Purina's "information" On Feeding Bones To Dogs

[Whippetsmum]

Hi,

I just recieved an email from Purina (mailing list from when pup was young) and one of their newsletter topics was dangerous foods for dogs over the holiday period. OK, caffeine, chocolate avocado etc.....I agree with that, but then came bones....not cooked bones, all bones apparantly.

Here's what they say:

Animal bonesWhile bones are not toxic, their ability to splinter is extremely dangerous for your dog. They can cause cuts and lacerations inside your dog’s mouth as well as their stomach and digestive system. Bones can also cause obstruction in the throat and digestive system which can result in choking or suffocation. Just remember, bones are not a treat, they’re a potential threat to your dog’s health

2 thoughts to ponder.....I wonder how all the wild dogs survived without processed packaged foods...apparantly wandering the wild with perforated bowels and things stuck in their throats, and ....Any ideas what bones they'd be if not animal?

[Staranais]

Well, to be fair they're perfectly right that these things can happen. I know dogs that all of those things have happened to.

But I'm not sure that they're being realistic about how often it happens. Most dogs eat soft, raw bones with no problems at all, let alone dangerous problems like bowel perforations.

[WreckitWhippet]

Yep it could happen but the health benefits of feeding raw on the bone, far out weighs the potential risks.

The worst that's happened to us in years of feeding raw is a splinter of bone that went into one of my dogs gums. She couldn't close her mouth after breakfast and we realsied within minutes there was a problem , located and removed it.

Weight baring bones are a no no in this house, but the softer consumable bone , with meat on it, gets the green light

[White Shepherd mom]

We almost lost Casper to pancreatitis after he ate a big marrow bone. My vet told me he discourages people from feeding their dogs bones because of all the problems he's had to treat that were caused by bones.

There are risks with everything, no matter how much we try to do right by them.

Non animal bones I guess could be the rawhide treats in the shape of bones?

[Shepherd 08]

Never had a problem with bones in over 20 years of owning large breeds (Labrador and GSDs). These days I mainly use brisket bones and occasionally a big marrow bone. I'd imagine bones are less of a hazard for larger breeds?

[PuddleDuck]

This has probably originated from the Australian Veterinary Association starting to warn against offering bones because of potential issues: LINK

[Kaz]

Whopping great dinosaur bones here. My guys can chomp down a briskit in two seconds flat so I do worry about splinters and obstructions.

They can only gnaw slowly on the tyrannosaurus bones so these are the only ones they get on a regular basis.

[Staranais]

I'd love to see studies on the incidence of the various serious problems that can be caused by raw bones. I had a look once, and couldn't find anything investigating it. It would be good to be able to work out the stats, e.g. to calculate things like, out of every 10,000 bones eaten, how many dogs have a gut perforation that requires surgery. And then we would know for sure how risky eating bones is, compared to other things our dogs do.

As it is, everyone's just guessing. Vets who see all the local gut perforations and who have not necessarily researched raw feeding probably greatly over-estimate the risk of eating bones (and dog food companies like that message since they can't corner the market on raw bones!) But on the other hand, there's no doubt that some dogs do die or need surgery as a result of eating bones.

Edited December 8, 2010 by Staranais

[Souff]

Funny that message is coming from a processed dog food seller ......remembering all the kafuffle over the Raw Meaty Bones and AVA saga ....

Oh well, Souff will still be sending people to sites like this one .... that quote the work of vets too : http://www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com/animals.htm

Souff

[Janba]

I wonder how dogs survive in their natural state without all dying from the problems caused by eating bones

Dogs evolved to eat bones (among other things) not processed food which hasn't been around for that long.

[SkySoaringMagpie]

I suppose the flip side might be dogs whose health is compromised by really shitty teeth. One thing the vets always comment on at our yearly check ups is our dogs' clean healthy teeth. We have also never had any anal gland problems.

I think supervision and choosing the right bone for your dog counts for a lot, and while I don't want to jinx myself, we've not had a bone related injury in 8 years.

[Rileys mum]

How frustrating. Sure those things could happen but not as often as they make owners think. That sounds like if u feed 1 bone your dog will die. Totally irresponsible thing to write really.

There is definately a responsible way to feed bones which have very little risk. My boy regularly gets bones and his teeth and skin are impeccable. Even his vet commented on his beautiful teeth on our last visit. He sure doesn't have them from kibble lol.

Shame on purina.

[poodlemum]

I suppose the flip side might be dogs whose health is compromised by really shitty teeth. One thing the vets always comment on at our yearly check ups is our dogs' clean healthy teeth. We have also never had any anal gland problems.

I think supervision and choosing the right bone for your dog counts for a lot, and while I don't want to jinx myself, we've not had a bone related injury in 8 years.

Same here

[laneka]

I switched over to BARF about a month ago and feed raw meaty beef bones and chicken carcasses. All but one of my dogs line up for their food and they look fantastic. I have one bitch who will not eat meat and veges, nor will she eat chicken carcasses. Yes we have starved her for a week then caved in. She is very happy on her meat and dry with a beef bone every second day. This bitch thinks I am going to poison her if I offer her yoghurt. Anything different in her bowl and she walks away. She has me beat.

[Sandra777]

Whopping great dinosaur bones here. My guys can chomp down a briskit in two seconds flat so I do worry about splinters and obstructions.

They can only gnaw slowly on the tyrannosaurus bones so these are the only ones they get on a regular basis.

Ouchy - good way for my lot to grind down their teeth and even shatter them.

It just so much depends on the breed what is suitable - I would no more give a Stafford a dinosaur bone than I'd give one to a Chihuahua.

Brisket bones are out here after one of ours tried to swallow one without chewing it first and choaked to death (yes supervised)

Ribs, carcases, turkey necks and chicken wings, whole or halved rabbits are much appreciated and in NZ whole possums were a staple. (sorry )

Edited December 8, 2010 by Sandra777

[Kirty]

My dogs get large bones regularly and they have brilliant teeth. My oldies are 9 and 10 and no shattered teeth here? Dogs teeth were designed to crunch bones.

I do know many vets and nurses who refuse to feed bones though after seeing horrible things at work...

[Sandra777]

My dogs get large bones regularly and they have brilliant teeth. My oldies are 9 and 10 and no shattered teeth here? Dogs teeth were designed to crunch bones.

As I said - depends so much on the breed. I would guess from your signature line that none of your dogs have the physical jaw strength to exert enough pressure on a bone to shatter either the bone or the teeth - and oops if it's the teeth.

IMO dogs were not designed to crunch the weight bearing bones of large herbivores - that's hyenas you're thinking of

[WreckitWhippet]

My dogs get large bones regularly and they have brilliant teeth. My oldies are 9 and 10 and no shattered teeth here? Dogs teeth were designed to crunch bones.

As I said - depends so much on the breed. I would guess from your signature line that none of your dogs have the physical jaw strength to exert enough pressure on a bone to shatter either the bone or the teeth - and oops if it's the teeth.

IMO dogs were not designed to crunch the weight bearing bones of large herbivores - that's hyenas you're thinking of

I won't feed any of the large bones to mine either. My old boy fractured a tooth on one of those. Prior to that his teeth had been brilliant. That was the start of the downhill run , when it came to his teeth. I had to have it removed and then his mouth shifted, the tartar built up and he had to have dentals after that.

[Kirty]

My dogs are decent sized and they really damage the bones. I buy the big cow leg bones and they end up chewed down to just a 20cm stump.

[Mrs Rusty Bucket]

I don't let my dog eat bones unsupervised.

It doesn't matter if they're raw. She makes splinters out of them and then eats the splinters. Any bone from beef neck/vertebrae, lamb shanks - which my vet *recommended*, and the big beef shin bones.

The splinters either get vomitted - usually at 3am on the antique persian carpet, or crapped, again causing unexpected uncontrolled explosions, dog doesn't quite make it outside.

I gave her a raw chicken wing - once - never again. That also came back to haunt us and I can no longer look at pink frosting without thinking of that vomit.

And there is also this risk - and something similar happened to a dog that inhaled a chicken carcass on bondi vet.

http://www.adelaidevet.com.au/zoes-bony-treat

What she gets instead? Lots of carrots, rationed bits of rawhide (and yes they've got their own problems), and dried roo strips (not the bones, just flesh). Teeth seem ok. Very white.

She likes the pedigree dentastix that secret santa sent too. Must put photo up in correct thread.