We all love spoiling our little fur babies. We spoil them with toys, praise, beds, and food/bones. But, there is some information that you may want to hear before giving your dog a bone.
Bones can keep your dog occupied so you can get some stuff done (this is the reason most of the time, don’t deny it), they are tasty, and they last a long time. But, what we don’t think about are the hazards that come with them. As veterinary professionals, we see a lot of complications due to ingestion of bones, cow hooves, and bully sticks. Listed below are the most common issues we see with bone ingestion.
1) Gastrointestinal obstruction: Some of the shards or other large and pointy pieces, can’t make it down the GI tract on their own due to size and shape. To correct this, we would have to do an exploratory surgery of the GI tract to find the object and remove it. It’s an awfully expensive surgery for a very cheap and unsafe bone.
2) Fractured teeth: Because of it being bone, it is too hard for your dog to chew on. A fractured tooth can be mild or it can be severe to where your dog needs to be anesthetized to have full dental radiographs and/or an extractions.
3) Perforation of the GI tract: Along with obstruction of the GI tract, there can also be perforation caused by the sharp edges of the bone. Again, surgery would be necessary to fix any internal bleeding that may occur. Flushing out the abdomen is also necessary to prevent sepsis.
There are many more issues with giving your dog bones. But, you can check to see if it is too hard at home. If you can’t make an indent in the bone with your fingernail, the bone/toy is too hard. For more information on on this topic, call us at 919-362-0515 or email us at animalhospitalofpeakplaza@gmail.com.
