Puppy swallowing bone help please?!?

Tina20

I've been slowly introducing raw foods to my puppy, as she's on wag and I'd like to get her on raw foods. So we gave her a bone from the butchers today and I researched whether it would be ok for her at 11 weeks. Evidence suggested yes, as many breeders etc give pups as young as 6 weeks bones to gnaw on and play with.

So I gave it to her. She's LOVED it, picking out the marrow etc. Except the bone had a bit of what looked like a flap of skin hanging off it, I didn't bat an eyelid. Except OH said the flap of skin had bone on it, we inspected and it seemed to be skin with a bit of bone/cartilage INSIDE it, the hard bit inside seemed about the size of an oval skimming stone, about 3 inches circumference. We agreed to keep an eye on it, and if she seemed keen on eating it we'd take that bit off.

She's been in the kitchen (which is connected to living room so we can both see her at all times) and I've just noticed that the skin flap thing with the hard bit inside is gone :-O Definately, unmistakably gone, and nowhere in the kitchen.....OH is really mad saying I should have removed it, but we both thought it'd be too big for her to swallow!

I have no idea if it was bone inside the little flesh sac, or cartilage but it's gone She must have swallowed it! What do I do?! She seems fine! The time between us seeing the bit of flesh/bone/stuff and it disappearing was only 5-10 minutes!

The bone seemed to be a large joint with a socket in it, either of a pig or small cow, any ideas what this weird skin flap with hard bit inside was?

Don't know what to do

She's an 11 week old rottweiler, I can't feel anything palpating her tummy and her mood is good

HELP!

Tina20

Ok, on looking at a measuring tape it was more 2 inches circumference

coinxoperated

Argh, I hate people giving dogs bones for this exact reason. All bones splinter to an extent even if it's beef. Please stop. There are plenty of chews made of raw hide? Pigs ears etc which do not cause such worrys or accidents. Nothing frustrates me more.

Keep an eye on her for the next few hours/ days. If she poo's ok, doesn't seem in any discomfort, isnt throwing up etc she should be ok, but at any sign that she's uncomfortable you need to take her straight to a vet.

krlyr

coinxoperated wrote: »

Argh, I hate people giving dogs bones for this exact reason. All bones splinter to an extent even if it's beef. Please stop. There are plenty of chews made of raw hide? Pigs ears etc which do not cause such worrys or accidents. Nothing frustrates me more.

To be honest I'd rather feed my dogs bone than rawhide, I've heard of many more dogs choking on rawhide, being sick, getting blockages, etc. due to how poorly digested it is (not to mention the issues surrounding bleached/chemically treated rawhide from China and similar)
Dogs have a great digestive system designs to deal with raw meal and bones. Yes, bone can cause blockage but raw bone is less likely to cause problems than cooked bones, which should be avoided. My eat bone at least once or twice a week, have done for the last 2.5 years, and they've had no problems.
I'd just be a little more selective about the bones you feed, I've had to stop feeding some bones as I've found the middle parts too brittle or the shape of them to be unsuitable (had issues with vertebrae getting stuck on Casper's teeth), and keep up with close supervision until you're sure she's got the hang of chewing things before swallowing them.

Tina20

coinxoperated wrote: »

Argh, I hate people giving dogs bones for this exact reason. All bones splinter to an extent even if it's beef. Please stop. There are plenty of chews made of raw hide? Pigs ears etc which do not cause such worrys or accidents. Nothing frustrates me more.

Keep an eye on her for the next few hours/ days. If she poo's ok, doesn't seem in any discomfort, isnt throwing up etc she should be ok, but at any sign that she's uncomfortable you need to take her straight to a vet.

I appreciate your thoughts, although in this case it's not an issue of bones splintering at all. Plus the fact she's a puppy, she's gonna have to have MEGA strong teeth I.E adult teeth to chew it enough to splinter it....Raw hide is not recommended for puppys btw

Thanks for your advice, I will be keeping a close eye on her

Tina20

krlyr wrote: »

To be honest I'd rather feed my dogs bone than rawhide, I've heard of many more dogs choking on rawhide, being sick, getting blockages, etc. due to how poorly digested it is (not to mention the issues surrounding bleached/chemically treated rawhide from China and similar)
Dogs have a great digestive system designs to deal with raw meal and bones. Yes, bone can cause blockage but raw bone is less likely to cause problems than cooked bones, which should be avoided. My eat bone at least once or twice a week, have done for the last 2.5 years, and they've had no problems.
I'd just be a little more selective about the bones you feed, I've had to stop feeding some bones as I've found the middle parts too brittle or the shape of them to be unsuitable (had issues with vertebrae getting stuck on Casper's teeth), and keep up with close supervision until you're sure she's got the hang of chewing things before swallowing them.

Thanks for this, very interesting info! I'm hoping it was just cartilage, as what kind of bone is tiny and oval and encased in a flesh pocket? I'm thinking it might be a knee cap or something, is that bone or cartilage?
We used to feed cartilage to our spaniels when we had them, so I'm thinking thats pretty easy to digest?

Tina20

Ok, have done some research and I think this was definately a cow knee cap!

So, my dog has swallowed a kneecap :shocked:

At least it wasn't an action man I guess

Caroline_a

Both my dogs have had raw bones since they were pretty young, with no adverse effects. My shepherd used to eat his bones to nothing when he was around 4 months old, but now he's more selective and mostly just chews on them without actually eating them!

Beckyy

OP, don't worry! Chances are she may bring the bone back up, but just keep an eye on her. Dogs can digest bone. My dog has been having it since he was a puppy with no adverse effects at all. On occassions he brought up bits that he's chewed off and we're a little too big for him, but it's never done any harm. Just make sure she's supervised and practice removing the bone from her in a nice way - rewarding with a very high vaue treat or toy.

Bones are great for dogs, and please don't let this put you off giving her another!

coinxoperated wrote: »

There are plenty of chews made of raw hide? Pigs ears etc which do not cause such worrys or accidents.

I think these are more dangerous! Many dogs will swallow them as soon as they've softened and they can become stuck. My dog swallowed a pigs ear when he was younger and I swore I would never give him another. Bones are much better for them.

pawsies

I wouldn't worry too much it should pass through. My corgi often swallows big chunks which I think are way too big and it just passes through!

Keep an eye on her though just incase but she is a rottie so I imagine there will be no issues.

Keep us updated

uolypool

OP and a piccy please. A puppy Rottie,how sweet.I have a 3 1/2 year old rottie and he does this , he usually brings them back up but has never come to any harm.Just keep an eye on your puppy dog.