DH has given the dog a raw bone!

[Onehellofaride]

He has let him wander round the house with it rubbing it everywhere. DH will not touch raw meat (rightly) without washing his hands yet he is so bloody stupid that he has let the dog go everywhere rubbing one on all surfaces! What the hell do I do to clean now?!

Vet here....please please please do not feed your dogs raw bones...I spend a huge amount of my time dealing with dogs that have them stuck in their intestines and need them surgically removed....some unfortunately don't make it . some raw bones are ok to feed dogs but you need to know what you are doing and be sensible regarding the dogs size. ..even splinters of raw bones can seriously upset dogs intestines

What bones are OK for a big dog Alfie? Is there anything else you recommend they chew on?

Raw bones are fine as long as you choose wisely, use sensible hygiene and aren't silly about it.

Alfiedoggy - how many of those patients ate RAW bones that were specifically given to them, vs how many ate cooked bones that they stole?

I feed chicken wings, chicken carcass, chicken necks, turkey wings, lamb ribs, whole rabbit as meals.. but things like beef ribs and lamb and beef leg bones are recreational and these are removed once theres no meat/fat/stuff left on and the dogs had a good gnaw as once they dry out they do become brittle.

A chi should really be fine with any raw bone, if its too big to swallow its a recreational bone, theres no chance they are going to bite off big pieces of a weight bearing leg bone for example!

Lamb bones are without a doubt the worst - raw or cooked. Tiny raw bones can still splinter. They don't have to splinter to cause problems though - they can cause obstructions especially in the small intestine....please please don't feed them !

Agree with Alfiedoggy about the lamb bones. My friend's dog was very ill recently as a piece of the bone splintered got stuck in his intestine and he had to have surgery and was very poorly indeed.

Don't mean to be arsey, Alfie, but I know how much training vets have on all species nutrition unless they've taken further studies. All small animal practices I've ever visited carry Hills Science Plan, rated 2.9/5 on this handy site and utter rubbish, IMO: www.allaboutdogfood.co.uk/dog-food-reviews/0427/science-plan-adult-sensitive-skin

Or maybe Royal Canin, also much touted, but containing cancer causing e-numbers. This, in my opinion, puts it on a par with the really poor supermarket brands, one of which is much flaunted on here. It's certainly rated as badly.

It's a dreadful shame that it's not financially worthwhile for someone to do a decent study on raw feeding. I agree that bones can be dangerous if an owner isn't careful, maybe I'm lucky that I've had no issues over the years.

We have several chihuahuas and we're previously and successfully fed a raw diet. In fact they still have raw bones during the warmer months when they can have them outside.

cherry I'm guessing that if someone's got very good science 'A' levels and then studied veterinary science for five years, they don't need a huge amount of time to concentrate on nutrition solely.

Plus, there have been studies and some say that the benefits do not outweigh the risks.

Cherry....its fine, where I work personally doesn't stock hills or royal canin. If you would like to continue feeding your dogs raw diets please do so just ensure it is from a reputable source and be prepared for problems. I don't need a degree in nutrition to realise this - I see the dogs that are either very ill or die as a result of it. But your animal your choice.

And to confirm, I am not the type of vet that does not consider alternatives - in fact I am also trained in and practice both acupuncture and holistic vet medicine. ..you just need to be sensible

You have to admit though Alfiedoggy - you don't see the huge numbers of dogs who eat raw bones and raw meat on a daily basis and are absolutely fine and healthy.

Like mine - I have been raw feeding for 15 years now, in that time I have had on average, five dogs, feeding two meals per day, lets say one of those meals contains a whole raw bone of some kind (chicken wing, chicken frame, half a rabbit or a whole rabbit, lamb ribs, turkey wing - those are the most common things I feed, all however are covered in a decent amount of meat)..

Thats a very mean estimate of 25'200 raw meaty bone meals over that 15 years.

It'll be more, because 5 is the min. number of dogs I have had, sometimes as many as 9.. and of course the meals that aren't an RMB still contain bone..

0 cases of impaction or splinters
0 cases of ecoli, salmonella or giardia

1 dental required in a 13 year old dog with very odd dental conformation (big teeth crammed in a small short jaw)
4 trips to the vet for accidental injury not related to food
1 case of bloat requiring emergency surgery (young deerhound, at the time not actually getting raw bones)
0 anal gland issues
3 food intolerance issues, solved by not giving those foods (beef, beef and lamb)

So i am more than happy with the safety of a raw diet done sensibly - ie, with research and with recreational bones given that are too big to eat, and RMB's given that have a good ratio ofmeat to bone so no 'dry' stripped bones are consumed at all.

Maybe I am just lucky, but its a bit of a coincidence that theyve all had such a good run of health, they are not the same breeds, some have been on raw from weaning, some from when I got them as puppies and some were rescued as adults and switched then..

Of course if people just lob raw bones at dogs and don't put in any research, thats likely to cause problems, but then so will doing anything with an animal without doing research - ive seen people come into my local vets wiht dogs choking on kibble, dogs who have caught salmonella from kibble, and dogs having to have repeated dentals because their teeth are awful, and repeated anal gland expressing and impactions and surgery.. because their diet is awful.

The vets I worked in years ago, their bread and butter ops were, spay, neuter, dental and anal gland, pretty much equally!

Aw bless your little fella with his bone! :D I bet he was thrilled!

Update: thankfully we are all still alive! No one has died from contaminated soft furnishings yet.

I did clean thoroughly and then got over myself

Ah I once bought cow thigh bones for a friend's westies - the bones were bigger than the dogs