~ Dogs and Chicken Bones ~

Most dog owners know that chicken bones are bad for dogs. I know that. It's bad because the bones tend to splinter into sharp pieces and can puncture their internal organs. We are usually very carefull with leaving food around. When we do leave food on the table, we push all the chairs in or pull them far away from the table so he can't get to it.

Well, he got to the chicken wings last night. I was saving them for my fiance, who was coming home late.

When he got home, he said he's too tired to eat and just wanted to watch an episode of a tvb drama we are watching together and sleep. So, we started watching upstairs and suddenly, I heard the "clink" of chopsticks falling on the table.

I raced downstairs and it was too late. He was already working on veggies 'cause that was on the floor. He already ran inside his crate by the time I got downstairs. He's smart. He knew he did something wrong.

All the chicken wings were gone. I couldn't believe it!!! How can he eat all of them with no traces left?!?! I looked everywhere, but I only found 2 small shards of bone on the table. Nothing else. So my fiance cleaned him up and we kept him upstairs in his crate to observe him.

He seems perfectly fine. He drank water, but not excessively. He was running around when my dad came home. I looked up info online real quick. Basically, a lot of dogs have survived eating chicken bones. Here are some tips I gathered:

1. Make sure he doesn't have anything stuck in his throat. If he is wretching, gagging, vomiting, excessive drinking, licking lips, anxiously pacing or can't sit down comfortably, then you should take him to the vet.
2. Observe for a couple of days. Look out for difficulty defecating, bloody stool, vomiting, stomach swelling, nervous/anxious behavior, abdominal discomfort or any other not quite normal behaviors. Momo pooped ok this morning. No bones, and a little bit loose. Normal color.
3. Overfeed him or give him rice, bread or canned pumpkin to help him pad his stomach and poop. The fibre will also make him poop a lot so hopefully he'll poop out all the bones. I tried to give him rice, but he didn't want it. He didn't want to eat his regular food this morning, but he tends to do that. I gave him a bunch of treats last night because I want him to have something in his stomach besides the bones and he refused to eat his regular food last night too. So, before I left this morning, I gave him some treats again.

Just a side note...raw bones are not as bad. Because cooked bones are dryer and brittle and more likely to break into sharp splinters. I quickly scanned through HavaneseForum and saw that alot of people actually feed their dog raw bones. Looks like chicken or turkey neck bones are the bones of choice. It's part of the BARF (bones and raw food) diet.

Lesson learned? NEVER leave food alone in the room with Momo. He's not to be trusted. How can he look so sweet and innocent and be so devious?

Here are the articles I read about this:

http://saveabull.com/2008/my-dog-ate-chicken-bones/

http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?t=461793

http://dogs.thefuntimesguide.com/2006/05/dog_ate_chicken_bones.php