Eating bones- Update

[siam]

Alfie got a roast bone from Pets at Home for his 1st birthday last week and he spent a lot of time chewing on it till it was completely smooth with all the marrow eaten. I gave him a new one this week and he got started on it straight away.Two days later the bone (which was a good size) is now half the size- he has gnawed his way thorugh it. My son and I are a bit gobsmacked that he has managed to eat so much of the bone as our previous cocker enjoyed a bone but never reduced it in size. Have noticed his poos are very pale over the past two days and am wondering if eating this amount of bone is OK for him?

[Karma]

The paler poo will be due to the bone content.

Personally I don't feed the cooked bones from pet shops - while they are sold as pet treats, they are far more likely to splinter and cause problems than raw marrrow bones from your Butcher... Honey has had the odd smoked bone treat that other people have bought her, though...

The only thing I would add is not to give them as more than an occassional treat - they can be pretty tough on the teeth! 

[mlynnf50]

The paler poo will be due to the bone content.

Personally I don't feed the cooked bones from pet shops - while they are sold as pet treats, they are far more likely to splinter and cause problems than raw marrrow bones from your Butcher... Honey has had the odd smoked bone treat that other people have bought her, though...

The only thing I would add is not to give them as more than an occassional treat - they can be pretty tough on the teeth! 

I agree with everything Karma says, she is the expert   lol have  you tried raw chicken wings yet they love them but as a meal.

[siam]

Thanks for the advice. Will revert to the raw bones from the butcher for an occasional treat.

Haven't tried raw chicken wings - do you get them from the supermarket or pet shop and do you remove the bones first or is it purely the wing itself?

 

[ElaineH]

Haven't tried raw chicken wings - do you get them from the supermarket or pet shop and do you remove the bones first or is it purely the wing itself?

 

We get them from either Morrison's or Sainsbury's (not Waitrose as the ones they sell have the bony bit at the end removed before they go on sale  ) They sell them in boxes of 8-10 or so and we freeze them in individual bags so we can defrost them as and when we want, we also cut the wings off any chickens we buy for our dinner so Morgan can have them.

He gets them whole, the idea is that he gets some bone in his diet, not just the fresh, raw meat.

[mlynnf50]

I just get them from the local supermarket, I freeze them in bags of 2 and he has them for breakfast about 3 times a week, and has twice a week fresh sardines.  Both whole with nothing removed and Raw.
You will be his best friend for life

[SuzanneE]

I have given Daisy the odd bone from the pet shop, they always seem to make her poo hard and dry and she gets very thirsty (I think that they may contain too much salt)??
I dont recommend chicken bones as they often splinter
cooked lamb or beef bones left over from a sunday roast are probably best.

[mooching]

cooked lamb or beef bones left over from a sunday roast are probably best.

Actually raw bones are definitely best.

[Karma]

I dont recommend chicken bones as they often splinter
cooked lamb or beef bones left over from a sunday roast are probably best.

RAW chicken bones don't splinter... and as Mooching says, cooked bones shouldn't be fed, as they can splinter....

[SuzanneE]

Im interested to hear what other peope think on this
because a vet advised me not to feed any chicken bones raw or cooked giving examples of dogs who have had chicken bones splinter and get stuck.
Thanks

[vixen]

At my girls yearly visit to my vet I mentioned that I give my dogs chicken wings. I thought he might disapprove but he fully endorsed the practice.
 He said years ago chickens lived a lot longer before being slaughtered and their bones were harder/more brittle  which may be why they weren't recommended in the past.
Different vets have different opinions  
 

[JennyBee]

Im interested to hear what other peope think on this
because a vet advised me not to feed any chicken bones raw or cooked giving examples of dogs who have had chicken bones splinter and get stuck.
Thanks

Raw chicken bones are fine, Brodie has raw chicken wings all the time with no problem - it's when they are cooked that they become dangerous as that's when they can splinter. There are a LOT of people out there who feed their dogs BARF diets with no problems

[Liz F]

I feed Diesel & Olli raw chicken wings a couple of times a week to help keep teeth clean. Even though I cant stand the noise when they are eating them 
I would never feed a cooked bone as its when cooked that they splinter.

 

[tigs71]

Im interested to hear what other peope think on this
because a vet advised me not to feed any chicken bones raw or cooked giving examples of dogs who have had chicken bones splinter and get stuck.
Thanks

I have been feeding raw chicken bones to Mason three times a week for over 2 years now and never had a problem.  It is cooked bones that can splinter and cause problems as they become brittle when they are cooked.  Raw bones remain pliable once eaten.

[SuzanneE]

Thank you for the responses -I have found your comments really useful, definatley sticking to raw bones from now on.