Ask Me Help Desk - Opinions needed on feeding crushed chicken bones.

A senior - who does not have a computer, asked me to post this question for her. She wants to know opinions of the members on this site, if it is safe to take cooked chicken bones and crush them up very very well (so that there are absolutely no traces of splinters or anything dangerous at all! ), and add to the dog and cat's food, as a sort of additional treat. Do the crushed bones have any nutritional value > calcium? And if she is very very careful, (because responsible pet owners know of the fact that cooked chicken bones should NOT be fed to pets because of the definite danger of splintering!)... can she continue to do this? Thanks.

Would I do it? No. Would it even take the chance? No.

BUT - someone did post (and I can't find it with the search feature changed) some time ago that someone who feeds their dog "raw" DOES grind up the chicken bones and does feed them.

I don't know if anyone else remembers.

I don't know if the nutritional value would outweigh the risks - if there are risks.

I'm not a big fan of the raw diet. I think too much can go wrong inside the dogs gut, but I just read up on it. If you crush the bones by using a mallet you shouldn't have problems. Dogs stomaches are designed to digest bones and raw meat.

Is this person feeding the raw or the barf diet? Or are they feeding kibble? If feeding kibble it would be unnecessary, the dried food is already full of the nutritional needs the dog needs.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Luv_a_bull098

I'm not a big fan of the raw diet. I think to much can go wrong inside the dogs gut, but I just read up on it. If you crush the bones by using a mallet you shouldnt have problems. Dogs stomaches are designed to digest bones and raw meat.

Is this person feeding the raw or the barf diet? Or are they feeding kibble? If feeding kibble it would be unnecessary, the dried food is already full of the nutritional needs the dog needs.

Thanks for your advice.
She is asking about COOKED and crushed chicken bones.. as an addition to the regular holistic foods diet...

Quote:

Originally Posted by violet0019

Thanks for your advice.
She is asking about COOKED and crushed chicken bones....? as an addition to the regular holistic foods diet...

Here is what I found:

"This is one of the biggest myths of all time! Raw chicken bones are fantastic for your dog. They are soft enough so that they bend easily, and break well for the dog to digest.

On the other hand, cooked chicken bones can be a problem, and I recommend that you DON'T feed COOKED chicken bones.

Some people are worried about their dog choking on bones. While such incidents are very rare (far more incidents occur with dogs choking on kibble), I encourage the feeding of bigger portions of meaty bones, or if available, whole carcasses, such as whole chickens or rabbits.

So could a raw chicken bone kill a dog? Well I guess that anything is possible. Certainly scientifically you can't prove a negative argument. However what we do know is that dogs have died from inhaling kibble the wrong way and choking and suffocating to death.

Feeding your dog is about management of risk. No matter which path you decide to take there is always risk. There is always someone who will criticise your decision. However you, and only you can decide what is best for your dogs. Weigh up all the benefits and risks. Do your own analysis. Do your research. Do what will have the greatest overall benefit for your dog."I believe this is what was posted earlier.

The quote is from Raw Feeding FAQ

If its an addition to the kibbled foods, then I wouldn't worry about it. The nutrition in the bones is already in the kibbled food. Especially if it's a holistic type of food. You might want to try and find a nutritionist to determine the dos and donts as far as adding chicken bones. I typed in "pet nutrition" in Google and got a couple in my area. It'd be worth a shot, especially with an older dog.

I know the raw diet uses raw chicken bones in the recipies so I would assume you should crush the raw bones instead of cooking then crushing them.

I never feed cooked bones, no matter if they are whole or crushed, even a tiny splinter of bone can pierce their stomach, intestines or bowel.

I do feed raw chicken bones but only supervised and only ever necks which I check to make sure they are not to big and can't be swallowed without crunching first.
If a smaller dog swallowed a whole chicken neck without crunching it it could get lodged in their throat if it's too big.

Quote:

Originally Posted by shazamataz

I never feed cooked bones, no matter if they are whole or crushed, even a tiny splinter of bone can pierce their stomach, intestines or bowel.

I do feed raw chicken bones but only supervised and only ever necks which I check to make sure they are not to big and can't be swallowed without crunching first.
If a smaller dog swallowed a whole chicken neck without crunching it it could get lodged in their throat if it's too big.

After receiving all of this information and all of these opinions, I am going to try and feed my little dog RAW chicken necks. I do believe that raw diets are the way to go but unfortunately and surprisingly my cats are not interested!? In the past, I tried raw meat and she became ill, but I will try again as it is now several years later. As she is with problems relating to her digestion, perhaps I will start with only 1 piece. Is it safe to do this, or preferable/safer to give the neck in one piece? :confused: Also, what is your opinion on giving a piece of raw chicken liver? And do I need to rinse the blood off or is the blood that surrounds the chicken livers in the package safe? Thanks.

I actually addressed the size in your other question :)

I give them a cut up neck for the first time just so I know if they are going to swallow it whole it try to crunch it up.
If they swallow it in one go then I don't give them a whole one, if they crunch/chew it then I move onto bigger pieces.

My moms cats LOVE chicken necks, they go crazy for them, as do the dogs.

If they made her sick before it may have been a bad batch of necks, I always do the sniff test on mine before I give them to my dogs, chicken that is going bad has that horrid smell to it.
I have gotten quite a few lots of necks that had to be returned to the store because they were bad :rolleyes:

If you decide to go completely raw you will most likely need to buy suppliments to add to it, unfortunately I can't give you much more info on that as I have never fed a completely raw diet.