From time immemorial, we often see dogs chasing bones only to crush and devour them. Even caricatures portray the dogs with a white bone at the rim of their mouth. Do these bones have a natural taste? Or they chew them due to some other reason?
But the next time if you see your lovely pet gnawing a bone, please throw it away from his mouth. FDA, USA has advised not to give bones to your pets as it can cause serious health issues with your dog. It can, sometimes, cause the death of a dog. Let us, now, try to unveil the possible solutions to this puzzle.
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Why Dogs Like Bones
The reason why the dogs chew on the bones after having a heavy steak meal is due to their ability to eat anything. These scavengers have perfectly designed teeth that cut open their prey and chow down the food. Their skull underwent a radical transformation to make room for sharp canines and jaws. It made them skilled stalkers. Scientists believe that since these canine creatures are the descendants of the wolf who used to forage in packs.
Sometimes, they got only large animals as prey. These hypercarnivorous animals started to prey on them.
Centuries later, these canine creatures retain much of the dietary habits of their ancestors. Their razor-sharp canines and powerful jaws facilitate them to eat any food they can tuck into their mouth. If we look back a little, we come to know that even our forefathers love to feed the dogs with bones.
Do you know the canine creatures in the forest still eat bones? It is a highly nutritious and healthy source of food. Our domestic dogs don’t have such sharp teeth, their ancestors like wolves once had. So, give your dog a sumptuous bone meal two times a week.
Scientific Reasons
Veterinarian Karen Becker, says, grinding bones with teeth promote oral hygiene in dogs. When the bones move to and fro, between the teeth, it gets rid of the bacterial deposits. It acts as the natural brushing process in these animals. Feasting upon the delicate bones safeguards their teeth and root out the bad breath problem in your doggie.
You can feed your pet with this calcium and mineral dense food, comfortably. Besides this, the habit helps a lot in clearing impacted stool problems in these canine pets. Last but not least, gnawing the bones will stimulate the brain. It will keep the dogs mentally healthy as this will prevent boredom in these animals.
Why Is Feeding Your Doggie With Bones Dangerous?
Now that we know all dogs love to chew and eat up bones. But, is it a safe food? Your dog goes crazy to eat up the bones. Be informed that gnawing bones can lead to the death of your pet. But why?
According to Veterinarian Carmela Stamper, never give bones to your doggie to eat. It will lead to choking or even massive loss of blood through the anus in some cases. This deterioration in health would, eventually, result in the death of your loved pets. Moreover, cooked bones are also equally dangerous as it may crush the bones into pieces. These pieces gash the intestinal skin, and your Ceaser will start bleeding profusely.
The Possible Danger to the Dogs
1. Chipped teeth
Since these bones are very hard, it is possible that your doggie will chip his teeth. You have to consult a vet, immediately. Sometimes, it causes severe oral cuts, which cause intolerable pain.
2. The Bone gets stuck in the intestine
The bones coil around your doggie’s lower jaw, leaving them in extreme pain or discomfort. In this case, also, you have to consult a vet to get your dog treated. When you cook the bone, the fragments of them get stuck in the throat or even internal passage, blocking them to a great extent.
It causes rectum bleeding, and in some extreme cases, kill the dog. Even tiny Tuna bones can cause substantial damage to the stomach. So when you feed your pet with fishes, make sure that you remove the bones. Your pet may have to undergo surgery to get rid of the bone pieces.
3. The trouble with eating and breathing
The bone pieces are large enough to choke food and windpipe of the dog. The dog may find problem throwing up the bone, and you have to consult a vet to save his life.
4. Constipation
It will stall the bowel passage and make them hard. It will cause severe pain as the bowel is stuck in the intestine. The hardening of stool is due to the presence of calcium in bones. Save him, by getting him to the vet.
5. Peritonitis
It is a dangerous medical condition that can lead to the death of your pet. As the bones traverse down the intestinal tract, they will rip the track apart causing several holes in them. Microbes like bacteria will make these holes their convenient hideouts. It will result in the untimely death of your lovely pet if left untreated.
Safe Food for My Dog
Always avoid feeding your greedy canine pal now and then as you may find it difficult when you cook a large meal on holiday! Dr. Peter Dobias is of the opinion that feeding dogs with shank bones of cows, buffalos should be strictly avoided. He also says that these furry pets should take safe bones to add to the mineral content in the body. Therefore, your little pets may find it extremely difficult to eat these bones and may break their teeth.
It is interesting to read that the canine teeth are supposed to foray against their small preys like rodents and rats. These canine teeth are not to cut open the hard bones of a cow or buffaloes. You can give mutton that will not damage or fracture the teeth of your pet.
Never go for packaged bones as they are extremely dangerous. FDA report says that 15 dogs died in the US due to packaged food, last year.
Conclusion
In short, your little bone-grubbing pet can have a minimum of 2 bones per week. Having more than this can cause death in these canine animals. Bones provide essential minerals like calcium, phosphorous and keep these flea-bags, healthy.
Remember not to cook the bone as it may cause severe injuries in your pet’s stomach. But, a dog can gulp down juicy soft bones which their intestine can contain them without any danger.
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