Adverse reaction to eating raw bones.

david1976

Well-Known Member
Can dogs have an adverse reaction to eating raw bones and. if so, what causes it?

The reason I ask is this, my terrier can and will eat anything fur, feather, scales, bone, meat and he is fine in fact he loves it.

My BMH is a very fussy eater, she loves raw chicken bones and shows no ill effect however whenever she is fed deer or lamb bones she is violently sick repeatedly for the rest of the day. Shmeat and offal no problem raw.e can however eat

The obvious answer is not to feed her raw bones which I will cease to do however I wonder what causes this reaction in her?
 
Can dogs have an adverse reaction to eating raw bones and. if so, what causes it?

The reason I ask is this, my terrier can and will eat anything fur, feather, scales, bone, meat and he is fine in fact he loves it.

My BMH is a very fussy eater, she loves raw chicken bones.

My belief has always been, and backed up by every book,vets advice etc is that any Chicken bones, raw or not is a huge NO NO in that they may splinter and pierce the gut,I believe the same goes for any cooked bones but the pet shops are full of massive cooked bones although I only feed raw beef marrow bones myself. My dogs love them and take hours licking out the last drop of marrow.
Regards Willowbank
 
'My belief has always been, and backed up by every book,vets advice etc is that any Chicken bones, raw or not is a huge NO NO in that they may splinter and pierce the gut'

It may be your belief but its wrong. Nothing wrong with feeding uncooked bones to a dog other than a chance of an upset tum due to bacterial contamination (which they withstand to a far greater extent than we can). Cooked bones are the no-no.
Some dogs need gentle introduction to a dietary change to cope with the change in gut flora. David, try small qty's of 'red' bones initially to get your dog used to coping with them. After a week or so of daily small feeds she should be able to cope with lager qty's.
 
Cheers, what do you mean by red bones?

Just to clarify neither dog ever gets cooked bones only raw ones.
 
I'm guessing that the bone is splintering and causing a mild gastritis, just by being irritant. If she can eat venison or lamb meat or offal, then it won't be an intolerance/"allergy". Most chicken these days have quite soft bones so perhaps less of a problem.
 
Careful with deer bones and deer fat. Lost a dog to pancreatitis due to the richness of deer fat. May be fat if you are feeding from a carcass. Jim
 
I think Limulus hit the nail on the head David,you need to start them off on small amounts of any new diet change,mine have been brought up on all sorts of bones and all raw right from 8 wks old and they regularly have chicken carcases or wings etc. their favourite however is a good old Deer head...........

DSC_0018.jpg

DSC_0081.jpg

DSC_0055.jpg

Even the Whippet gets stuck in...........
DSC_0058-1.jpg
 
'My belief has always been, and backed up by every book,vets advice etc is that any Chicken bones, raw or not is a huge NO NO in that they may splinter and pierce the gut'

It may be your belief but its wrong. Nothing wrong with feeding uncooked bones to a dog other than a chance of an upset tum due to bacterial contamination (which they withstand to a far greater extent than we can). Cooked bones are the no-no.
Some dogs need gentle introduction to a dietary change to cope with the change in gut flora. David, try small qty's of 'red' bones initially to get your dog used to coping with them. After a week or so of daily small feeds she should be able to cope with lager qty's.

I agree with what you say but if you read my post I said that cooked bones were a no no as well as chicken bones that may splinter and pierce the intestine, I feed raw marrow bones but also any other meaty bones I can lay hands on, dogs are carnivores and relish a raw meaty bone. Having tried many feeding regimes over the years there is nothing like a good meaty bone for firming up a stool, also dogs fed on bones suffer less from dental problems than those fed mushy canned goo....
Rgds WB
 
Willowbank, you state in your original post quoted below that chicken bones, raw or not are a NO NO, Limulus quoted you the piece below and was, I believe, refering to your belief that raw chicken bones are a NO NO.

You are incorrect as Limulus has stated, there is no problem with raw bones and I and many people I work my dogs with, feed them to our dogs who are all fit and healthy.

My belief has always been, and backed up by every book,vets advice etc is that any Chicken bones, raw or not is a huge NO NO in that they may splinter and pierce the gut,
Regards Willowbank
 
Willowbank, you state in your original post quoted below that chicken bones, raw or not are a NO NO, Limulus quoted you the piece below and was, I believe, refering to your belief that raw chicken bones are a NO NO.

You are incorrect as Limulus has stated, there is no problem with raw bones and I and many people I work my dogs with, feed them to our dogs who are all fit and healthy.

Without appearing to be argumentative, my post clearly says that cooked bones and ANY Chicken/Bird bones should be avoided as there is a risk of splintering and piercing the gut, you feed them at your peril.

My point was that petfood shops are full of cooked bones of all sizes yet Vets do not recommend them.

I also said that I feed raw beef and marrow bones.

I hope I have now clarified the wording of my post.
 
Last edited:
have used the BARF diet for my dogs and had pretty good success over the years. only problem is regulating the quantity at each feed to maintain a healthly body mass. i try to stick to a "hunted meat" rule as i found less fats than, lets say, butchers off cuts.


only downside.... the fights over food are definatley more aggressive!!!
 
Having just done some very thorough research on the internet regarding RMB and BARF (please note they are very different) feeding any bones to your dogs is absolutely ok. There are however some key things to take into account. The bones you feed your dog should be big enough that they have to chew, tear and pull at it for a while. This gets their gastic juices going and helps digest their meal. It also avoids any possibility of smaller bones becoming stuck somewhere if they try swallow the meal whole. Be careful about feeding too much bone as this has constipating effect. A spoon of olive oil or fish oil should help. Avoid giving cod liver oil as this contains too high quantities of vitamin A. Fish oil is better.
If you dogs vomit after giving them red meat, stick to giving them chicken only for about 3 weeks and slowly introduce deer, lamb or beef in small quantities. It is not uncommon for some dogs to take time to adjust to the new food source as the digestive enzymes in their stomachs need time to adjust.

Read here for some additional help.

http://www.darwinspet.com/transitioning-to-raw-food/
http://www.pet-grub.com/part3/how_to_prevent_vomiting_when_feeding_natural_homemade_pet_food
 
I have fed my black lab raw lamb bones daily for years with no problems. A short while age he developed colitus. I got him onto a very bland diet and eventually it cleared up. I then slowly introduced his old diet. No probs with the dry food but as soon as the lamb bones were introduced back came the colitus. Stopped the bones and it cleared. I now avoid giving him bones.
 
I have fed my black lab raw lamb bones daily for years with no problems. A short while age he developed colitus. I got him onto a very bland diet and eventually it cleared up. I then slowly introduced his old diet. No probs with the dry food but as soon as the lamb bones were introduced back came the colitus. Stopped the bones and it cleared. I now avoid giving him bones.

I urge you to please read this before believing bones were the root cause of your lab's colitis.

http://tinkerwolf.com/2012/05/14/colitis-and-raw-meaty-bones-phoebes-story/

It is also believed that commericial dog foods or kibble are the primary cause of colitis in dogs.

Hope this helps.
 
Back
Top