Hi Fiona

I think I remember reading that chicken bones can splinter and cause damage to the digestive system, but the article I was reading may have been referring to cooked chicken on the bone. I don't know if raw chicken bones, like the wings, would do the same.

If I was giving Vegas a raw bone, I'd feel safer giving him a marrowbone - either lamb or beef.

Christine

Hi, Jade - I can appreciate you being a nervous wreck at feeding them a raw chicken wing for the first time! That's how I feel about it. I think both Harry and Pearly would like it, but it's my own nervousness that puts me off. I can't make the transition from cooked bones not being okay, to raw bones being fine. And I worry that their teeth would crack!

Hmm.... food for thought.....

The links didn't work - you can just copy and paste them into the address bar and that should work

The 'petcentre' link has some interesting xrays that are worth taking a look at.

My dog Charlie nicked many a chicken carcass from the bin, to give you an idea we have had to have the bin on the worktop until we lost him in September! He was a real raider and ate tin foil on occasion too. We spent hours worrying and buying new bins in the hope that they would be dog-proof!I too seem to recall that chicken bones can splinter and are dangerous to dogs but he never came to any harm.

Who knows! but I would be careful myself but I am a worrier. Em, Tig and chad X

 

 

 

I've tried the raw chicken on occasion - Oscar wasn't that keen but ate it anyway & Petra loves anything raw! Like you I was at first concerned because of all the undoubted nasties in raw poultry - but one of my bigger problems I suppose is that factory farming methods of these animals and should I be buying factory farmed chickens? I try to buy organic for us, but feel that is a bit OTT to buy a lot of expensive organic chicken for dogs.  There would prob be less cruelty involved if my dogs went out and caught their own rabbits or whatever (not that they do) but at least those animals would have been free-range and had a good life!

Marrow bones are OK for mine - I used to give them raw knuckle bones from the butcher but this caused tummy probs if they consumed too much of the bone - squits and/or painful hard stools and a LOT of it. So I just give the occasional marrow bone now and give them pigs ears frequently for a dental workout.

-- Edited by Amber at 18:22, 2006-01-23

Unfortunately the only dog I saw, while working at a vets, that came in for choking on a rawhide chew was dead on arrival.

You might think I am mad after seeing the dead dog come into my work but rawhide chews are the only chews I give Casper, I always make sure I am in the room when he gets one and I check there are no bits left if I go out.

Sha, I found this bit below on an vet website, looks like you did the right thing. It must have been scary. Well done for acting so fast.


If you notice your pet is choking, remove any item that may be constricting the neck. Examine inside the mouth and remove any foreign object you see. Do not blindly place your hand down your pet’s throat and pull any object you feel. Dogs and cats have small bones that support the base of their tongues. Owners probing the throat for a foreign object have mistaken these for chicken bones. Do not attempt to remove an object unless you can see and identify it.

If you cannot easily remove the object, lift and suspend a small animal with the head pointed down. For larger animals, lift the rear legs so the head is tilted down. This can help dislodge an item stuck in the throat.

Another method is to administer a sharp hit with the palm of your hand between the shoulder blades. This can sometimes dislodge an object.

If this does not work, a modified Heimlich maneuver can be attempted. Grasp the animal around the waist so that the rear is nearest to you, similar to a bear hug. Place a fist just behind the ribs. Compress the abdomen several times (usually 3 to 5 times) with quick pushes. Check the mouth to see if the foreign object has been removed.

Even if you are successful in removing a foreign object, veterinary examination is recommended. Internal injury could have occurred that you may not realize.

I used to feed my 3 greyhounds marrowbones from the butchers but soon discovered that it caused them to get excessive worms.

I would never dream of giving them chicken bones etc due to the fact the bones could well get stuck in there throats.

Now i give them wee treaty gravy bones, smachos (sp) & frolics as treats.

That is my opinion

 

We've given our two meaty bones from the village butchers and they absolutely love, love, love them! Pearly gives up after 2 hours of gnawing, but Harry would keep going all day. They get so tired with all the chomping that it's like taking them for a long walk.

However, we're swithering about whether to do it again. Last time, they both seemed to be a bit constipated. Their poops were brick hard and it took them 3 'goes' to get back to a more normal consistency. There's no doubt that they love their bones and it cleans up their teeth a treat, but we're not sure if the effect on their tummies is worth it.

I just brought a massive bone cut in 2 back from the butchers for Ziggy and Vernon. It is a big hit. Each half is bigger than their head!!

Vernon is still at it but Ziggy is having a nap as he is knackered after all the knawing.

Any dogs my family had were given bones fairly regularly and I think they are great for their teeth.

I feed a complete food but I think a nice tasty bone is a fab treat providing it is raw.

Harry and Pearly don't really eat the bones, they gnaw off all the meat and stuff and lick out the marrow. They're never sick afterwards, but there is the issue of solid poop!

I thought you weren't supposed to give greyhounds raw flesh or bones with raw flesh on them as it might increase their hunting instinct?

I wouldn't feed chicken bones, too easy to choke on as I imagine they would wolf them down if they're anything like Kayri when she gets a whiff of chicken.

Hazel.x

I thought you weren't supposed to give greyhounds raw flesh or bones with raw flesh on them as it might increase their hunting instinc

I reckon that if you dragged an entire rabbit carcass through long grass on the end of a rope it might excite them a bit, but in my experience (feeding raw food to several dogs for almost 4 years) feeding raw meat is not a problem... especially with sight hounds whose hunting instincts are generally triggered by movement. Our boy Malcolm is regularly fed on raw rabbit but the first time he discovered a whole dead bunny in the park he had a half hearted attempt to eat its fur and then pretty much lost interest...

As for the bone-vomiting, its true that dogs who generally eat a processed diet are less able to digest bones when first transferring to a raw food diet (also, it is best not to mix raw meat and bones with processed food in the same feed as they are digested differently). Fortunately dogs are designed to eat quickly without chewing much and also to eject any objects that haven't been properly digested, much like an owl pellet. And if it fit in the first time, it will fit out the next time!

Some of our lot occasionally will eject a few bits of bone, but will generally view this as a second chance to chew them up a bit before swallowing them down again!

We have been feeding our dogs raw chicken wings for breakfast most days and they soon learn to crunch them up a few times before swallowing, even the greedy ones. In fact they all took a while to try different approaches until they got the hang of crunching with the back teeth to break up the bones. Any bits of bone that pass through the system are cunningly presented lengthways and wrapped in poo so as not to damage the intestines so even if they swallow the chicken wings down whole they seem to cope fine.

We tend to avoid hard bones like lamb shanks, preferring lamb and beef ribs that the dogs can crunch up. The beef ribs are particularly good value as the dogs can spend hours chewing away at them after the meat has gone. I suspect that marrow bones are probably a little rich which may explain dodgy tummies, but beef ribs may be a better way to start your dogs with raw meat and bones. Just don't let them inside the house unless you favour slaughterhouse chic!

It is probably also worth mentioning that dogs naturally get around 30% of their diet from fruit and vegetables (and without this they can get hard faeces, which might explain Fiona's solid poop). Much of this will be the stomach contents of herbivores, which also contains that good bacteria that they are always banging on about on the telly... most dogs will tuck into horse dung, etc which fills a similar role and is beneficial unless the horse has ben recently wormed. Just don't let your dog lick your face afterwards!... they also eat grass, windfall fruits, etc. In most cases they prefer the fruit and veg to be broken down by natural processes such as rotting or pre-digestion (thanks Mr Cow!) and we replicate this by mixing a combination of pulped fruit and veg (which has passed through a juicer) with our dogs' evening meal of minced meat and chunks. It does take a wee while but we do it once a week and freeze it in batches. As a side benefit Jade & I get a regular healthy glass of vegetable juice!

Good idea, Fiona. A bit of steamed veg should do the trick!

Top Tip: I find that even vegie-hating dogs will scoff down steamed broccolli or cauliflower if its tossed in a bit of butter (a good way to use the off-cuts such as cauli leaves and stems as well)... cut the veg into small pieces to aid digestion.