In many cartoons and animations, we see dogs get baffled by seeing chicken bones. It seems like chicken bones are their best friend, and they can’t go a day without eating chicken bones. But can dogs have chicken bones?
Even though dogs like chicken bones, these are not good for them. Just imagine you chewed a bone, and it broke into splinters. You gulped the splinters. What will you feel? You will feel like you are gulping shards of a hard substance. This can cause intestinal blockage or tearing of the GI tract. The same goes for the chicken bones. Hence, they can never be safe for our canine friends.
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Can Dogs Have Chicken Bones?
Dogs should not have chicken bones, as they are hard. When dogs chew them, they create splinters that are like shards. Consuming those splinters is like consuming pieces of broken glass.
Well, raw chicken bones offer fewer splintering hazards compared to cooked chicken bones. Some pet owners think that cooked chicken bones may not be harmful to dogs, but the fact is wrong. Cooked chicken bones are indeed softer than raw chicken bones. For this reason, they splinter easily, which makes dogs more susceptible to potential obstruction in their throats.
What Are The Risks Of Having Chicken Bones For Dogs?
It takes a few seconds for a chicken bone to pose a health threat to dogs. If you want to save your dog from such uncertainty, go through the risks associated with it.
Blockage Of Airways
Most often, the larger chicken bones, like the thigh bone, may not go all the way around to the dog’s oesophagus. This can block the airway of the throat, resulting in a blocked oesophagus.
Perforation Of The GI Tract
Since chicken bones are hard, they splinter and create sharp edges. This can tear the intestinal tract and even cause stomach upset.
Pancreatitis
Meaty chicken bones contain high amounts of fat. Meanwhile, high fats can inflame dogs’ pancreas, resulting in pancreatitis.
Can Cause Salmonella
Chicken bones are often prone to bacteria and pathogens, which make them contaminated. It is mostly inevitable with raw chicken bones. That’s why many dogs suffer from Salmonella from eating raw bones.
Are All Chicken Bones Bad For Dogs?
All chicken bones are risky for dogs. Some give fewer side effects, and some give more side effects, but the side effects will be inevitable.
Raw bones are less brittle than cooked bones, yet raw bones are unsafe for dogs. How? Dogs who have a smaller oesophagus, i.e., puppies, will face more choking hazards than adult dogs. Maybe a raw bone won’t choke a mature dog as much as it will choke a puppy. Besides, raw bones carry the risk of causing intestinal blockage2.
Almost all chicken bones can be hazardous for dogs. For example, the rib bones of chickens can be stuck on the top of dogs’ food pipes. Again, the hollow bones of chickens can obstruct their pharynx (the throat’s back). Hence, it would be a waste of time to think that any bone could be safe for dogs.
What Should You Do When Your Dog Eats Chicken Bones?
You should never sit idle whenever you see your dog eating a chicken bone. He may show you symptoms and may not as well. All you need to do is prepare the solutions.
Try To Take The Bone Out From His Mouth
Usually, we panic when we see our paw friends doing something risky, like eating chicken bones. Trust me, this is the worst action you can take. When we panic while seeing our dogs eating a bone or any dangerous food, we try to grab it from them. This makes them more curious, and then they try to gulp the thing so that you can’t take it from them. Hence, the outcomes become much worse than they could have been.
In such cases, you should be calm and give your dog the vibe that nothing happened. Then slowly and gently convince him not to eat the chicken bone. If he hasn’t swallowed the bone entirely, you should try to remove it from his mouth, but gently. You can divert his mind by offering him a plain, cooked chicken. Seeing that meal, he may take out the bone that he hasn’t swallowed yet.
Monitor His Symptoms
Sometimes, we see our dogs eating chicken bones and not reacting. This can be because he is comfortable with it. But that doesn’t mean you can be tension-free then. Keep monitoring his symptoms for about 48 hours after the consumption. Well, a dog being active after swallowing a chicken bone is a rare situation.
Chicken bones can lead to many unwanted health issues for our canine friends. Such as coughing, drooling, vomiting, retching, lethargy, etc. Sometimes, blood comes out of the vomit and poop when the shards of the bond rip the internal organs of the dog.
Offer Some Water
Your dog will surely panic while dealing with the side effects of eating the chicken bone. This can make him restless, which can make his condition worse. That’s why you should offer him some water to drink at first so that the food and the bone go down to his stomach.
Take Him To The Vet
When we say monitor the symptoms of your dog after gulping a chicken bone, we don’t mean only watching the symptoms. You have to take action before the severity of his reaction increases. Initially, he will vomit and have trouble breathing. At that time, you have to inform the vet, and he may suggest you visit him.
Frequently Asked Questions: Can Dogs Have Chicken Bones?
Can dogs have chicken bones sometimes?
It is better not to offer chicken bones to dogs at all. You never know when the bone can cause gastrointestinal damage. Dogs are curious animals; sometimes they skip chewing and gulping foods directly. This can be hazardous; they will do the same while eating chicken bones.
Can the dog digest chicken bones?
Chicken bones are not digestible; in fact, they obstruct the GI tract and can even tear it. Dogs who have a small oesophagus are on the unsafe side when eating these bones.
Are chicken bones safe for extra-large dogs?
Extra-large dogs with large oesophagus have less side effects from eating chicken bones than dogs with small oesophagus. But that doesn’t mean they can escape the side effects. The sharp edges and splinters of chicken bones can choke them as well.
How do you know if a dog has eaten chicken bones?
When a dog eats chicken bone, he will retch and gag after a certain time. This is because bones are hard and splinter easily. Hence, they can cause GI blockage or the tearing of the throat inside.
Final Thoughts
Since dogs like chicken bones and, besides, they offer health risks, we may think, Can dogs have chicken bones? The answer is no. Cartoons are fantasy; there, you will see dogs eating chicken bones comfortably. But in reality, any sort of bone is not good for dogs.
If your dog ever eats a chicken bone discreetly, he may show signs of difficulty breathing at first. Then he can try to throw up everything, then you should inform his vet. Meanwhile, let your paw friend drink some water so that everything in his throat and stomach goes down.
