Hi all,

I have been so stupid and am now worrying myself beyond belief.

I have a 14 month staffie who I have always tried to do right for.  Unfortunately, I had a moment of absolute stupidity (I now know this after reading up on it).  We had a leg of lamb for our Sunday roast and the remains (including the bone) were put in the fridge on the assurance from my sister, partner and others that it would be fine to give to Poppy.  I gave it to her on Tuesday and was woken at 5.30 with her being sick.  She was sick another 3 times after. 

After clearing up her vomit 4 times, I noticed that most of it was bone and some pieces looked extremely sharp. 

She has since seemed to recover and has demanded her walks as usual, enjoyed playing fetch etc but my question is, should I take her to the vet as a precautionary measure.  I am so annoyed with myself as I usually check before I give her anything and have thought that sometimes in the past I have been a bit neurotic.  I have since read that cooked bones are a definite no no.

Would my vet be likely to x-ray her to check for any problems?  And more importantly, be able to deal with any problems. 

I will call the vets tomorrow but I wondered if any of you had any encountered this?

I'd phone the vet for their advice in this situation.  If she seems back to normal now then her body may have removed everything that was irritating her that it could BUT this doesn't mean she's out of the woods, as sharp pieces of bone could also be in her bowel :(  your vet really would be the best person to advise with knowledge of when she ate the bone in relation to her condition now.

For future reference ALL cooked bones (even the ones from pet stores!) are a risk from splintering and should not be given to dogs.  Raw bones are fine :)

Hi Digger.

Thanks for your response.

I have spoken to the vet today and she said that providing Poppy is no longer vomiting, not lethargic and is going toilet as normal then she should be fine.  Obviously I will keep a close eye on her the next few days and take her to the vets if there is any change of normal behaviour. 

She will of course no longer be having cooked bones but now I am even concerned about giving her raw ones.  My vet advised against it but from what I have read, raw ones are fine.  Or is it only certain types I should avoid?  Maybe I would be better off sticking to raw hide!

No, no, no!!!  Do not give rawhide   - just post rawhide in search and you will see that it's almost as bad, if not worse, than cooked bones

Margot

Margot,

Thanks for that.  It annoys me how pet shops get away with selling such things as raw hide, cooked bones with meat in etc, which can be so potentially dangerous!

What then can I give her to chew on?  She has kongs stuffed with ham, cheese, biscuits etc.  She loves playing with her toys but sometimes I need something to keep her occupied for a little longer.  The stuffed kong doesn't last long at all. 

What can she have that will last longer and will also be good for her jaws and teeth?

Why dont you ask your local butcher for some lamb necks, you could freeze them and give them when required.
Cheers Martin.

Stuffed Kongs last better if you freeze them - let them defrost a little first before giving them to the dog.  Another tip is to hang it narrow end down where the dog can get to it - they have to adapt their technique then...... 

Ask your butcher for a nice big knuckle bone,these keep them occupied for hours,my springers chew on their for 2-3 hours,sometimes longer.I recently adopted a shih-tzu,and i had a knuckle bone that was bigger than her head,LOL she still managed to eat it. It is a rare vet who agree's with raw bones :( The majority of the problems they see are with COOKED bones,not raw,but they tend to throw them all in the same basket and label them all as dangerous!!

I know someone who fed cooked bones on a regular basis,she was told over and over NOT to feed them as they were dangerous,but she didnt believe anyone,for years her dog was fine,but one day he wasnt,this dog had a stomach/bowel full of compacted bone,it turns into like cement,anyways the dog ended up dying from it :(