Leo trying to wrestle the hairbrush from vet Deborah Mir's hands

Vet Deborah Mir examined Staffordshire bull terrier Leo at a Cardiff practice, and took him into surgery after feeling a solid object in his stomach.

She had to make five incisions in his bowel to remove the brush and knots of hair which had twisted around his gut.

Miss Mir said: "I've seen tights, balls, bones and string swallowed, but never a hairbrush."

Leo's owner, Leanne Marston, from Llanrumney in Cardiff, had taken Leo to the People's Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA) surgery in the city's Butetown area after noticing her pet was not eating.

I was worried because he might not have made it PDSA vet Deborah Mir

Miss Mir felt the object through his skin but did not know what it was at the time.

She operated almost immediately because, although Leo was not in any pain, the obstruction was too big to pass through on its own and could have ruptured the bowel.

The vet made one large cut to open the gut, which revealed the object, but when she tried to remove it, it pulled the hair with it.

She had to make four more smaller incisions to untangle the hair and only then could she tell that the offending item was a 5in hairbrush - almost the same length as the puppy's body.

Craig Simmons says his friend's dog is back to his normal 'hyper' self

"The gut had burst at one point and that had given him peritonitis (inflammation in the gut)," said Miss Mir.

"I was worried because, with such complications, he might not have made it."

But Leo, who is now nearly six months old, surprised everyone by making a speedy recovery and was back to his usual self within a day.

"I was shocked when I found out what he had swallowed," said Ms Marston.

"I couldn't believe it - a hairbrush of all things! I've got three daughters so it could have been any of ours.

"When we came in to pick him the next day and he was fine, he was wanting food and everything."

Ms Marston's friend, Craig Simmons, who takes Leo for regular walks, said: "It shocked me, I never thought a dog could swallow a hairbrush.