Topic: puking terrier

[DolphinGarden]

I got my dog some bones from the local supermarket butcher yesterday. I fed her bits, bit by bit while watching MOTD, and breaking it up with a hatchet to get at the marrow.

This morning I got up and went for the morning walk, made the tea, brought it up to OH.  OH proceeded to go for an errand while I settled down and read the Sunday paper. A few mins later, back she comes. Up the stairs, "the dog's got sick. All over."

Dog has continued to puke, I'm getting it in the neck for force feeding mutt. I think it'll pass.

I have been usually hand feeding those nugget type nuts a la winalot, but have on occasion, well several times but not for the last 6 weeks got bones from the local butcher with no problems.

What does anyone think has happened?

[lorna]

I do hope it is nothing serious. I never let my dog have bones. I remember my sister had a spaniel  and the bones had done so much stomach damage she had to be put down.. Hope all is well, don't forget to let us know.

[CityChick]

Could be several things...

Might just be too much bone.  Marrow (depending on the bone) is usually very rich in fat, and too much fat can cause problems in some dogs.  I always let my dogs chew bones themselves to get at the marrow.  Slows down how much they can eat.

Chopping the bone up can make quite sharp edges - a good reaon for letting the dogs chew smaller bits off themselves.  The sharp edge could cause a damage inside, but IIRC the dog would obviously look very ill if this was the case, so please don't panic.

It is possible that the bone could have had some bad bacteria on it, and the dog has an upset tummy, but the digestive system of a healthy dog is normally quite robust...

When I 1st started feeding a lot of raw bones to my dogs I had 2 dogs.  One ate them fine, the other (an older one) often brought them back up, unless I'd put them (chicken wings) through a mincer first.  I guess her more elderly digestion just couldn't cope with bigger bits of bone.

But whatever the reason, as long as the dog is otherwise well, I personally wouldn't worry.  If my dog is sick, but seems otherwise healthy, I fast them for 24 hours (no food, but all the water they want) before giving them any more food and then see what happens. 

But, if they are showing other symptoms, I'd be off to the vet as it could be something else, and maybe something more serious. 

If your dog is otherwise okay, I'd just let the dog break up the bones next time and/or feed a bit less.

Hope the dog's okay, and you don't have any more upset tummies.

[DolphinGarden]

City chick,

Yes, in consideration, I shouldn't chop up the bones. Like you say, the dog is delaying the consumption by taking time to gnaw at the bone to get at the marrow. I was naively trying to be helpful to break it up.

She seems a little better today, tho' she was ill till midnight. Went to bed fingers crossed there'd be no more episodes indoors. She wouldn't go for her "last thing at night" walk, which is very out of the ordinary.

She has liquids, (memories of my own hangovers!) and I'm sure she'll be back to normal in the course of the day.

thank you both for your replies.

[littlegem]

city chick, you should never and i repeat NEVER give dogs chicken bones :o   >:(
They are far too brittle and can cause stomach ruptures. please don't give your dogs any more!!!

DG, give the dogs the whole bone, they tend to just try and get the marrow out and when they've reached as far as they can, they give up, cooked bones are a different matter, they will eat the whole lot, some vets/people do not advise cooked bones as they too are too brittle.

[grawrc]

Vets don't recommend any bones at all.

[CityChick]

Littegem, if they are cooked chicken bones, then I totally agree with you.  As you pointed out cooking changes the structure of the bone and makes it more brittle and dangerous.  On those grounds I would never feed cooked bones to my dogs.

Raw (chicken) bones are, in my personal opinion, another matter. They are the basis of a raw food dog diet attributed to an Australian vet called Ian Billinghurst.  It is called "BARF" (yes, I wish they had thought of a better name, especially given this thread). It stands for "bones and raw food" or "biologically appropriate raw food"...

Its just one of the 3 ways to feed dogs (the others being commercial and home prepared cooked food) and IMHO there are pros and cons with each way.

grawrc - some vets I know do recommend bones as they can be helpful in keeping a dogs teeth clean...

Obviously if anyone is concerned about feeding dogs bones for any reason, or feels the risks do not outweigh the benefits, then the best thing is not to do it.

[grawrc]

Personally I think dogs deserve bones: ours used to get a large beef knuckle bone once a month and kept it till it was filled with maggots ::) ::) All our vets, however, seem to be anti-bone. Silly really nobody told the dogs it was bad for them. ???

[DolphinGarden]

Thank you one and all.

the dog seems to have made a full recovery. Ta very much.

I have always been told by my mam and dad (when we were young)not to give chicken bones to a dog because of the splintering. I never considered whether being cooked or not would make a difference, I just never gave chicken bones.

I'll put her picture back in my avatar.

[CityChick]

Glad to hear she's all better now.

If anyone wants to avoid bones, you can get some great toys called "Kongs" that are hollow, and you can stuff them with food.  Great for making a dog do something for its food and keeping them busy.

Or some dogs love whole raw carrots.  They don't last as long as bones or Kongs, but are another healthy option (though dogs don't digest veggies as well as we do, but they won't do them any harm either).

[grawrc]

Glad she's better!