Bones

jellyfish

Toki is teething! Hooray!

What chewies and bones are safe to chew?

I've been giving him bulky sticks. He LOVES them. He hates nylabones. He loved smoked bones and rawhide chewies, though I took those up really quickly. Didn't get a good vibe from them, so no more. He has a sensitive stomach, the vet thinks, but the bully stick doesn't seem to effect his poop. Granted, he has put hardly a dent in them; he hasnt destroyed anything in the house, not even his squeaky plush toys. He isn't a powerful chewer, just likes the oral fixation.

I'm a little confused and overloaded with a plethora of information on the Internet. I'm sure this has been discussed on this forum, so, I apologize in advanced if this is another repeat.


This is my understanding, could someone double check my knowledge? I'm not very confident on what I know,

Bully sticks: good
Antlers: good
Rawhide chews: bad
Soup bones: good..... but could cause diarrhea in sensitive stomachs, like possibly Toki?
Cooked bones: bad
Smoked bones: bad
Raw bones: mostly good
Raw bones from weight bearing bones (ie:femurs): bad
Raw bone turkey necks: good...really good.
Raw bone Knuckles: good.....what the hell is a knuckle on an animal anyway? Haha
Raw bone beef bones: bad? Kinda confused on this one
Raw bone chicken and turkey legs and wing bones: good?
Raw bone pig bones: good
Shark bones and kangaroo tail bones: bad
Cow hooves: good....and stinky
Pig ears: bad

When you give a raw bone, do you give it with meat on it or just the naked bone? When do you take it away from your pup? How to you find them, like, go to Target and talk to the butcher? Do you pay for them or are they left overs? Sorry for the newbie questions!


What else is OK for a teething puppies...preferably those with possibly sensitive stomachs, granted, I would think a raw diet would sit wells on any pup.

Thanks!!! Happy new year! I'm not doing anything, obviously, lol!
Julia

Losech

Soup/marrow bones are sometimes leg bones (weight bearing) or joints (knuckles). I don't really give my dogs either, but if he's not a power chewer then they should be okay. They can cause digestive upset due to the marrow which is very rich.
Beef ribs are fine. My dogs get those often and over time they whittle them down to "tooth picks" that I take away when they are too small/bust into sharp pieces.
Chicken bones (wings mainly) only if Toki is a good chewer. If he gulps it down it could get stuck. Turkey tends to have bigger bones, my dogs get turkey all the time.
I can't find shark or roo bones... But I'd probably avoid them anyways.
I give my dogs pig ears, but only certain kinds. They don't last long at all.

I don't give bones with no meat on them mainly because of Sasha, and they are expensive here. She's a power chewer when it comes to bones, and if you saw my thread about her and Juneau, Sasha's chipped a tooth recently. I only give bones with a good covering of meat and let the dogs strip them down on their own.
I didn't know Target had a meat department, let alone a butcher? I normally just get mine from the grocery. Whole chickens, turkey backs/necks and beef ribs are the main types I get. Anything else that might be on sale is good also.

Does he have any chew toys? Like a Kong, or other durable rubber toy? I don't really like a lot of them since they can break but they work good for some dogs.

ttddinh

Bea is a really powerful chewer so she get RBMs once or twice a week. I pretty much agree with the above list but I do give beef bones. She has been eating raw bones all her life so it doesn't bother her (I got her when she was older)

jellyfish

Ah thanks! Toki has a kong, but isn't interested it unless it has food in it. He has a yellow ring from the breeders, but has grown tired of it, like an old toy. Puppies do that, go thru phases with their toys, then like them later. He pretty much likes stuffed animals and bully sticks...and the occasional couch and human leg, lol! We're working on that one

If I get a whole chicken, how do I figure that into how much food he needs in a day? Like, do I skip his breakfast or give him his regular kibble amount anyway? He is currently on prescription ID kibble from the vet; were still trying to figure out what sits well with his stomach. Poor pup.

Back home, (in the boonies south of Houston) there is a grocery store that sells things like cow tongue and chiterlins. I'd probably be able to get some sort of bone. I used to have a friend working in the butcher there anyway. We will be going there soon in a week or so. Though, here in Dallas, there is about to be a Mexican meat market down the road about to open. Im doubtful about target, but Asian markets seem promising.


What is RBM?

Losech

RMB = Raw Meaty Bone. Beef rib, turkey leg/back/neck, chicken whatever... That sort of stuff. Bones with a lot of raw meat on them.

Generally with pups, it's 2.5% of their predicted adult weight or 10% of their current weight. (I did the 2.5% of predicted adult weight with Conker)
If you're still gonna feed kibble then cut both amounts in half, so skip the kibble in the morning and feed raw instead, then kibble in evening or the other way around.

jellyfish

So, I have given Toki a turkey neck!
I found it at Walmart!







So, I guess I am nervous cause it is raw and a bone and I've never done this before
I'm gonna take it up when there is no more meat on it this time. Its taking him forever to eat the meat off the bone, is this normal?

Okay, for future reference, to double check, I take the bone away when it is really small or grinded a lot down? Does anyone let their dog eat the bone in its entirety and never take it away? How long does the bone last your dog?

jellyfish

p.s. one more question, when I take up the turkey neck, if there still is meat on it, do I put it in the freezer or is that unsanitary to Toki?

ttddinh

Bea eats the whole neck, bones and all. But I am not sure with Toki since he's still a pup. yes, it takes quite some time...that is normal, since he's still a pup. I would put the meat on a placemat or towel, so he is use to eating off of it, just for sanitary purposes

Losech

My dogs eat the entire bone of smaller things, including turkey necks. I only take larger harder bones away once the meat is gone or they've whittled it down enough that it's a hazard.
I freeze, thaw, refreeze and rethaw all the time, it doesn't harm anything. It's perfectly okay to do that despite what everyone might say about refreezing meat.

jellyfish

Ah okay! Thanks! I feel a lot more confident now. I didn't let him finish the neck, but next time I will. I gave him his regular kibble in addition to the neck. I'm interested to see what his poop looks like in the morning! He LOVED the turkey neck, and he let me take it away from him of which, I am greatly pleased with this.

Anyway, thanks again. I'm sure my newbie questions are pretty silly, teehee

venus

mine would eat it all and i also freeze, thraw and refreeze, specially in warm weather. and questions are never silly if you don't know the answer how will you find out if you don't ask. i'm still fairly new to raw feeding myself and still get worried about things, but i'm a memeber of a few forums and a yahoo groups that normally have the answers i'm looking for.
infact i felt so confident that when we recently rescued a kitten that hadn't been very well looked after, i switched her onto raw also. our vet wasn't expecting her to survive, she was weaned early on to a very poor quality supermaket cat biscuit, was covered in fleas and very tiny and quiet. now 3 weeks later she is gaining weight well, flea free and driving the dogs insane with her funny antics. i really do think her diet is what saved her.

jellyfish

That is such an awesome story! Im glad to hear your kitten doing much better! Cats hae a special place in my heart, I grew up with them all my life. A few weeks ago, one of my cats who I was the closest to, passed away. She wasn't eating, her liver and heart was failing her, and she was only 14 or 15. (All my cats have lived to be 18-20.) Now that I have joined this forum and had a completly new world of wonderful knowledge opened up to me, I wonder if she had been fed better food, her organs wouldn't have failed her. I am glad you are feeding your kitten raw food and she is improving!! It seems like a raw diet is a life saver )))

jellyfish

Okay, so since giving Toki the turkey neck last morning, he has been having cow patty like poops. Not quiet diarrhea, but NOT anything formed. At first his poop had a little bit of mucus in it, but it was formed, so I didn't worry. Now, this morning and last night, it has been cow patty-ish. Has anyone evr had problems giving their dog raw food and having bad stool? I thought his poop would improve ((

Also, and I think this is unrelated. But last night and this morning, he had thrown up on an hour long car ride, he hadn't eaten breakfast yet. Though, last night, it was nothing, and it sounded throaty, like if he pulled too hard on his leash. This morning, he did the same thing, but he pulled really hard on his leash, but he pooped first before throwing up a small amount of white foam, which still sounded throaty. He has pulled really hard on his leash before and vomited white foam, but it was immediately after. Why is he vommiting?!

Other that that, he acts completely normal and eats very well.

Saya

Could be from having new protein? Saya had mucous in her poop a few times in her first week of raw she also had loose watery poop once when new to raw.

How much of turkey did toki get? Did he eat any of the bone? That usually helps firm poop up. Hope he does better soon.

jellyfish

I think the turkey necks were cut in half, I thought turkeys had really long necks...I gave him two 6" segments the first night, but I took them up before he could really put a dent in them. No bone.

Yesterday morning, I gave him one segment, he ate half of it, including bone. That was it.

He had kibble last night and this morning, but kibble takes forever to go through the digestive system, so I don't think his poops have had time to improve. But still, I'm sad.

Losech

Just give him less of the turkey neck. Conker's will look like that if I give him too much new stuff too soon. If he still has pudding poo then cut it out for a day or two until it's normal, then give him another, very small, piece and see how it goes.
Turkeys do have really long necks, the ones at the store are often hacked in half since they're so huge.