Rant - neighbour threw cooked turkey legs into my garden

globetraveller

Seems a strange thing to do. Do you think he did it with the best of intentions? Just have a word with him and explain why you would prefer him not to do that again.

Lieja

My neighbours used to do this all the time with cooked bones, which caused double the trouble when my food aggressive American bulldog wouldn't give up the bone, or let my other dog anywhere near without attacking!

Thankfully they were fine, and when I explained to my neighbours they literally had no idea that cooked bones could be harmful and we're mortified that they might have done some damage. Still a bit cheeky just assuming that they can feed your dog whatever they like, but they probably did it with the best intentions. My neighbours still feed digestive biscuits over their wall and have the occasional complaint that the dog won't leave them alone, but I've learned to pick my battles! They haven't seemed to grasp that he won't leave them alone if they insist on feeding him!

Person_one

I'm sure there was no intent to harm, as bluebeary says most non-dog people don't realise how harmful cooked bones can be.

I'd drop round, say thank you for the thought but explain why it was dangerous.

What's the rationale behind the cotton wool, how does that help? When mine have got hold of things like bones in the past I've just watched them like a hawk for any signs of ill effects.

DaftyDuck

Person_one wrote: »

What's the rationale behind the cotton wool, how does that help? When mine have got hold of things like bones in the past I've just watched them like a hawk for any signs of ill effects.

The idea behind it is that the fibres wrap around anything sharp, the bulk helps gut transit, and everything is passed in double-quick time. It's supposed to be effective when a sharp object is eaten, but I'm not sure of the efficacy.
The reality is rather different. It is, in fact, almost impossible to buy true pure short-fibre cotton wool balls these days... Wilko & Boots label theirs as 100% - but they include a fire retardant... which may not be the healthiest. Others are labelled as 100% pure cotton wool... but short-fibre?

If the gut is damaged, the mass of fibres makes any re-constructive surgery considerably more complex, and greatly increases the chances of granulation etc*. Certainly, as far as I'm aware, it's frowned on by referral surgeons.

(*Note, I'm not the vet, only a research physiologist into gut & kidney function, so no surgeon - human or dog... My wife is the vet...).

southcoastrgi

a little knowledge & dangerious, spring to mind both on the neighbour & the OP

thorsoak

Raksha: how is the old boy tonight?

Raksha

He's only 7, so not that 'old' he's fine, doing his normal things, no tenderness in the abdomen.

Looking at the shards I picked up, he did spit a lot of it out, he gags if he swallows a hair, so he does have some sense.

I've put a not through all close neighbours doors pointing out the dangers and asking them not to do it again. Thinking about getting cctv on the back garden...

little_miss_muppet_face

Raksha wrote: »

:mad:

Just had to extract 1/2 cooked turkey leg and pick up a load of shards from the one he got to before I coukd stop him.

Fed him 4 cotton wool balls soaked in milk, which he thought was odd, but he was happy to oblige.

Spent Christmas worrying about my nearly 14 year old Spring who seems to have a touch of kennel cough, I will probably struggle to sleep tonight ...

Your first post said your dog was nearly 14... So do you have 2 dogs ?

Raksha

little_miss_muppet_face wrote: »

Your first post said your dog was nearly 14... So do you have 2 dogs ?

Yes, sorry...

BTW, if anyone can explain just how you can tell when all the cotton wool has been expelled when the whole idea is that it wraps around the sharp bits, I'd be very grateful....

thorsoak

Raksha wrote: »

Yes, sorry...

BTW, if anyone can explain just how you can tell when all the cotton wool has been expelled when the whole idea is that it wraps around the sharp bits, I'd be very grateful....

The only way to check that the cotton balls have been expelled is ...go through the expelled material :eek: ! Rubber gloves and a peg for the nose!!!

You see although the theory is that the cotton wool wraps around the sharp bits it doesn't necessarily happen. Digestion starts immediately anything enters the stomach - so the shards could already be going through to the intestine before you fed the cotton wool balls. And because the cotton balls are a dense mass, they will remain longer in the stomach. They can wrap around the many folds in the intestine instead. That's where the problem arises.