Hi all - Zi just ate four chicken wings. Cooked of course. One of the bones was broken. Now i am feeding him white bread as im reading that will help bones pass. Besides watching for warning signs, is there anything else folks recommend? Should i induce vomiting? Or does that make a bad situation worse?

Ugh. Scared of course. Vet said we could do three day series of xrays to try and watch the bones movement, but the cost is significant.

Looking for ideas.... thanks!

ZiMan my personal reactions is almost a "wait and watch." My dogs have gotten into some really bad bones (hell, I live on the desert, they're always bringing something home).

But to be comfortable, I went looking and this blog pretty much follows what I'd do.

An absolute, DO NOT induce vomiting, if he's managed to swallow them without them hanging up in his throat, let's not see if they can come up as well as go down - not a good idea. They're probably in his stomach by now and his gastric acids should dissolve them without problem - but watchful waiting is my best advice.

You know how your dog should behave, watch him closely and if there's any abnormal changes get him to a vet - quickly.

Aljones thank you. I was hoping you’d reply. I am in the desert too, so he gets into stuff daily, and I think our dogs have a similar lifestyle. I didn’t want to do the vomiting thing, so held off and have given him a snack with gravy (his favorite) and bread. Your calm helps me feel like I can be calm too.

We’re going the route of let’s see what we can get out, and quickly, through natural course of business. We’re 20 minutes from the vet and I’ve let them know if it gets concerning we’ll be there fast. So now I’m going to watch and wait.

He’s definitely the boss of me, since I normally track his poo (lol), so now I’m just gonna be up his bum (literally) for the next three days.

8 weeks, and this guy is our baby. We love him to pieces, so I’m trying not to be ridiculous. He’s already had an infected paw (cactus tine break off) and an episode with a biting lizard. He’s pretty indestructible, so this should be stressful for me but easy for him(fingers crossed).

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Yep, no vomiting, wait and see now. Many dogs get away with eating cooked chicken bones time and time again with no problems but, it only takes once so, if he vomits, seems to be gagging or choking, there is blood in his stool or saliva or, he simply seems uncomfortable, biting or pawing at his gut, restless when he should be sleeping, etc..., get to the vet.

Thanks bluemoods. He ate a snack and is now eyeballing birds in the vicinity. Very normal; so I’m on to stool watch. I’ll look out for him getting ‘weird’ and his stools. He didn’t seem to choke on them, so I’m thinking the risk is now in the next 48 by his intestines and organ perforations. Makes me nervous, but I’ll keep the posting current. He often brings back thorn bushes (yes, the whole bush he had dug out of the ground) to chew on, so I have to think he can do this. It’s my issue in that he got the risk from me, not nature, so I need to be better going forward. I’m watching him and fingers crossed.

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This is a completely unsubstantiated opinion, *I* would not be doing a lot to 'move them along' If they're setting in his stomach, let nature take its course and most, if not all of the bone, will dissolve.

Personally, I'd rather have them in his stomach where there's room to move around than in a bowel that might possibly be constricted and put the bone into a position where it's going to push on a bowel wall.

Dogs gastric juices are much stronger than ours, they'll dissolve a lot of things. Give nature the time to take care of the problem.

As I said, this is my personal opinion and how I'd handle it ... YMMV

Thanks god mine don't bring home thorn bushes, I walk around barefooted and I can get into enough thorns on my own, thank you!

Aljones, yes. I’ve been forced to wear shoes in the yard because of the thorns! Appreciate your perspective. As always, thank you. I’ll keep the group updated.

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Yes, me as well, a dog can digest bones so, if they got that far, let the dog's stomach do the job. Wild canines do eat bones and all but, those are raw bones, it's cooked bones that pose a danger.

My pack eats a prey model raw diet, that includes bones and, being wolfdogs, even weight bearing bones get included - they can eat them and, would in the wild. I would not recommend weight bearing bones for many breeds, wolfdogs and, the few with even greater bite force yes, but not many.

Well, he’s completely normal this morning. Running and swimming and chewing on thorn bushes and palm trees. He’s had two normal bowel movements with no bone visible. I’ve read a lot online and there are quite a few mixed reviews about whether I should see bone or not so, I’m not sure.... waiting is torture.

More to come...

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ZiMan, even though these were cooked bones (meaning harder and more brittle) being chicken wings they're smaller than say a leg bone. Personally, while I would continue to keep a close watch on him, I wouldn't expect to see any bones or fragments.

Really appreciate your followup - even if later this week you come back to say that "Everything's normal" it's still nice to know.

24 of 72 (according to your vet) to go. Patience, I'm told, is a virtue.

You shouldn't see any bone fragments, perhaps what looks like a white coating or, more pale stool due to the minerals in the bone but, with one wing, very little of even that. Like maybe a small section of white or pale in one poop.

Like this but, just a tiny bit, if any over one wing.

@bluemoods - very good, I should have mentioned that since I've seen it when my dogs bring in bones to gnaw on. That aspect of "unusual" poop completely skipped my mind and ZiMan, should he see such, should be aware that it's a normal result.

To expand on this a bit, there are an excellent set of pictures - yeh, very graphic - in this entry on the Mercola Healthy Pets web site of normal / abnormal feces and the discussion regarding "why?"

Ok, thanks both bluemoods and aljones. It’s got a white tinge when it dries. That feels like a good thing to me right now. Appreciate it!

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I give my guys a raw, recreational beef bone daily. Poop comes out brown but rapidly dries white. Within a few days, it's mostly dust if I don't pick it up first.

Yep, that white tinge is good, means your dog digested the bones no problem and, the excess calcium and other trace minerals are passing out as they should. Sam as if he had eaten raw bones, normal, natural and, his gut is working right.

Well, it looks like he’s come though this ok. Thank goodness! No blockages, no signs of perforation. At this point I’m willing to call him clear because he’s his normal hyper self with lots of happy activity. Thanks for the advice and calming me down. We survived this one, and I learned a lesson!

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Glad everything looks like it came out all right. (( sorry, there was no way I could phrase that that didn't have some degree of double entendre ))

I'm glad your canine friend is okay and, didn't have issues over his snacking on bones.

Aljones, haha, that’s what I was thinking too!

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Thanks bluemoods! I’m so glad too.

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Good to hear things are ok. A friend once had their dog snatch a cooked pork rib off his plate. One swallow and it was gone. They called the vet who advised them to watch and wait. No issues. Dogs are amazing.