Barf question: what went wrong?

[spanielcrazy]

My guys have had chicken wings and other tones with no problems. The other day I gave them some chicken backs (they'd been in the fridge about 3 days, decided I needed to cut and freeze them  )

The next morning my Shih-tzu wouldn't eat, laid with his tummy pressed to the floor and would occasionally cry. Off to the vet we went (who disapproves of feeding raw), took x-rays that showed his bowel full of stool and bits of bone. She dug out some really hard stools from him, gave him meds for his tummy. She mentioned pancreatitis but didn't really think it was that since there was no vomiting or diahrea (the chicken backs did have a lot of fat on them)

Anyway, he's doing fine but now I am afraid of bones for him! The cockers had no problems with it, they were fine. What did I do wrong??? 

[Nicola]

Did you cut the backs up into pieces for him? Or was he particularly hungry and gulping it down? It could be possible he wolfed down chunks which were a bit too big and then was unable to digest them properly. Has he eaten chicken backs before with no problems? If not then perhaps he just didn't know how to deal with them.

Other than that I don't really have any ideas though, sorry 

To get him back onto barf I would give him something easy that he usually has quite regularly, for my barf fed dog Alfie this would be a well bashed up chicken wing or some breast of lamb and keep an eye on him while he's eating.

I hope he's ok, that can't have felt very pleasant poor boy

[spanielcrazy]

He's never had chicken backs before, only wings and necks. I only cut it up into sizes they could handle, so he got about 1/3 back but not cut up any more than that. He usually crunches his bones really well.

Guess I'll try bashing his bones. He's fine now, back to his bright silly self, but that was my BARF nightmare come true. (I told the vet that he "accidently" got hold of the chicken  She's very against raw feeding)

[Joules]

Perhaps it was just too much bone at once - sounds like a bad case of constipation - poor little thing, that can be uncomfortable     Coco sometimes does "concrete" poos when she has had too much bone - so I give her mince etc for a day or two until it gets back to normal.    Perhaps he just didn't crunch it up enough - bashing would be a good idea and make sure he has enough soft stuff with the bones so he is less likely to get blocked up with bone!! 

[happydog]

I agree that it sounds like constipation due to too much bone at once rather than any damage caused by sharp unchewed raw bones as such.

Have you been feeding him raw for very long? It can take some months for their stomach to get used to digesting bone as the enzymes needed are built up and I think that the chicken back bones are denser than wing bone, so will take longer to digest.

Are you adding mashed veggies to his meals? This can help prevent constipation. Is he as active as your cockers? Excercise can help prevent it too.

If you are worried about feeding him bones after this (although if he is happily eating wings and necks then perhaps stick to those for a while), and can get hold of something like AMP prize Choice mince to feed him, this has minced bone mixed in with it, so although he wont have the teeth cleaning benefits of BARF he will still be getting the calcium and other minerals.

[bluegirl]

If mine have too much bone it gives them hard stools. They usually look a lighter colour than normal. I would increase the meat allowance and reduce the bone so that his motions become softer. Take a look at his stools so you can see the effects of your adjustments. Don't be put off feeding bones, just learn from this that he unlike the cockers can't tolerate so much bone in one meal. Try say reintroducing a half chicken wing after his meat and see how he goes.