What to Do When My Dog Swallows a Bone?

Quite often than not, dog parents face situations that they never wanted to. Hence, as a dog owner, you may be cautious about its health and well-being. Any untoward incident can be a threat to its life. Here, we are talking about a situation where your dog may end up swallowing a bone.

In such an instance, I’d like you to please look for visible signs of discomfort in your dog. You may wonder if you should wait to see it pass or take them to the vet straight away.

If it is a small bone, there is some chance that it may pass out with its feces. Still, in such incidents, you must monitor your dog for signs of intestinal obstruction.

The following are the most prominent signs to check out for:

• Vomiting
• Lethargy
• Unwillingness to eat
• Painful belly

Take your dog immediately to the vet if you see any of these above. These problems happen more with puppies than adult dogs. At some time or another, they would swallow something that they should not, such as the following:

• balls
• bones
• stones

Some of these objects may need to be bigger and pass through their system without causing many problems. However, others could get stuck. In that case, your dog might become seriously ill rather quickly! In addition, you may have to get your dog treated if they swallow a foreign body.

Foods that cause blockage in dogs

Following are objects that pose a risk of intestinal blockage in your dog:

• Fruit stones
• Golf balls and bouncy balls
• Corn on the Cobb
• Babies’ dummies
• Bones
• Rubber ducks
• Stones
• Coins
• Small toys
• Fridge magnets

How to know if your dog has swallowed something?

The common signs to watch out for to determine if your dog has swallowed something are as follows:

• Reduced or loss of appetite
• Dehydration
• Vomiting
• Abdominal discomfort, such as crying out and reluctance to move.
• Diarrhea or absence of feces

What are the dangers of having a foreign body in your dog’s system?

Foreign objects can choke your dog. It can cause blockage due to their shape and size. It happens in their small intestines or at the outflow of their stomachs. If your dog has chewed up a foreign object, such as a bone or a plastic item, the sharp edges can pierce its intestine.

It leads to an infection in the abdomen known as peritonitis. Materials such as the following can even obstruct if they ball up:

• socks
• pants
• needles

Canines tend to unravel and create a foreign linear body that can cause the small intestine to bunch up and get cut through like a cheese wire.

 

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What to do if your dog eats a string? 

If you see any cord hanging from your dog’s bottom or mouth, such as a string or thread, never cut it or pull it. Doing so can lead to an injury and make it harder for the doctors to treat them.

How to deal with toxic foreign items?

Some foreign bodies, like batteries made from materials, can potentially be poisonous to dogs.

The most prominent examples of such items are ones

made from zinc and lead, which can lead to profound systemic diseases if your dog swallows them. If you do not treat your dog correctly, a poisonous foreign body can even kill your dog.

How to treat canine intestinal blockage owing to foreign body ingestion?

The process would start with a physical examination done by your vet. Then, they would ask you as many questions as possible to acquire the information they can.

They would ask if you know what your dog has swallowed and when they did so. In addition, there would be questions about their general health. For example, your dog might undergo blood tests, ultrasound, and X-rays with a general anesthetic to remove the foreign particle from its body.

After this, they would assess the health of your dog’s intestine. They may have to remove parts of the damaged intestine.

How to prevent your dog from swallowing such foreign bodies?

It is next to impossible to stop your dog from putting something in its mouth that it ideally should not. However, you must still try and monitor what your dog eats.

Make sure you keep only a few toys lying around. Also, try to keep the underwear and toys of your kid out of reach so that the dog cannot access them.

Please ensure you take care of items such as fruit stones, cooked bones, and corn on the cob securely and safely so your dog can’t access them. Also, never play with your dog using small balls that you may fear they could swallow.

Should dogs not eat chicken bones?

Dogs are meat eaters and have been eating bones for thousands of years, and in most cases, they can process them without any problem. Usually, chicken bones dissolve as they hit a dog’s stomach before becoming dangerous for them. So, in most cases, dogs can pass chicken bones without any untoward incident.

However, other bones, such as pork bones and beef bones, are likelier to cause them more distress and disease. Still, some potential dangers remain for dogs who like to eat chicken bones.

Read Also: 10 Foods Your Dog Should Never Eat – Toxic Food for dogs

Potential obstruction 

Cooked bones are softer than raw ones. However, some bones, like a chicken thigh bone, can be large, depending on your dog’s size. Swallowing a whole bone could get lodged in its esophagus, thus causing symptoms like gagging, retching, and drooling. In other dogs, the bone may get stuck in the upper parts of their airways – either at the start or the back of the throat, known as the pharynx.

It is an immediate emergency where the dog would demonstrate signs of distress and might experience trouble breathing or coughing heavily.

Risk of the GI tract torn 

Chicken bones tend to splinter easily. Hence, swallowing can lead to perforation of the gastrointestinal tract or esophagus.

Contamination because of bacteria 

If the chicken is uncooked, and your dog eats its bones, there remains a chance of getting infected by bacteria such as salmonella.

Conclusion 

You may wonder what to do if your dog chokes on a chicken bone. If you are worried that the bone is stuck in the upper intestinal tract or airway, it is a significant emergency, and you must address the problem.

If you can grip or see the bone to get it out, you can do so to the extent that it does not cause any discomfort to your dog or doesn’t end up hurting them.

Please remember that there is a chance that you could get bitten.

Frequently Asked Questions

How can I help my dog pass a bone?

If your dog is not showing any objection to eating a soft piece of bread, you should feed it to them as they would ensure that the fragments of the bone do not end up puncturing their stomach. Also, they can save the lining of your dog’s digestive system.

How long does it take for a dog to pass a bone?

Chicken bones usually pass within 24 hours. However, this depends on the following factors related to your dog:

• size
• breed
• age
• diet

In some cases, dogs could also take two days to pass the bone.

Will a bone dissolve in the throat of a dog?

Usually, chicken bones dissolve in a dog’s body as they reach their stomachs. Because dogs have been eating bones for thousands of years, and in most cases, they can process them just fine.

Can stomach acid dissolve bones?

If your dog is predominantly on a raw meat diet, their gastric acidity levels would be low. It means that it is highly acidic. So, such an environment would favor the breakdown of raw meats and bones that would be digestible.