To call the vet tonight?

[Ishacoco]

DP (not an experienced dog owner) gave our dog a cooked lamb bone (leg). I didn't see it happen and by the time I realised and grabbed it off him he'd already eaten most of it.

I'm petrified a shard of bone is going puncture his throat or stomach or something. Can a vet do anything?? He seems absolutely fine in himself and has since eaten dinner but I wouldn't know if his stomach was seriously injured would I? Google has not helped me 😞 Talked about bacterial infections creeping in from injuries and affecting his heart. He's my absolute world, I can't bear the thought of anything happening to him.

I'm furious with DP, but he didn't know.

Your pup is beautiful. I would definitely call the out of hours number for advice. They may want to see him first thing tomorrow for an X-ray. My brother wishes he had taken immediate action when his dog ate a cooked bone.

Don't panic OP. My boy often finds a tasty treat of cooked bones on our walks - thoughtful people drop them on the street or in the park.

He smells it and wolfs it down in a millisecond. He ate a lot of long dead seagull once with no I'll effects (well apart from horrific farting)

He's 13 now and I'm amazed at his digestive constitution. He had food poisoning once, about 10 years ago. 8 hours overnight unable to even drink (I got ice cubes for him to lick) but next day was right as rain.

Just keep an eye on him. You'll know if something's wrong.

It's done now, you need to wait it out. Ddogs got given bones for years (lamb or beef, not chicken was the advice then). Watch him tonight, hope all ok.

Provided it's gone down OK (and you'd know if it hadn't) it will probably be fine.

Dogs have extremely strong stomach acid and are well able to digest bones. It'll be softened by the acid quite quickly (remember the old chicken wishbones in vinegar trick?)

Just keep a close eye on him overnight and you'll spot any signs of distress.

I'm impressed you recovered the bone unharmed op, my childhood memory of our dog pinching bones from the bin seem to involve a sudden personality transplant into a terrifying guard dog when someone threatened to remove the bone! Hope.your dog is alright, he looks lovely!

I'd love to but he prefers his bed in the kitchen by the Aga!

Ours took a huge, cooked lamb bone and ate it years ago and he was absolutely fine. ( He did vomit it up the next morning). He's also found discarded chicken bones when being walked ( from takeaways) and has occasionally eaten those before I've realised what he was doing. After the chicken bones, I've given him toast as I think that might help them to pass through safely? Not sure if that's good advice though. Perhaps someone more knowledgeable can advise? Wishing you all the best OP.

No, raw bones are usually ok. Dogs gnaw them down slowly and don't tend to swallow large bits.

Cooked are more dangerous as they are more likely to split internally.

My JRT always enjoyed a lamb leg cooked bone ….the only risk was trying to take it away from her !!😂

This isn't true re insurance and Out Of Hours costs. They WILL cover OOH appointments as long as that condition isn't excluded (e.g. if your dog developed heart disease BEFORE you took out insurance cover, an OOH appointment related to the heart disease would not be covered).

Yes, you'll pay an excess but that is true of any insurance claim.

@Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr My insurance specifically excludes the heightened charge for out of hours appointments. I only know this because when I called the vets, they said it's very unlikely this is covered and I should check as most don't.

Our dog loves a cooked lamb bone! We dispose of the remains it after 24 hours though. Never had any issues with this at all.

It's not ideal but dogs have been eating cooked bones for centuries with no issues.

I hope he's okay this morning!

When we were growing up our dogs were often given cooked lamb leg bones and never any problems.

I really think there's been a miscommunication there then. I am a vet of 20 years experience and I have never heard of a pet insurance policy that excludes out of hours emergency treatment - that would be useless!

He's fine! Sorry, forgot to update earlier. There don't seem to be any problems at all.
Thank you all for the voice of reason.

I’m sure your (gorgeous) dog will be fine. Our labrador ate most of a lamb bone as a puppy and it gave him a bit of a rich tum, but he was fine. If it went down well, and he seems fine, he probably swallowed it straight down.
If it makes you feel any better, dear labrador ate one of my mum’s gardening gloves. Was night so vet not open and it was Easter weekend. He threw it up at 5am and re-ate it before I could wake up, realise what was happening and get to him. Now the next day we went to the beach. Dear dog always swims with his mouth open, and swallows all the sea water. We were all sat in a café and suddenly the dog vomits spectacularly, expelling the glove. My mum stamped right in the middle of the sick while I held him off trying to re-re-eat it 🤣 Safe to say he saved us a big vet bill.
This dogs are tougher than we think🐾🤣

My cat did this a few months ago; grabbed a cooked chicken bone and ate it. Husband didn’t realise it was bad for cats, so didn’t try hard enough to get it off him.

We rang the vet and spoke to an emergency vet (it was a Saturday) and they reassured us he would probably be fine, just keep an eye on him (and we had to keep him inside for the next 24 hours). He was absolutely fine, not harmed at all.

@Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr not treatment... just the initial appointment.

In the what we will not pay section

13. Extra costs for treating your pet outside usual surgery hours, unless the vet or complementary therapist confirms an emergency consultation is essential, regardless of your personal circumstances

So for example, my dog started clearly had a problem with his leg. - slight limp and not jumping on to his window sill seat without squealing but was fine otherwise and most likely pulled a muscle rather than cruciate ligament etc. I called the vet who obviously asked if he was insured before giving call out charges. After the conversation, he said as not an emergency, the cost of the appointment wouldn't be covered on insurance.

That's so funny!! Re-eating the banished item 😂😂

I have been checking back to see if there was an update. Glad all is well!

There's so many differing opinions about bones, surely it's safer to not give them? I won't give my labs bones of any kind unless they are ground ones in their food

Raw are fine. My cat gets raw food, and chicken wings etc
Cooked bones splinter which is why they're dangerous

I think I'll be doing the same now.