While I was reading the forum my dog stole cooked chicken (with bones) off the counter

[Liz CA]

I know cooked chicken is worse than raw because the bones are softer. She seems extraordinarily happy right now...ack. I have googled this before and am trying to remember why it's bad. They can choke on the bones or what is the danger here?

[Pen]

the cooked bones are more brittle...

 

eta: they break into sharp daggery bits.... that can catch and/or cut on way through digestive tract.  If she is happy it has probably already cleared first hurdle of the way and not caught in throat.  But you used the word soft and  I guess if the chicken had been cooked long enough especially as maybe a soup or something it might get to where the bones become soft and not so dangerous.

 

it has happened to dogs of mine too and did not lead to death--though my uncle who is a vet says he has had dog patients for whom it was fatal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 20, 2016 by Pen

[Arcadia]

Hope your dog just poops all the bones out.

My cousin's maltese (then a puppy) ate half a birthday cake while they were sleeping. It was a messy but funny thing to wake up to. The maltese had jumped onto a dining room chair and then onto the table.

[Pen]

raw, incidentally, they can usually handle the bones just fine as they would if they caught a bird in nature... I deliberately feed them raw chicken with bones when I can. They seem to prefer the taste of cooked though if they manage to get hold of it.

 

I am trying to remember if anything special was done when my dog ate cooked chicken bones like trying to follow it with some bread to pad the bones, or anything like that.

[purplejackmama]

And you were worried about too many egg yolks...

 

Sorry, no advice. Hope the pup is ok!

[Sdel]

The cooked bones splinter when crunched.  They should still digest okay once in the system though.  One of my old dogs was fed cooked turkey after Thanksgiving for several years and was fine. 

 

Stefanie

[Liz CA]

My dog did that years ago with a whole baked chicken and our vet had us feed her a whole loaf of bread- she was a 90lb dog. She thought it was awesome for about half a loaf, then for the second half we had to add peanut butter or salad dressing and things to spice it up. She looked like a bloated whale afterwards but was fine. I think the idea was the bread would somehow insulate for the bones....Whatever it was, she was fine and lived to steal many many more things off of the counter.

 

I can give her some sourdough I just baked today. Thanks for the tip!

 

[Pawz4me]

Agreeing that it's sometimes recommended to feed bread after a dog has eaten cooked bones.  Supposedly the bread cushions the digestive tract (or something) and helps the bones pass harmlessly.  What you want to watch for is lack of appetite, vomiting or passing blood, trying to vomit or defecate and not being able to.  I've also heard the recommendation to add some oil, but I personally wouldn't do that.  The chance of setting off a pancreatitis attack isn't worth any potential benefit IMO.

 

But . . . bones are very high in calcium, and too much can be constipating.  So that alone can make her strain.  Also expect smallish, white stools that are kind of chalky/crumbly as she process the bones.

 

Chances are she'll be just fine.

[Pink and Green Mom]

My dog has done this more than once.  Good to know about the bread.

 

I just watch a few days for changes in behavior, problems going to the bathroom, and/or blood in his poop.

[gingersmom]

My dog stole chicken bones from garbage and two days later I had to rush him to vet.

 

I would just keep a close watch on him.

[Liz CA]

Agreeing that it's sometimes recommended to feed bread after a dog has eaten cooked bones.  Supposedly the bread cushions the digestive tract (or something) and helps the bones pass harmlessly.  What you want to watch for is lack of appetite, vomiting or passing blood, trying to vomit or defecate and not being able to.  I've also heard the recommendation to add some oil, but I personally wouldn't do that.  The chance of setting off a pancreatitis attack isn't worth any potential benefit IMO.

 

But . . . bones are very high in calcium, and too much can be constipating.  So that alone can make her strain.  Also expect smallish, white stools that are kind of chalky/crumbly as she process the bones.

 

Chances are she'll be just fine.

 

Thanks for listing possible symptoms. So far so good. I am hypervigilant because we lost a dear dog last January well before his time to some form of cancer.

I should have been more hypervigilant putting the food away...

 

 

My dog stole chicken bones from garbage and two days later I had to rush him to vet.

 

I would just keep a close watch on him.

 

I hope he was okay. How scary and in our case, all my fault. Too lazy to clean up right after dinner.  I fed my dog a fat slice of bread and dh pointed out that she probably thinks she had the most fantastic dinner in a long time.

[Spy Car]

I'll second the symptoms Pawz listed (adding lethargy or any generalized behavior that would lead you to believe the dog is not acting right).

 

The good news is that while feeding cooked none is not a good practice (and can have serious consequences), most typically dogs pass the cooked bones without having a problem. The odds are very much in your favor. Be calm, but vigilant.

 

Soft foods like white bread or white rice are often recommended. I would not stuff the dog. Bones tend to be constipating, so you wouldn't want to throw the diet off too much.

 

As an aside, my dog eats a balanced raw diet and has raw chicken pieces with bones almost everyday. Raw chicken bone (as part of a balanced diet) is a very healthful part of the canine diet providing calcium and chewing them helps keep teeth clean (without the fracture risks of chewing hard beef bones). Dogs have strong stomach acids that act to largely dissolve bone.

 

Keep an eye on the dog. In all likelihood you will be fine.

 

Best wishes,

 

Bill

[Liz CA]

I'll second the symptoms Pawz listed (adding lethargy or any generalized behavior that would lead you to believe the dog is not acting right).

 

The good news is that while feeding cooked none is not a good practice (and can have serious consequences), most typically dogs pass the cooked bones without having a problem. The odds are very much in your favor. Be calm, but vigilant.

 

Soft foods like white bread or white rice are often recommended. I would not stuff the dog. Bones tend to be constipating, so you wouldn't want to throw the diet off too much.

 

As an aside, my dog eats a balanced raw diet and has raw chicken pieces with bones almost everyday. Raw chicken bone (as part of a balanced diet) is a very healthful part of the canine diet providing calcium and chewing them helps keep teeth clean (without the fracture risks of chewing hard beef bones). Dogs have strong stomach acids that act to largely dissolve bone.

 

Keep an eye on the dog. In all likelihood you will be fine.

 

Best wishes,

 

Bill

 

She gets raw meat but only larger bones (from a cow) so I am hoping her digestive tract will deal with it. She behaves just fine and ate normal this morning. I have rice as well which I can mix into her next meal.

 

 

[Spy Car]

She gets raw meat but only larger bones (from a cow) so I am hoping her digestive tract will deal with it. She behaves just fine and ate normal this morning. I have rice as well which I can mix into her next meal.

 

 

Liz, I would be cautious with beef bones. Especially with femurs and the like. Ribs, neck-bones, and other flat bones are better, but the hard weight-bearing bones can crack and fracture teeth. Personally I don't risk it.

 

Good to hear the dog is fine. It is nerve wracking (and guilt promoting) to feel like you've put a beloved dog at risk (been there myself). Dogs pass food pretty quickly. If she's acting fine it is a very good sign that you won't have a problem.

 

Bill

[umsami]

I bet he's going to remember this as one of the best days of his life.  Telling all his friends.... "I stole a chicken off the counter and it was THIS big!'

 

Hope the bones weren't an issue and he enjoyed his treat.