# Sharp piece of bone on chicken quarter...feeling nervous



## katdog5911 (Sep 24, 2011)

I am not sure what to think about this. My girl has been on raw about a year now. Started with grinds and slowly felt more comfortable with whole meat and bone. Have been doing fine until 2 days ago. Gave my girl a chicken quarter. I checked on her a few minutes later (as I usually do) and she had not really eaten it but there were 2 sharp pointy pieces of bone on the floor. I have been a nervous wreck since, thinking about bowel perforation etc. She refuses to eat any chicken quarter I offer her. She did eat the ground beef and lamb, and she did finally eat a turkey neck. Her poop was a bit soft serve yesterday so will be watching that end closely today. Am I over reacting? And if a bone was obstructing or perforating her
insides, what would the signs be? And why won't she eat any chicken all of a sudden????

She is drinking ok, and playing ok, although she seems a bit more tired than usual....but the weather has actually warmed up so it may be the warmer temps.....


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## eddie1976E (Nov 7, 2010)

I always worry about this...and need a sanity check every so often. I think if sharp bones perforating the intestine was to happen, most carnivore numbers would be depleted. There is a chance, but I think unlikely. With all the other food in the stomach, even if there were sharp bones, they would be cushioned by the rest of the stuff. To put in perspective, my dog ate most of 2 CDs, what was coming out the back end were sharp pieces of plastic. Vet was concerned, but everything passed ok.


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## katdog5911 (Sep 24, 2011)

Thanks for the sanity check.....I needed it. Funny thing is she still won't eat any chicken quarters. Of course I just bought a ton of them on sale last week! I guess I will keep offering them along with other stuff. 

Feeding raw gives me more things to worry about....Besides the choking on a bone, splintering bones, I worry about if she is getting all the nutrition she needs. Sometimes I am tempted to go back to kibble.....dog feeding for dummies.....lol


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## Carriesue (Aug 13, 2012)

Dogs can still choke and die on kibble... If you're worried about nutrition you could always add something like nupro powder or a raw supplement like feed sentials or raw raw. Ollie looks so fabulous and finally has normal digestion, I could never go back but do what makes you most comfortable and what works best for your dog. 

Also chicken bones are one of the softer more digestible bone, it's why it's usually recommended when people are starting raw. Things can happen of course but there's a risk no matter what we feed.


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## katdog5911 (Sep 24, 2011)

Carriesue said:


> Dogs can still choke and die on kibble...


This is true. My friend's shepherd had to be rushed to the vet, choking on kibble. I guess I just got totally freaked out because this bone shard was so big and pointy and sharp! What I would expect from a cooked bone. 

I will have to look into the supplements.... 

Raw would be a lot easier if I had some support in the family. I get tired of hearing negative stuff. And if something ever did happen, I would never hear the end of it....


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## Big Brown Eyes (Jan 11, 2015)

The digestive process is that the food first gets accumulated in the stomach, wherein it is churned with some acids, then it gets passed on to the further system for more processing.

A raw bone is easier to digest and break down. A cooked bone is not.

My understanding is that the cooked bone does not under go enough processing in the tough, lined stomach and retains the sharper edges when passing through the more delicate intestines, which leads to the fear of a puncture. 

I never realized how tough cooked bones can be, and how dangerous till recently when I saw cooked goose bones.

Looked like sharpened porcelain knives!!

As far as raw bones are concerned, do not worry about it. Sharp or not, does not matter 1 bit.


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

many grinders can grind chicken bones. May be worth investing in one?
Tasin TS-108 Electric Meat Grinder:eer::Venison::Raw::Barf:et Food Making


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## Saphire (Apr 1, 2005)

Yep if I worried tgis much about the bones, I would grind them. 
I feed full chicken fames, legs etc. And never worry about it.


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## Kyleigh (Oct 16, 2012)

While it's true that any animal can choke on anything, I wouldn't really worry too much. 

I buy whole chickens, and cut them in 4 and simply toss down 1/4 of a chicken for Ky to eat (no, that's not her whole supper!) 

Or, sometimes I buy the really small corniche hens, and just take the string off and toss it on the floor. 

I am paying attention (listening for her), but don't watch her like a hawk. 

I've never had any problems and I'm not cutting it up / grinding it or anything!


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