How naive of me.

The BBQ Pit
#1

My dog, Kiba (my very first dog), has been acting as if he has a cold for the past 3days.
It aggravated to the point of hearing him coughing phlegm through the day and night. Licking his poor irritated-dry nose like it’s a lollypop. Snot flying every time he sneezed. Lack of appetite.

So finally I was able to get him to the Vet today. One look at him and hearing him, the Vet asked: what do you give him to chew on?
Well, i told him… He has many chew toys: rope, jumbo-sized-tennis balls, and these rawhide bones.

Shaking his head, the Vet told me that the latter was the problem. You see, the preservatives they put in these ‘bones’ burn the dog’s throat. In my dog’s case, that was it. Thankfully, it didn’t get to the stomach nor the liver, so it wasn’t life threatening.

Burns?! Did I just hear him right? When I was buying him chew-toys so he wouldn’t destroy my furniture, I saw these rawhide bones. It had a freaken “Vet approved” label on it, and the dog can’t seem to get enough of. Didn’t have warnings, didn’t have any indication that it could be potentially hazardous.

The Vet also showed me a kind of dry food, that’s also labeled “Vet approved”. The stuff in it, given daily, can create major health problems for your dog or cat on the long run. It’s not even real food! It’s lefover-guarbage with flavors.

:smack: I am disappointed with myself. I shouldn’t blindly accept things that are “Vet approved” without asking a couple of vets and researching into it. I mean, I could have killed my Kiba!:frowning:
:mad: I pit myself for ignorance, and those who create this poison that you unknowingly consume or give your pets that is a potential hazard and killer, so called “approved”.

#2

Yeah, our vet told us to avoid rawhide chew toys like the plague.

My aunt got pissed at my mom for refusing to give our puppy rawhide.

#3

Humm. My vet seems to think the small rawhide bones are fine, but pigs’ ears are to avoided like the plague.

Now I’m confused.

#4

Just for clarification, how does one “avoid The Plague™”?

I really need to know. 'Cause I’m always seeing advice to avoid some thing or the other “like the plague.”

:confused:

#5

[dumb mode]
Euuuh…by wearing a biohazard suit, and with a flamethrower, burn all that is affected by the plague?
[/dumb mode]

The vet suggested to get a real cow bone from the groceries shops, boil it, and then dry it in the oven.
It makes a great tasting chewtoy, not harmful and it lasts
[sing it!]
a lalalala long a lalalalaly long long ly long long
[/sing it]
time. :smiley:

#6

Oh! forgot to add.

It’s greatly enjoyed by our canine friends to fetch a stick or small tree branch.
Actually, the core of the ‘skin’ of that could also cause burns. So if you’d have the head for it, get a nice stick, peel it until the soft (to the touch) layer stayes.

#7

What about the charred hooves and the cornstarch-based chewers (they have a rubber-like texture)? Has anybody heard anything about those?

By the way Sekhmett Kiba, that’s terrible. I hope your poochie gets all better soon.

#8

Anyway, it’s cliches that are to be avoided like the plague – dog chews are to be avoided like they’re covered with doggie-saliva.

#9

thanks Gravity :slight_smile: he’s getting antibiotics and anti-inflamatory pills.

He is still energetic little pain-in-the-ass :smiley:

#10

Weeeel…just to be really anal about it…the only problem with sticks or tree branches are splinters.

It’s not guaranteed they’ll be a problem, of course, but they can be. Splinters or actual chunks of wood can get stuck up under their gums, or in their throats and cause problems.

Our dog gets rope toys, tennis balls or the boiled & baked bones. She’ll grab a stick and run around with it but we take it off her before she gets to chewing on it too much.

#11

I’m going with Triss on this one. We used to get cow bones (I had a cocker spaniel, and lord, my pup actually gnawed open a cow’s skull once. Granted, it took almost a year and a half, but one day she comes prancing up with this chunk in her mouth, looking like the cat’s meow (I know, cross cliche)) and rope toys. If you want something they can get into without looking at dangerous things as well, go for Milkbone biscuts too. I’ve seen the ones made for extremely big dogs last a long time with toy and small breeds (like my cocker.)

#12

The very last time I was at the house of some former friends, their two dogs were busy finishing off rawhide chunks they’d been working on all day.

The room reeked of really bad farts. They were sitting on the couch, completely oblivious to the acrid smell. Before I could open my mouth (which took no small amount of consideration), one of the dogs let out a big long rip.

I said something about it. They ignored me. I actually had to stand up and say that I was leaving if they didn’t open a window and get rid of the dogs before they moved a muscle.

Ten minutes later the window was closed (“It’s cold!”) and the dogs were back in the room.

I didn’t stay long.

This was all my fault, I was being mean.

(No, this wasn’t the reason for the break, but it was certainly the foul icing on the cake.)

#13

Nothing to add except salut! to another Doperealer.

#14

I’ve heard that natural bones can be dangerous. The splinters of bone can puncture their stomachs, or chunks can get stuck in the intestines.

Watch your dog carefully when they’re chewing on a bone. Make sure they’re not breaking off chunks and swallowing them, and make sure the bone is not splintering.

#15

And can someone clear up the pig ear issue for me? That’s my dog’s favorite treat.

#16

Depends on the dog, I’d think. Milkbones of the giant caliber lasted about .02 milliseconds to my 135 pound Rottie bitch. I don’t think she even chewed them.

Lissa , that’s chicken bones you’re thinking of that splinter. NEVER EVER EVER give chicken bones to any animal, if a splinter gets lodged in their digestive tract and pierces it, it’s almost always a very painful death sentence.

Cow bones are usually perfectly safe, my Rottie used to adore the enormous cow femurs, though I would take away the pieces she’d eventually chew off that I judged to be chokable. I’m not sure of the safety of hambones, but my Rott always got the huge hambone complete with plenty of scraps attached after I’d carve a holiday ham. She was always supervised with it, however, and once she got down to crunching up the bone itself, I’d usually take it away, crack the bones myself, scoop out the marrow and put it in her food.

I never gave her rawhide for all the listed reasons, plus the additional reason that it’s a freakin nasty thing to have around your house and turns into glue when it’s been chewed long enough and abandoned. And they inevitably get chewed on the couch.

#17

Ok, looked up the pig’s ears thing. Looks like the biggest danger listed was the transmission of salmonella from the pig’s ears to humans.

http://www.minglewoodkennels.com/news0001.html

http://www.i-dog.com/archives/151.html

http://www.fda.gov/ora/fiars/ora_import_ia7203.html

http://www.petsmart.com/dog/answers/health_and_nutrition/articles/article_6428.shtml

#18

We stopped giving our old dog bones because when she had them, she was nasty and would growl if anyone came near her-which was the fault of my father and my sister, who would tease her when she had the bone. “Oooh, lemme have some of that!”
(Reaching for the bone and snatching their hands away. Lassie would get annoyed and then started acting all territorial.)

In my sister’s defense, she was about five years old. Sadly, my father was a grown man in his forties then. He should have known better.

#19

I get my dog these great leg bones at the butcher house. They are oven roasted or so it seems and he can’t break them with his jaws. He goes nuts when I bring one home, we don’t see him for about an hour. They are a little costly at $4.00
This guy will chew anything and actually one day got a rose thorn stuck in his tongue. That cost us a trip to the animal ER. I never did like the rawhide chews or the pig ears.

#20

When my dog was a puppy, she had the agressive habit of growling whenever anyone approached her food. One day I realized that I needed to break her of this, or as an adult, she’d think she could cower me.

I gave her a tasty meal, let her get started on it, and then took it from her. When she growled, I said NO very sharply, and made her sit before I gave it back. I did this over and over for a while until she would give it up without a sound, at which I praised her lavishly.

I think you could probably still break the dog of that habit, no matter how old she is, unless, of course, you’re really afraid she might bite you, and then you’ve really got serious issues.