URGENT HELP NEEDED! Dog ate chicken bone!

LillyJ

PLEASE HELP ME! I think my dog may have just eaten chicken with a bone in it!:eek: I was throwing away stuff from a picnic and put it in a bin bag when the phone went. I ran into the hallway, ran back, and he was munching on something (normally he doesn't steal but it must have been too much). I think there is one piece of chicken less in the box. (a thigh I think) There is no sign of the bone so he much have eaten it. I wasn't quick enough to get it out of his mouth, and by the time I got his jaw open there was nothing left.

Now I am terrified. Do I ring the emergency vet now? Is there anything I can do in the meantime?

I am prob going to get in trouble for asking for advice but I am so worried!

Debt_Free_Chick

Sometimes a cooked chicken bone can splinter and rupture the stomach, intestine or other internal organ.

But not always.

Making the dog sick might be an option.

An old gundog remedy is to soak cotton wool balls in cream and feed them to the dog. The idea being that any splinters stick to the cotton wool and protect the passage of the splinter through to the other end.

But, to be honest, I'd be inclined to call the vet for advice. But don't panic and don't be too worried .... the bone may not have splintered and pooch might be unaffected. But call the vet .... calmly

LillyJ

I phoned the emergency vet and they said to watch out for vomiting or blood in his poo but that other than that he should be OK.
He is a big dog and they said this would make it easier for him to pass it.
Phew!
Thanks for the quick reply debt free chick.
I will be more careful about where i leave chicken bones from now on, he is a good dog but I suppose chicken was just too tempting for him!
Just hope he is OK today and tomorrow. I will be watching him like a hawk!

Froglet

I can inderstand you being concerned as we all know a dog should not be given chicken bones.

But.........years ago now,when my wonderful first ever dog was just a small puppy,rescued hours from being put to sleep at the vets simply because nobody wanted her as the runt of a litter,I had bought 3 cooked chicken breasts for our tea.Left them in the bag on the table,still warm.Turned my back for what cannot have been more than 2 or 3 minutes and when i returned to the kitchen the bag was on the floor and said puppy was just summoning up the effort to tuck in to the last remaining portion!!

PANIC STATIONS!! Rushed round to the same vets we got her from(must have thought i was a completely useless and neglectful owner) and they said it could do more harm than good making her sick as they had obviously gone down her throat ok,and to bring them back up might cause more damage.Just keep a close eye on her,as you have been advised.

Got very cross with her,more out of worry i think but we saw the funny side when we ended up with egg and chips for tea while she sat the whole evening with a smile on her face,looking very contented and VERY full!!

No harm whatsoever came to her.Mind you she was also into chewing lino,carpet,whatever she could get her little teeth into so probably chicken bones were not that much of an issue.She lived to 16 years old(thankfully grew out of chewing everything) and was the most wonderful faithful dog.

Hope yours goes on ok too,do let us know.

Raksha

All of my dogs have stolen chicken bones (cooked and uncooked) at one time or another, we've been lucky so far and all have died at a ripe old age (17,15 and the current oldie is 16) The cotton wool and milk is one I've heard before, and I've always used bread, the idea is the same.

Hope the fur kid makes a full recovery.

LillyJ

Just to let you all know he is still his normal self and has been running in and out of the hose pipe this afternoon so I don't think anything bad has happened to him yet! I haven't given him any bread or cotton wool balls to eat, but he has had his normal food and he is drinking normally which is what the vet asked about.

I will keep an eye on him (and his poo!) for a couple of days though!

Raksha, what is your secret to getting your dogs to live till such an old age? Ours is 18 months so I hope he lives that long! He is a cross breed as well so hopefully that will go in his favour in the longevity stakes!

~Chameleon~

Debt_Free_Chick wrote: »

Making the dog sick might be an option.

That isn't really advisable due to the risk of a bone splinter becoming lodged in the oesophagus on the way out, plus it's not an easy task trying to make a dog vomit!

Chances are the dog will be ok as it's been more than 24hrs since he ate it but just keep an eye on him another day or two. People often panic about bones but it's not really as common a problem as you might think.

If a (cooked) bone splinters it will more than likely get stuck in the throat than anywhere else and cause the dog to cough/vomit.

Raw chicken bones are absolutely fine to eat though as they are quite flexible and easy to digest

RedBern

our dog ate a cooked chicken bone a few months ago - although at the time I only suspected he'd eaten the bone as I'd thrown the leftovers into the bin. He ate grass for 3 days and then eventually 'sicked up' the grass - and inside a beautifully crafted cigar shaped vomit (sorry!) was the broken chicken bone.

Isn't nature wonderful;)

shelovestobuystuff

Glad your pooch is okay.I sympathise with anyone whos dog eats anything they shouldnt,even when you think its out of reach its amazing how resourceful they can be when they smell food.
I have 2 big black labrador retrievers.Anyone who knows the breed will know full well what they can get up too and just how difficult it is to keep things out of their reach.
I find myself checking their poos to see what they have eaten and to discover who the culprit is.The ones with the blue plastic in shows me whos eaten the plastic jug and the one full of egg shell tells me whos eaten the whole box of barn eggs,all 10 extra large ones(he suffered for days after that,greedy so and so).

Stephb1986_2

my dog has ate alsorts she is right mischeivous (sp) from corners on kitchen drawer fronts to lamb chop bones! and she's still going strong

but my step sisters nan fed her dog a bone and it splintered in its tummy and died in agony 2 days later as she didnt realise that it had caused a problem

you can never be too careful

Steph xx

LillyJ

Stephb1986 wrote: »

my dog has ate alsorts she is right mischeivous (sp) from corners on kitchen drawer fronts to lamb chop bones! and she's still going strong

but my step sisters nan fed her dog a bone and it splintered in its tummy and died in agony 2 days later as she didnt realise that it had caused a problem

you can never be too careful

Steph xx

OK that post scared me!

I did ask the vet but he didn't tell me to take him in unless he looked ill.
I suppose it has been over 2 days now and he seems his normal self.