Are those the hooves that you have to fill with something?? Or do you just give it to them hollow??
I've seen them but they look pretty gross :eek: I'm re-crate training so I'll try anything right about now
I guess you could fill them with something…....they look like little wedges sort of.
Well i just went to the chinese grocers and they had some cheap pork ribs so i bought some and just fed tayda and lenny each one raw meaty rib each. they devoured it all and seemed to love it.
so, i see there are some posts about not feeding pork ribs? is it because of trichinosis? If the meat is human grade it should be fine right?
Pork ribs are OK to feed at l least I have. Chicken is typically cheaper for the size and sometime in the supermarket you can find necks and backs…... just remember to go slow when introducing raw meaty bones... and also regular kibble should not be fed at the same time... interesting then too, "poop" will be hard and white.. and that is from the bones...
This is a long post, so please bear with me.
Yesterday, I went to the butcher shop around the corner and came home with a trimmed turkey carcass (for free!). Yippee! I'd recently started both my dogs on a raw food diet - the frozen patties from Nature's Variety, which they love – and thought I'd let them gnaw on a real bone from a real animal. When I got the carcass home, I pulled off some smaller rib and organ pieces and then one piece, about four inches long, that seemed to be an intact bone, covered with meat. When I put it on a dish for Ziggy to gnaw on, he SWALLOWED it! The entire thing, whole!
I watched him very carefully for the rest of the day, and he seemed completely fine.
Then, at 6:00 this morning, he got up and began pacing ... sat down in the middle of the room, and stared, paced, went into another room, and then went into my bathroom and threw up. He threw up again in the hallway, twice ... while hunched over (sitting) his head tipped back as if he might yodel, but then he paced again. His ears were flattened, his eyes slightly bugged out, his tail drooping. He went downstairs, whining.
I almost went out of my mind with fear, thinking that the bone was lodged somewhere in his intestinal tract and would kill him! I immediately got on the Web and began to look for information on "dog, bone, swallow, emergency," and the phone number of the nearest pet emergency center.
He threw up twice more. Then I tried to take him outside to see if he would pee or poop, and he wouldn't even go out. So I let him go back to bed and took Zoe outside. She threw up in the grass.
When I came inside, I made a small amount of cooked oatmeal and fed some to him, in very small dollops. He ate the oatmeal with no hesitation. Then I gave them both half-servings of their regular breakfast, the Nature's Variety raw food. Again, I only let them eat one mouthful at a time. They both ate with no problems, and they both had some water.
I've watched them very carefully all day. Zoe pooped early in the day, and Ziggy did at about 1:00. Both have loose (but not watery) stools that are yellowish and a bit mucusy. Neither one looks or acts sick. They are moving around, drinking, sleeping, responding when called ... in other words, they both seem to be OKAY.
I, on the other hand, probably lost 15 pounds in sweat (and some tears). I thought that I may have killed my dog.
The moral of the story, for me, is that neither of my dogs can be trusted to "chew up" anything. They are both gobblers and will swallow as quickly as possible anything that's put in front of them, WHOLE. I've also reaffirmed the good advice that any introduction of something new in their diet should be made very slowly and gradually. Note to self: Don't put an entire turkey carcass in front of them when they're never seen one before!!! (Slapping self)
Any thoughts on similar situations will be much appreciated!
Lori
The Z-Pack: Zen, Zoe, and Ziggy
How long ago did you switch to the raw food? I ask because the mucus poop can be from that, my boxer had the same thing. As for the loose part it could be from straight turkey. As long as the bone wasn't cooked the stomach acids should help break the bone down
I think for bones to chew on that they should be big raw bones like beef bones.
I agree, the vomit is more likely because they were unused to eating the whole raw package. The first time I gave out Turkey necks, I had the same thought…omg, they are going to die, they swallowed them whole. But everything turned out just fine 
I agree, the vomit is more likely because they were unused to eating the whole raw package. The first time I gave out Turkey necks, I had the same thought…omg, they are going to die, they swallowed them whole. But everything turned out just fine
Exactly… mine swallowed the entire chicken wing whole... :eek:
I just wanted to chime in about the type of bones to give your B's. We buy "soup bones" from the grocery store in the meat section. I actually don't know what kind they are but that is what is printed on the label. If you don't see them in the case then ask the butcher on duty. We never cook them or heat them up BUT we do scrape out most of the marrow (otherwise they get the super-runs!). Both of my B's are amazing chewing machines and can destruct any store bought toy in seconds (that includes every Nylabone ever made). We have never had these soup bones break off into pieces or had them splinter.
I'm sorry to hear about your stressful situation with the turkey! :eek: Sounds really scary! Best of luck finding something suitable.
Some of you have posted that you give your dogs chicken bones. I was always told that you should never give chicken bones because they splinter very easily and could get stuck in the intestines. Is this really true, or just a myth?
Some of you have posted that you give your dogs chicken bones. I was always told that you should never give chicken bones because they splinter very easily and could get stuck in the intestines. Is this really true, or just a myth?
It's true if the bones are cooked, raw bones feed with the raw diet will not harm them. The body is able to digest them and break them down. Sometimes raw feeders may find bits of bone in the stool but usually it is joints and just the occasional undigested part.
Actually all bones that are cook are not good for them as even bigger bones like cow can splinter. When bones are cooked they dry out and become brittle which cause them to splinter and break.
Some of you have posted that you give your dogs chicken bones. I was always told that you should never give chicken bones because they splinter very easily and could get stuck in the intestines. Is this really true, or just a myth?
It is true with any "cooked" bones, the ones we are all talking about are raw and not only the bones but the meat also (also raw). You should never give your dogs any bones that have been cooked as they can and do splinter… and those are what causes problems. You can find lots of information on raw meaty bones and people that feed only a raw diet on the web if you are interested to read about it.
That makes sense, good to know. I used to give him the occasional cooked cow bone because I thought that was safe, but I guess I won't be doing that anymore!
Bird bones are not constructed like other animals. They have a lot of hollows to help give the birds lift. Thus they can splinter extremely easily, cooked or not cooked. Never give bird bones, period.
I know what you went through. My previous beastie was a swallower and had a particularly bad experience with a chunk of rawhide. In addition to the weird behavior, and wanting to vomit, etc. he would scream "to high heaven" any time he moved. Luckily before I could get him to the vet, he calmed down and stopped screaming and everything turned out okay. Whew!
So I'm starting week 2 of feeding primarily raw chicken backs and pork ribs to tayda and lenny. they seem to love it. question for those of you who feed raw: where do you feed them? i put the meat/bones in their food bowl, but of course they promptly grab it and run to some corner… I'm not thrilled about the raw meat being all over my floor. So Ive been feeding them outside when I take them out to go to the bathroom, but it takes them a while to chew it, and it's cold here! Would be nice to find a way to contain them in here without having to disinfect my floor twice a day. i did the calculation and its about half the price for me to feed them raw than the innova evo they normally get!
So I'm starting week 2 of feeding primarily raw chicken backs and pork ribs to tayda and lenny. they seem to love it. question for those of you who feed raw: where do you feed them? i put the meat/bones in their food bowl, but of course they promptly grab it and run to some corner… I'm not thrilled about the raw meat being all over my floor. So Ive been feeding them outside when I take them out to go to the bathroom, but it takes them a while to chew it, and it's cold here! Would be nice to find a way to contain them in here without having to disinfect my floor twice a day. i did the calculation and its about half the price for me to feed them raw than the innova evo they normally get!
in a crate…....
I've been mixing Merricks Wing a Ling canned in with Tyler and Zoey's dry Nutro. There are whole chicken wings in there–but very soft, and I usually squish them to make sure there aren't any long bones. They seem safe--does anyone see any problems with that flavor of Merricks? Tyler and Zoey just go crazy when they smell it. I put a little in with their dry, and they just love it.
The bones in the Merrick's Wing A Ling and Smothered Comfort are pressure cooked so they easily pulverize when squeezed, no splintering.
The bones in the Merrick's Wing A Ling and Smothered Comfort are pressure cooked so they easily pulverize when squeezed, no splintering.
That's good to know. Thanks, Lisa. Since I don't cook at all–I had no idea how those chicken wings were processed.
