Hi, William –

While I did not see this happen myself, apparently a cooked “drumstick” portion of a BBQ chicken wing fell on the kitchen floor last evening, and my dog snatched it up. Normally, he will drop any food when you tell him to, but in this case, it sounds like he basically swallowed the chicken wing whole, or with very little chewing.

His behavior last night and this morning has been completely normal.

I don’t find this problem addressed in the books I have.

Should I be concerned about my dog’s ability to digest the rather large bone in the chicken wing, or about the bone splintering in his GI tract?

If this is something that will digest and pass through, about how many days should I expect it to take (so I know when to stop worrying)?

(At little more info):
My dog is a 10-year-old Border Collie/Australian Shepherd cross. He weighs 50 pounds. No serious health problems, although he has developed quite a few lipomas and has recently started to show signs of arthritis.

The “drumstick” chicken wing I refer to is that portion of the wing that looks like a smaller version of the lower part of a chicken leg, the part we sometimes call a “drumstick”. It contains one single long bone with cartilage on the ends, and is probably about 2.5” to 2.75” long.

I do have a basic 30C Remedy Kit, a 200C Remedy Kit, a 6x Cell Salt Kit, plus some additional odd remedies in various potencies if you think there is a remedy that might help.

Any advice would be appreciated!

Tracy
P.S. I met you late last fall over at Hpathy, then found that you had moved over here. I’ve been meaning to post here just to say and hello and tell you what a great job you are doing here, and how much I appreciate the time that you spend helping people with their critters.

Hi Tracy,

Very nice to meet you again on this forum !

If your dog isn`t whining this may be a good sign. In case of whining or other symptoms (e.g. loss of blood) he should be seen by a vet. Chicken bones or bone splinters can get stuck anywhere from the mouth on down and can puncture holes in the gut which is very dangerous for your dog. It`s also possible he will either pass the bone(s) in his stool or vomit them up (or both) and perhaps show signs of indigestion. Difficult to tell exactly how long this will take.

So in case of serious doubt....please see/call the vet or homeopathic vet !

As for the arthritis I may be able to help you here, so please feel free to post your case on this vet. forum and mention all symptoms/modalities.

Wim

__________________
Homeopath for people and animals.
(Sorry, Wim no longer works here.)

Thanks, William.

Unfortunately, you said exactly what I was afraid you would say.

Do you think it might be of benefit for me to add a very small amount of a natural, cold-pressed oil to my dog's food for the net few days to help things slide through his GI tract? (or even butter?)

He is still acting completely normal. I will see how he reacts when I feed him breakfast in a little bit.

Tracy

I suppose there`s no harm in trying some natural oil......I`ve never tried this for bones.....but don`t give too big a meal.

Wim

__________________
Homeopath for people and animals.
(Sorry, Wim no longer works here.)

Okay, thanks William.

I will keep his meals small for awhile and see how it goes.

Looks like I will need to be on "poop patrol" for awhile, too. That's okay - I'm sure my neighbors will get a good laugh at me out there in my bathrobe and snow boots in the early morning.

Tracy

Yes, Tracy.....`poop control` is obligatory now....

Wim

__________________
Homeopath for people and animals.
(Sorry, Wim no longer works here.)

If the bone was swallowed whole is there really a problem? Cooked bones can splinter easily so if the animal chews it first it will be consumed as splintered bone. Dogs were designed to digest raw bone (that happens in the acidic stomach, not the intestine), and many dogs the size of yours will swallow much larger raw bones whole, like leg drumsticks. It may just take a while to move through if it isn't your dog's normal diet.

I agree that if it were swallowed whole it should not be a problem for a dog that size. My dog eats raw chicken legs bones all the time altho she does smash them up really well before swallowing them. She is raw fed also.
The small tumors are probably a result of feeding commercial dog foods. Dogs need meat/bones and organs for optimum health. Feeding soft edible un cooked bones will not harm your dog. Cooked bones can splinter, raw bones do not. The only difficulty that my dog has had in the past 14 months of eating a raw meaty bone diet was a couple weeks ago and that passed. I had fed too much bone and not enough meat.
You should only feed about 10% bones to 85% meaty meat in a meal. And I usually only feed bones every two days, not daily. At least till I am sure Luka is back to nomal again.
She is under homeopathic treatment for vaccinosis and doing very well. But then she has a great Dutch homeopath on the case!

Julie

PS. Here are some links for learning about the benefits of raw feeding.

http://www.rawlearning.com
http://www.rawmeatybones.com
http://www.rawfed.com/myths/
http://www.rawfeddogs.net/
http://www.ukrmb.co.uk/

Thanks for your responses, Dillweed and Wise Owl.

The chicken bone was COOKED, and I can’t be sure how much the dog may have chewed it before he swallowed it.

As of this morning, the dog is his normal, happy self, and his bowel movement last evening was completely normal also. Upon, uh…. more thorough inspection…., I did not find any blood or bone pieces or cartilage in the stool, either.

Wise Owl, I’ve read your posts about raw diet and vaccines before, and I’ve tried to educate myself about this. Because of prevailing thought in the veterinary community here, the prevalence of certain diseases, the lack of availability of quality raw foods, the remote location of the town I live in, and the fact that I am disabled and barely able to feed myself a half-way sensible diet, I will probably not go the raw food route.

I have upgraded my pets’ commercial food with what is available locally, and may have to start ordering even better food.

I think in the near future, we will see more convenient, raw pet foods marketed commercially, and there are a couple of them already on the market, which I am looking into.

The closest experienced homeopath is 200 miles away over 2 mountain passes that are often closed in winter, and homeopathy is virtually unknown here in my town. Although I am learning, I certainly do not know enough to stop vaccinating and begin using homeopathic remedies as preventatives. At this point, I am trying to protect my pets from the vaccines they receive by using h. remedies, before and after.

That’s about all I can do at this point.

Tracy

Tracy, you do the best you can. Clearly your pooch is well loved.

Even if he chewed the bone first it doesn't mean it is necessarily a problem. I recall a time in my childhood when one of our large dogs cleaned up the entire turkey carcass left over from Thanksgiving dinner. He belched a lot and didn't eat for a few days.