Author Topic: does anyone consistently feed cooked chicken bones to their dogs?  (Read 20172 times)

RadicalPersonalFinance

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Does anyone here on the forum consistently feed cooked chicken bones to their dogs?

I understand that this is a controversial subject with a debate about feeding any chicken bones and also a debate about cooked vs. uncooked.

However, I read of a lot of people who seem to do it regularly without having any problems.  I hate throwing away the cooked chicken carcasses after I'm done with them, especially when the dogs enjoy them so much. 

Spork

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Re: does anyone consistently feed cooked chicken bones to their dogs?
« Reply #1 on: April 08, 2013, 12:24:56 PM »

I know this doesn't answer your question....   I have been through phases where I tried the raw chicken (with bones) ... and never saw a problem.  It was always a little challenging in my mind to do so as this has always been an "OHMYGODNO!" thing.

And... I once accidentally fed** an entire chicken carcass worth of bones to the same dogs and -- holy cow!  They had awful straining and runny diarrhea for a week.  It was terrible.   (Not a scientific study.  I know.)


** weiner dogs are terrible.  I hurriedly ran home for lunch once with an entire smoked chicken.  My girlfriend (now wife) and I split it.  In the cleanup, I put everything into a paper bag to throw away and then stupidly left it on the table.  Previously mentioned terrible weiner dogs climbed up on the table (how?) and ate the entire thing except for a few scraps of paper.

forward

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Re: does anyone consistently feed cooked chicken bones to their dogs?
« Reply #2 on: April 08, 2013, 12:38:59 PM »
I would advise against it.  Chicken/fowl bones are thin and break apart/splinter easily.  The danger is that a dog will swallow sharp pieces and they will become lodged somewhere in the GI tract.  The cost of remedying this is surgery costing several thousand dollars and needless challenges for your pet.  I don't really think its worth the risk.

WageSlave

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Re: does anyone consistently feed cooked chicken bones to their dogs?
« Reply #3 on: April 08, 2013, 01:30:55 PM »
Another anecdote, not with chicken bones but related.  Growing up, we always had dogs, and up to a point we always fed them scraps from whatever meat we ate ourselves.  That practice ended when a ham bone's salt content caused one of our dogs to go into renal failure.  She was OK after an emergency trip to the vet; I don't know what the bill was, but my mom was more concerned for our pet's life than the money.  Since then, she doesn't feed any leftovers to pets.

jpo

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Re: does anyone consistently feed cooked chicken bones to their dogs?
« Reply #4 on: April 08, 2013, 01:40:17 PM »
Supposedly it is safe to give uncooked bones but cooked bones are very dangerous for the reasons mic575 outlined above.

I would never give a cooked bone to my pup, not worth the risk. There are plenty of other healthy treats I can give her instead.

chicagomeg

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Re: does anyone consistently feed cooked chicken bones to their dogs?
« Reply #5 on: April 08, 2013, 03:13:22 PM »
I would advise against it.  Chicken/fowl bones are thin and break apart/splinter easily.  The danger is that a dog will swallow sharp pieces and they will become lodged somewhere in the GI tract.  The cost of remedying this is surgery costing several thousand dollars and needless challenges for your pet.  I don't really think its worth the risk.

Definitely not worth it. Boil them down into stock instead if you don't want to throw them away.

Nate R

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Re: does anyone consistently feed cooked chicken bones to their dogs?
« Reply #6 on: April 08, 2013, 04:11:17 PM »
And it does seem to make sense. The cooked bones are much sharper/harder when broken than raw.

(We feed our dogs raw chicken thighs, and our cats get a wing often as well)

RadicalPersonalFinance

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Re: does anyone consistently feed cooked chicken bones to their dogs?
« Reply #7 on: April 08, 2013, 05:04:50 PM »
Do any of you make your own dog food for the purposes of spending less money than commercially available kibble?

michael

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Re: does anyone consistently feed cooked chicken bones to their dogs?
« Reply #8 on: April 08, 2013, 06:08:03 PM »
I would advise against it.  Chicken/fowl bones are thin and break apart/splinter easily.  The danger is that a dog will swallow sharp pieces and they will become lodged somewhere in the GI tract.  The cost of remedying this is surgery costing several thousand dollars and needless challenges for your pet.  I don't really think its worth the risk.

Definitely not worth it. Boil them down into stock instead if you don't want to throw them away.

I second these two comments.
My mother and step-father are both veterinarians of 30+ years and strongly advise against feeding dogs chicken bones due to the risk of splintering and internal injury.
Chicken stock is super easy to make with your left-over bones, plus you can throw in all your other "weird" bits like tough cartilage and fat.

pka222

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Re: does anyone consistently feed cooked chicken bones to their dogs?
« Reply #9 on: April 08, 2013, 06:29:50 PM »
My dog was a stray that adopted me, before we met he was eating trash -if he ate, which is the same most of the dogs here.  So now he gets all left overs, bones included, vegetables and even a cup dog food a day - he looks great, is the biggest dog on the block and keeps the yard free of unwanted visitors 

Adventine

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Re: does anyone consistently feed cooked chicken bones to their dogs?
« Reply #10 on: April 08, 2013, 06:41:30 PM »
My family has had dogs ever since I can remember. Our current one is a 7 year old spitz who we've raised since he was a puppy. Despite all the contrary advice above, we've been feeding our dogs cooked chicken bones all their lives and they do just fine.

termetgirl

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Re: does anyone consistently feed cooked chicken bones to their dogs?
« Reply #11 on: April 08, 2013, 06:48:45 PM »
"Chicken stock is super easy to make with your left-over bones, plus you can throw in all your other "weird" bits like tough cartilage and fat."

Exactly. If you make a true bone broth, the bones will be soft and useless at the end, and the broth will be mineral-rich and gelatinous (upon refrigeration). To do this, you need to let the bones "rest" in a slightly acidic medium for a while before bringing to a rapid boil (I use a 1/2 cup of apple cider vinegar in the full stock pot of water ~16L) and then simmering for 24 hours at very low heat - on my stove, it's level 1. Just hot enough that bubbles break the still surface, but not actually making the surface ripple. The resulting broth is deep amber, clear, and forms a gel-like consistency in the fridge. This is excellent sipped slowly for anyone who is sick, or to make nourishing soups and sauces. I freeze veg that are close to spoiling to throw in too.

Rural

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Re: does anyone consistently feed cooked chicken bones to their dogs?
« Reply #12 on: April 08, 2013, 07:14:42 PM »
I make stock and then feed the bones to the dogs, who have had no problems in many years of bone-eating. Of course,1) they are Great Danes and can likely handle bigger bone pieces than little dogs,and can likely chew them better, and 2) I make broth with a little vinegar in the slow cooker, so by the time it's.,done, the bones are so soft they turn to powder when squeezed between two fingers.

projekt

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Re: does anyone consistently feed cooked chicken bones to their dogs?
« Reply #13 on: April 08, 2013, 07:33:22 PM »
I would recommend trusting a veteranarian's anecdotes of "we frequently see" over an owner's anecdote of "i've never had a problem". Four other examples:

1. Fatty table scraps. Veterinarians see pancreatitis. Some owners never see a problem. Extremely painful and expensive.

2. Grape/raisin poisoning. Veterinarians see acute kidney failure and death. Most owners never see a problem. We don't know what the toxin is.

3. Hard bones (like beef long bones). Veterinarians see fractured teeth. Some owners never see a problem. Painful and can lead to more extensive dental disease.

4. Aspirin and ibuprofen. Veterinarians see perforated stomach ulcers. Most dogs don't get perforations so their owners never know the dog had an ulcer.

EMP

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Re: does anyone consistently feed cooked chicken bones to their dogs?
« Reply #14 on: April 09, 2013, 06:32:34 AM »
Only if I want to spend the next day cleaning up puddles of puke and diarrhea. With the possibility of a giant vet bill like the one from a couple weeks ago.

chicagomeg

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Re: does anyone consistently feed cooked chicken bones to their dogs?
« Reply #15 on: April 09, 2013, 07:39:43 AM »
Neither of my parents ever wore a seatbelt and nothing bad happened, so I don't either. It's science y'all.