They Ate What?! X-ray Contest Marks 20 Years With 2026 Winners

Twenty years after the first They Ate What?! X-ray contest, the 2026 results from Veterinary Practice News confirm a simple truth: no practice has seen everything. The contest, which collects radiographs of patients who swallowed what they should not have, announced its winners for 2026 after two decades of entries that have ranged from the odd to the operable.

The premise has not changed since the contest began. Patients present with unusual tastes and insatiable appetites. Owners arrive in disbelief. Veterinary teams rise to the challenge. After 20 years of the competition, the organizers note that there is always another unique case waiting to come through the door.

What lies behind the winning images?

The contest's editors frame the striking radiographs as entertainment with a clinical core. Behind every surprising image, they write, stands a veterinary team applying thoughtful, creative, and expert care to diagnose, treat, and support the patient.

That framing carries practical weight for practitioners. A foreign-body case tests the full chain of hospital workflow:

• rapid imaging and interpretation;
• client communication when the history sounds implausible;
• surgical or endoscopic decision-making under time pressure;
• postoperative monitoring and pain management.

The inventive approaches, dedicated teamwork, and positive outcomes are what the contest organizers say truly deserve recognition—and what make the cases worth sharing beyond the novelty of the radiograph itself.

The 2026 results mark a milestone anniversary for a competition that has become a fixture of veterinary popular culture. Readers can browse the full contest pages on the Veterinary Practice News website.

Who judged the 2026 contest?

Five judges evaluated this year's entries, drawn from specialty practice, technology education, surgery, public health, and general practice.

• Robin Downing, DVM, MS, DBe, DAAPM, DACVSMR, hospital director of The Downing Center for Animal Pain Management, teaches internationally on pain management and physical rehabilitation.
• Jennifer Serling, CVT, RVT, BVSc, AAS, VTES, a Veterinary Practice News editorial advisory board member, directs the Appalachian State University Veterinary Technology Program.
• Kendra Freeman, DVM, MS, DACVS, an associate surgeon in Albuquerque, N.Mex., contributes frequently to Veterinary Practice News.
• Erica Tramuta-Drobnis, VMD, MPH, CPH, CEO and founder of ELTD One Health Consulting, LLC, works as a public health professional, emergency veterinarian, freelance writer, consultant, and researcher.
• Greg Bishop, DVM, a small animal veterinarian and part-time veterinary technology instructor in Portland, Ore., writes the "Client Speak" column and creates the monthly cartoon series "The Lighter Side."

The panel's composition reflects the range of skills a foreign-body case demands: anesthesia and pain control, technician-led nursing, surgical extraction, emergency triage, and client-side communication.

Why does a 20-year-old contest still matter?

The editors' anniversary observation cuts to the nature of casework itself. Even after two decades of contest entries, the unexpected remains—and will always remain—part of a day's work in veterinary medicine.

For teams in general practice, the contest functions as informal continuing education. Each entry documents a diagnostic puzzle solved, and the shared cases reinforce a habit that serves every clinic: image first, believe the owner's account even when it strains credulity, and prepare for the operative finding that the radiograph only hinted at.

As the contest enters its third decade, the organizers' message to the profession stays the same: the next remarkable radiograph is already walking through someone's door, and the team that recognizes it may be one entry away from the 2027 winners' circle.