the lowdown on bones please?!

Lady La La

Lady La La

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my OH has just walked in proudly clutching a bag full of bones donated to the dogs from our butcher. Ive never fed them 'actual' bones before and just wondered if there are any rules or kinds of bones that i shouldnt feed? I know i probably sound like an idiot... They are all uncooked and range from what i can only guess are pigs trotters to ribs and all sorts! The dogs are fed on dry food usually... thanks in advance :)
 
All of them should be fine.

Make sure you don't feed weight bearing bones of large animals to often. So no cow or pig legs to often. Once a week is fine but no more than that.

Also don't feed dry food within 12 hours of the bones.
 
oh dear... OH gave them a bone each earlier today and i have now just fed them... So its only been about 7 hours. Sugar. should i be stressing now?

I knew we shouldnt have messed around with things we didnt understand...

what is the reaon behind not being able to feed them both, appologies if i sound really stupid...
 
Lady La La said:
oh dear... OH gave them a bone each earlier today and i have now just fed them... So its only been about 7 hours. Sugar. should i be stressing now?

I knew we shouldnt have messed around with things we didnt understand...

what is the reaon behind not being able to feed them both, appologies if i sound really stupid...
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They should be fine as a one off but don't do it again.

Its because they are digested at different rates and can cause blockages and also the potential to hold bad bacteria in the gut for to long.
 
Don't panic, you should be fine as you fed them the right way round, bones travel quicker so 7 hrs should be fine, the real danger is if you feed bones After kibble that's when you risk impaction and problems.
 
Never ever feed cooked bones. You can cause serious damage with cooked bones as they can splinter.

I give my pack a bone weekly on a Friday and they get it instead of their normal food. My butcher keeps them for me. I tend to go for ribs from either cows or lambs (get a few lamb ones each as they are small). They also get chicken wings / thighs on other days. Keeps their teeth in brilliant condition. Never once had to have vet attention to teeth and the vet always says how clean they are.

I tend not to feed the big weight bearing leg bones. You can feed them but they are very hard and it is possible for a particulary enthusiastic eater (ie all of mine) to damage teeth.

A good book to buy is 'Give your dog a bone' by Br Ian Billinghurst (a vet). Is all about feeding bones amongst other things!
 
Oberon said:
That's very interesting. I didn't know that.

Is there any difference with cooked bones?
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Cooked bones are a whole different story as the process of cooking them, even lightly changes their constitution, they are turned to a brittle concrete like substance with little nutritional value and a tendency to splinter leaving very sharp shards that can cause fatal damage to the gut.

Raw bones are totally different they are an important food source for quality nutrients as well as being much softer than cooked and therefore easily broken down by a dogs naturally acidic digestive system. They are a key part of a dogs natural fibre intake, unlike us dogs have no dietary requirement for complex carbohydrate so branflakes are not on their menu but raw bones are!

The lack of bones in a raw diet makes it much much less effective but it is hard for some to take a leap of faith, whilst raw feeding is very forgiving in balancing nutrients as a diet, not feeding enough bones can leave vital nutrients and "fibre" lacking.
 
I would only only say, if you feed a bone which the butcher has cut, make sure its a clean cut, we nearly lost a dog when we fed a bone but the butcher had cut so far down and then snapped the rest, there was a real sharp bit and it lasserated her stomach. It was a leg bone so like everyone has already said, be careful because theyre denser anyway. Not so much of a problem with the smaller bones.
 
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