Vets have saved a dappy Great Dane after he wolfed down three feet of tinsel.

Dexter, who has a habit of eating things he shouldn't, swallowed the festive decoration at his home in Margate before being sick.

After being assessed by vets at the town's PDSA clinic, the 10-year-old went under the knife and the tinsel was miraculously pulled from his stomach in one long piece.

Vet Kate Milroy said: “Dexter needed to be taken straight in for emergency surgery, it was clearly causing a blockage and would be fatal if we didn’t remove it as soon as possible.

"There’s always some risk with any kind of operation, but thanks to Dexter’s owner noticing the early signs of problems we were hopeful it would be straightforward.

"I was very surprised when I managed to pull the tinsel out all in one piece though.”

No stranger to munching on decorations, Dexter - owned by 56-year-old Paul Nokes - targeted the tinsel two years ago but didn't require an operation as it came out freely.

But he got back to his old tricks again last Monday.

Paul's teenage son Mitch spotted tinsel wrapped around ornaments on the mantelpiece was missing - and after a thorough search fingers were pointed at the Great Dane.

Dexter was showing no signs of illness until he was sick the following night due to tinsel blockage.

X-rays confirmed what had done, and vets went on to save the pet's life.

Dexter is now recovering well back at home and has refrained from eating anymore decorations.

Relieved owner Paul, a full-time carer for his wife, said: “Dexter bounced back so quickly, and you can barely even see the scar already.

"His post-op check was done by PDSA over the phone, and his stitches were dissolvable so we didn’t have to make another journey.

"It’s not the Christmas we had planned but we’ll make do, and having Dexter safely home with us is the best present.

“When he was younger he used to eat sofas and carpets, and two years ago at Christmas he ate tinsel, although we didn’t know straight away," the 56-year-old said.

"He wasn’t ill at all, and the first we knew was when it started coming out in pieces at both ends."

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