretty taken a back when I realised how much he had eaten. It’s not like a normal ball of wool, it was longer. It was quite a size.”

Mr Forbes has had boxer brothers Joe and Louie – named after the professional boxer, Joe Louis – since they were puppies.

He added: “We were really worried about him. We didn’t have a clue what had happened, even when I saw what was coming out of him I still wasn’t sure.

“My wife wasn’t sure if there was a ball of wool missing. When he hadn’t got any better the next day we took him to the vets.

“They operated and found a huge amount of wool which he’d managed to eat or swallow.

“He’s not too bad now, he’s doing what most Boxers do – sleeping and having a drink of water. He’s back on the road to recovery.”

Rob Reid, clinical director at White Cross Vets, which has a second practice in Redcar, carried out the life-saving operation and said the sight – and smell – of the wool was unforgettable.

He said: “One of the great things about being a vet, is that you never know what you’ll see next, and this was definitely a first.

“The only way that we could get it all out quickly and safely was to perform an operation and remove it from his stomach.

“The smell is something I’ll never forget and was the worst we’ve ever encountered in the practice – like a woolly jumper marinated in cheese.

“However all is wool that ends wool, thankfully the surgery went very well and Joe is quickly making a full recovery.

“This is partly due to his quick thinking owners who acted fast in getting professional help, because otherwise it might not have been such a happy ending.”