Small animals occasionally experience lodgment of a foreign body in the esophagus. This problem occurs most commonly in young animals, but older animals also may be affected. Because of their more indiscriminate eating habits, dogs are more commonly affected than cats.
Major factors in determining whether a foreign body will pass or be retained are its size and its configuration.
Physiological narrowings of the esophagus (like heart base area, thoracic inlet or distal esophagus proximal to pyloric canal) are frequent locations of foreign bodies.
Once a foreign body has been localized, a decision must be made whether to observe for its passage or to remove it endoscopically or surgically. Most esophageal foreign bodies can be removed by endoscopic retrieval. As a rule, any foreign body retained in the esophagus should be removed as soon as possible, because the degree of damage is usually directly related to the length of time the foreign body was lodged.