Dogs have been man’s best friend for a long time. Besides giving you a feeling of being secure, dogs bring warmth, joy, and laughter to your home. That is why it is essential to take good care of them, especially when it comes to what they consume. Dogs love to chew on bones, but there comes a time when this meal is not safe for your canine friend. In this article, you shall gather detailed information to help you understand whether bones can cause diarrhea in dogs.
Can Bones Cause Diarrhea in Dogs?
Gastrointestinal problems in dogs have become a significant issue that many dog owners have to deal with. Apparently, bones, especially those with marrow, can cause diarrhea in dogs and other conditions, such as irritable bowel syndrome.
You need to know the sensitivity of your dog’s stomach because bones can make it worse. This is most especially important if your canine companion is still young. Puppies are more prone to getting diarrhea from bones than adults. However, that does not exclude your big canine, considering that the effects they get from bone consumption are individualized.
Your neighbor’s dog may augur well with bones and marrow, but yours may not. That is why you need to check out for any signs of stomach discomfort to help you identify whether your dog is affected by bones or not.
What to Do If My Dog Has Diarrhea After Eating a Bone?
The main reason why you need to delegate a particular place where your dog can attend to its calls of nature is so that you can keep an eye on whatever they urinate or defecate. If your dog’s stool is soft and watery, you need to be concerned about the next steps to take. The first and obvious step to take is to consult a local veterinarian. Nonetheless, there comes a time when the veterinary is not readily available. This is why you need to know what you can do to help your canine pet if you notice that their stool is soft, watery, and frequent after eating a bone. Here are some of the best tips to go about that:
Give Your Dog a Lot of Water
Dogs function in a similar way to human beings. This means, during diarrhea, they get dehydrated, too. Therefore, the only way to keep up with their dehydration is through a constant and adequate water supply. It may be challenging to make this happen, especially if your canine friend is not trained. However, you can include some incentives to ensure that your dog consumes as much water as possible.
Supervise Your Dog
Dogs enjoy playing outside. Nonetheless, if your canine pet has diarrhea, it would be unwise to let them out on their own. You need to keep a close eye on your dog to ensure that you keep track of their behaviors. Letting your dog roam around on its own may prevent you from knowing when it has diarrhea, which can lead to more severe health conditions and, at its worst, death.
Hold Off Food
Once you realize the first symptoms of diarrhea, keeping away any food items from your dog for at least 12 hours is recommended. The main reason for doing so is to allow the intestines to rest while clearing everything out of the intestinal tract. Withholding food means keeping away bones, treats, and generally anything else that is edible.
Simplify Your Dog’s Diet
After withholding food from your canine friend, you should consider simplifying its diet, which plays a major role in treating gastrointestinal upset. It is advisable to start back with simple, easily digestible, and bland diets, such as plain cooked rice and chicken. Once your dog resumes on such a diet, you should serve it in smaller portions and more frequent feedings. After a while, the dog’s stool will get back to normal, which gives you a chance to resume the regular diet for your animal friend. After getting your dog back to its normal diet, the next step is to add extras, including treats, but ensure you do it one treat at a time.
Can Dogs Eat Bones?
Bones have been associated with dogs for the longest time possible. It is kind of their staple food, but not in all situations. Your canine friend can eat bones as long as they have strong teeth, no gastrointestinal issues, and their age allows it. This is why it is essential to understand your dog, so that you can know whether bones are good for them or not. Chewing on bones is one of the ways to kill two birds with one stone – you give your dog something to enjoy while they keep away from whatever activity you may have.
By now, you should have realized that most people who purchase bones from the local butchery are dog owners. This indicates that any dog can crush these hard foods as long as they are healthy, have strong jaws, and can process such kinds of food.
Are There Certain Types Of Bones That Dogs Should Avoid?
As mentioned before, dogs do consume bones. However, that does not mean that all the bones are safe for your canine pet. If you own a puppy, you must ensure that the bones you give to it are not hard; else, you might find yourself and your dog going through hard times in terms of medication and visits to the veterinary.
Nonetheless, it would help if you were careful on this subject because there are some types of bones that you should never give to your canine companion, however much they need a good bite. Giving your dog raw bones, such as raw turkey, chicken, lamb, and beef, is okay. That is because most such delicacies are soft, easy to chew, and digestible.
Nevertheless, you should also be careful when giving out such a meal to your furry friend. That is because hard bones can be tough for your puppy or elderly dog to chew on, which could result in choking, suffocation, diarrhea, and at its worst, death.
As you give your dog the bone, you need to understand what you are doing. Recreational bones, such as the large femur and hip bones, are edible, but your dog should only chew them. That is because they are full of marrow and soft tissue.
In such a case, you need to stay on top of your dog’s diet to ensure that you compensate for the fat they consume from the bones that contain high contents of marrow. It is also worth noting that raw bones and meats have high bacterial contamination, which can be hazardous to your animal by causing nausea and major stomach upsets.
Can Chicken Bones Cause Diarrhea in Dogs?
Chicken is one of the most mouth-watering meals you can consume today. However, what do you do with the bones that remain or the ones you get from the supermarket? Do you give them to your dog? Have you ever wondered what kind of effects such bones can have on your favorite pet?
You might have noticed that your dog has access to the chicken bones you put on your kitchen counter or those in your freezer. In most cases, cooked chicken bones has adverse effects on the health of your dog. They can cause choking, get stuck in the dog’s throat, or cause punctures on the gastrointestinal tract, considering that such bones are soft and they can break and splinter easily.
If none of the above happens, the chicken bones will end up in your dog’s stomach. It is possible that such a sumptuous meal will be the source of different health conditions, including vomiting and diarrhea. This does not mean that you should not give your dog some chicken bones sometimes, but you need to ensure that they are not cooked.
Giving your canine companion raw chicken bones can also have some detrimental effects on their eating habits. If you do so regularly, you may find that your dog will be chasing live chickens, thinking that they landed themselves a nice and live meal. So, what do you do in case you realize your dog has consumed some chicken bones?
Do Not Panic
Losing yourself amid such an occurrence will not be helpful in any way. Therefore, you need to up your game and understand that your dog depends on you. Dogs learn so fast. So, if you panic or appear confused if they gobble down the chunks of chicken bones, your pet may take drastic, dangerous, and unnecessary steps to try and rhyme with the situation.
Keep a Close Eye
Chicken bones can indeed splinter and break, hence choking your canine pet, but it will not happen all the time. In this case, you need to observe them. It would be advisable to consult your veterinarian if you notice diarrhea, vomiting, blood stool, or abdominal bloating in your dog after consuming chicken bones.
Prevention is Better
Mistakes are inevitable, but you should try as much as possible to avoid them. It is your responsibility to understand how your canine friend came across chicken bones and do as much as you can to prevent that from happening again. This is primarily important if the bones have adverse side effects on the animal. Some of the best ways to tackle this are by teaching your dog not to steal food from the counter or dining table, keeping the dustbin securely closed, and keeping food out of reach.
Can Bone Marrow Bones Give Dogs Diarrhea?
The subject of diarrhea in dogs has become a common one. Professionals advise that you should avoid giving your dog’s bones with marrows as that can lead to diarrhea. Bone marrow is fat, which means it can interfere with the digestive system of your canine companion. However, not all dogs are affected by such high fats, except those with some severe health concerns. Professional veterinaries advise against feeding bones with marrow to your dog’s pets, especially the uncooked bones. Besides high chances of causing obesity due to high-fat content, such bones can break into small pieces capable of causing severe digestive problems.
Can Milk Bones Give Dogs Diarrhea?
Anaphylaxis is a condition brought about by the consumption of milk bones by your dog. This is a situation where there is swelling of airways, making it hard for your canine companion to breathe. Milk bones are manufactured in factories. This implies they might contain some ingredients that may not auger well with your dog.
For instance, some contain BHA, which is a well-known carcinogen. It is a conservative, sometimes made from wheat, soy, and corn, which are somewhat indigestible in dogs. This is what can lead to digestive issues, including vomiting and diarrhea. Besides the BHA, most manufacturers add different chemicals to their milk bones, which end up harming your pet’s health.