# Vomiting Pork Bones



## k9koda (Sep 26, 2012)

I have just started my dog on raw. She has only been getting chicken backs/ hindquarters for RMBs. She has been doing fine with them. I gave her some baby back ribs. She consumed it with no problem but the next morning she puked bile with bone fragments. I have read that it might happen from some older posts on this forum, but is that really ok? Wouldn't that hurt her?

Any help from experienced RAW feeders is much appreciated!


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

The pork ribs are harder to digest. I only give the neck bones, and then only the ones that aren't huge. 
Usually if my dogs barf up bones, they'll immediately eat them, yuk! It seldom if ever happens, thankfully.


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## k9koda (Sep 26, 2012)

Are the neck bones easier to digest? Does her vomiting the fragments signify anything more serious? 

Sorry for all the questions I'm still getting use to the idea of feeding bones...


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

the neck bones are a bit softer,but still quite dense. Try to be sure to balance the muscle meat with the bone so that digestion is easier...when you are giving more bone than necessary it is hard on the gut. I try to stay with poultry bones for the most part, but get a lot of pork necks with my co-op raw feeding group. I think I end up with them because most of the people in the group have smaller breeds and the head of the group probably thinks my GSD's can handle them.


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

Jane is right. Rib bones are to dense. Jax couldn't digest them either. She had no problems with pork neck bones. They are a porous bone. I think they wore down Jax's teeth so do not feed them and stick with poultry bones but others feed them with no issue.


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## k9koda (Sep 26, 2012)

Thanks for all the replies. I will stick with chicken as her main RMB. 

Is it ok to stick with one main RMB, and add variety with just muscle meat? I keep reading that you need to provide a lot of variation. 

Thanks again!


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

I do. But with poultry you can give a variety of parts. Chicken legs, backs, necks, wings. Turkey necks, frames, wings (NO legs...to tough). Duck necks, frames. 

So it will be fine to stick with poultry as your bone source, just mix up the parts.


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## PhoenixGuardian (Jul 10, 2013)

All bones are safer to feed if they aren't cooked. Were they raw bones? They are still very hard on a dogs system, and can injure their intestines, or completely plug them up, in which case, emergency surgery is required.
If any of our dogs ingest cooked bones, we feed them as much as they will eat, to pad their stomach, and feed them raw pumpkin, the kind you get from a can. This helps to "push things through" so to speak. 
Maybe this question was already answered, but I thought I'd pitch in my two cents


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## k9koda (Sep 26, 2012)

No, the bones were raw. She didn't vomit all of the bone just some fragments and bile. It was the morning after she ate them. She must have digested most of the meat and bone and vomited the stuff she could not process. She is eating and playing like usual (knock on wood). I guess they were just too much for her to handle.


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## Heidigsd (Sep 4, 2004)

k9koda: Here are some articles you might find interesting. In general I haven't found certain message boards to be a reliable source of information regarding nutrition at all. Way too much misinformation being repeated over and over. 

Are you a member of K9 Kitchen? That would be a good start if you want to research home prepared diets more. Good luck with your girl 

Intestinal Disorders in Dogs After Ingesting Bone | eHow

Raw diets: Do they make you want to BARF? (Proceedings) - Veterinary Healthcare=

K9Kitchen : dog diets raw cooked allergies disease


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## Lauri & The Gang (Jun 28, 2001)

k9koda said:


> I gave her some baby back ribs. She consumed it with no problem but the next morning she puked bile with bone fragments. I have read that it might happen from some older posts on this forum, but is that really ok? Wouldn't that hurt her?
> 
> Any help from experienced RAW feeders is much appreciated!


A dogs' stomach is smart.  It knows that there are only two ways for something to leave it - down or up. If it encounters something it can't pass down it will try to pass it back up.

I have been feeding raw bones - chicken, beef, pork, lamb, goat, llama, turkey, bison, etc. - for *over 15 years* and have NEVER ONCE had a bone puncture intestines or cause anything other than a case of constipation when too many turkey necks were eaten at once.

Statistically speaking, if it is that great a risk I should have had it happen to at least ONE dog by now, right??

15 years - over 20 dogs (my own and fosters) - over *8 TONS* of raw meaty bones fed


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## k9koda (Sep 26, 2012)

After reading "Intestinal Disorders in Dogs After Ingesting Bone | eHow" I was feeling pretty nervous. Your post made me feel a lot better. She really seems to be doing well on raw, and I'm trying to not be scared out of it. I switched my 17 year old lab mix to raw and I have no doubt it saved her life. she now goes for walks again and even plays with my other dog. Even her fatty tumors on her side are starting to shrink.


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

My vets know I feed raw. They've done the bloodwork on my animals and are very happy with their health. One day, I asked if it made them cringe when they heard of a person feeding raw and they responded with "No, not if they've done their homework and I know you have"


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

k9koda said:


> After reading "Intestinal Disorders in Dogs After Ingesting Bone | eHow" I was feeling pretty nervous. Your post made me feel a lot better. She really seems to be doing well on raw, and I'm trying to not be scared out of it.* I switched my 17 year old lab mix to raw and I have no doubt it saved her life. she now goes for walks again and even plays with my other dog. Even her fatty tumors on her side are starting to shrink*.


I switched a 10 yr old over to raw when I first started feeding it. Her condition really excelled from the change. She no longer got hot spots and her gunky green teeth/bad breath were cleared. She lived to be almost 15. She still had her fatty tumors, but she didn't have new ones grow after the change in diet. As long as you are feeding a balance and have researched the diet, there should be no fear. 
Many websites will use the scare tactics and it seems to me, the ones who are versed in science are the ones that poo-poo it the most, but they've never for themselves seen the benefits because they are so close minded.


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

Same here. My vet attributed Banshee's longevity to the changes in her diet. She's 13 yrs 7 1/2 months....Boxers don't typically live past 10.


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## k9koda (Sep 26, 2012)

I was researching raw for close to 4 months before taking the leap and trying pre made. The huge improvements that I saw from that prompted me to fully make the switch to home prepared a couple weeks ago. It has been good except for this. It was my first attempt at switching the RMB. I have been trying to find a butcher that will sell turkey necks, and hearts because I'm having trouble finding it locally. 

BTW: This is gross, but her stool this evening was very dry, which I'm assuming was caused by too much bone.


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## Darla Collins (Jun 25, 2013)

My 5 moth old gsd (lucy) grabbed a pork rib last night and by the time we realized it she has swallowed most of it. We were only able to get about a third of it out of her mouth. I've been worried sick all night and day. She seems fine she's eating, drinking, playing and going to the bathroom ok but it's only been a day. My vet said not to bring her in unless she's in pain, has bloody stools, throws up or stops eating. I've been feeding her boiled chicken and rice mixed with cooked pumpkin for the last three meals per her vets instruction. So far so good, is she our of danger or should I still be worried? 


Sent from Petguide.com Free App


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

Where are you located at?

Stools will be much smaller than from home cooked or kibble. If they are very dry and white, you have to much bone. I have to make an adjustment when Jax is eating necks because they are a higher percent of bone. So add more MM to balance it out or decrease the RMB.


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

Darla - you might want to start your own thread for your issue.


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