Gulped an RMB - signs of obstruction?

Bird-Dog · 06-09-2009, 10:05 PM

The Hershey girl was enjoying an evening treat of chicken wing and she pretty much gulped the last "joint" (the wing tip) whole. I was sitting a few feet away, saw her trying to down the whole thing at once and by the time I got to her, she was licking her chops (quite satisfied with herself I might add).

She ate about 90 minutes ago, since then has had a normal BM. I palpated her abdomen and she felt no discomfort. Her energy level and behavior is normal...ramping up for her 8:00pm puppy zooms.

On the (hopefully slim) chance that she bit off more than she can digest, what signs should I look for?

Vomiting, struggling to defecate, not eating/drinking...??

Thanks in advance

rosemaryninja · 06-10-2009, 06:01 AM

Loss of appetite, lethargy, vomiting, constipation, coughing. The symptoms can display themselves for up to 48 hours after the meal... they usually peak 24 hours after the meal.

How big is your dog?

Bird-Dog · 06-10-2009, 09:10 AM

Thanks for the reply.

10 lbs - would her size shorten the time frame?

She's been fine so far, aside from some psychotic puppy zooms last night.

lovemygreys · 06-10-2009, 09:18 AM

She'll most likely be fine. She may eventually vomit up the bone if it was too big. The first time I ever gave our boy Rocky a chicken drumstick, he swallowed the thing whole!! Needless to say that was the last time he got a drumstick...but even that passed just fine.

Bird-Dog · 06-10-2009, 09:29 AM

Thanks, I'm trying to exercise "measured concern" and not to completely freak out over this.

If she ever gets another wing, she'll have to deal with being hand fed.

Lolas_Dad · 06-11-2009, 06:44 AM

Why would you purposely feed the dog a whole chicken wing with the bone?. No problem feeding the dog chicken as a treat but it should be removed from the bone. Chicken bones can splinter and get lodged in the intestine.

rosemaryninja · 06-11-2009, 09:11 AM

Lolas_Dad, raw bones are fine. Cooked bones are the ones that splint. The thread title says the chicken wing was raw.

I asked about her size because I was wondering about the size of the bone in relation to her size. Usually it's not bones that are too big that you have to worry about, but bones are too small. Dogs can usually regurgitate a piece of bone that was too large (mine has done it once), but if the bone is small enough to go down without any discomfort, it can cause a blockage later on in the digestive tract.

Lolas_Dad · 06-11-2009, 09:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rosemaryninja

Lolas_Dad, raw bones are fine. Cooked bones are the ones that splint. The thread title says the chicken wing was raw.

I asked about her size because I was wondering about the size of the bone in relation to her size. Usually it's not bones that are too big that you have to worry about, but bones are too small. Dogs can usually regurgitate a piece of bone that was too large (mine has done it once), but if the bone is small enough to go down without any discomfort, it can cause a blockage later on in the digestive tract.

Well two things I would never do is feed Lola raw meat and never feed her a bone raw or cooked. Isn't there a possibility of salmonella with feeding raw chicken?

lovemygreys · 06-11-2009, 09:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lolas_Dad

Well two things I would never do is feed Lola raw meat and never feed her a bone raw or cooked. Isn't there a possibility of salmonella with feeding raw chicken?

Dogs are designed to eat raw meat and bone. It's what their bodies are built to do...it's what they ate for thousands and thousands of years before man invented kibble and we started cooking for our dogs...the last, what, 60 years or so.

Their systems can handle a higher bacterial load than ours....there's lots of info on the web if you google around.

We fed raw to our dogs a couple years ago and they all did better than they ever did on kibble...I'm guessing greyhound systems do better on it than pure processed kibble b/c they've eaten raw meat their entire lives on the farms and in the racing kennel (albeit mixed with kibble and veg). We are fortunately able to go back to raw and are starting them back this weekend! The chicken frames are getting delivered tomorrow and the new freezer is ready and waiting! The dogs love it and I'm definitely going to love all their beautiful teeth and not having poop to pick up!

There are lots of benefit to raw, but it's not for everyone.

Bird-Dog · 06-11-2009, 10:07 AM

One benefit of living in the Pacific Time Zone...questions are asked AND answered before I hop on the computer.

I don't feed total raw but I like to supplement with RMBs. I'm hoping this will give her at least some of the benefits of raw, at the very least it keeps her very focused and occupied for a good 20-30 minutes and mellow for the next couple hours.

We're about 36 hours in and no problem so far. Well, no problem with obstruction, as a result of inspecting her stool so closely I noticed a couple of worms last night. If it's not one thing...

lovemygreys · 06-11-2009, 10:17 AM

I'm glad she's doing well! You were wise and dilligent to educate yourself on the symptoms of a blockage. Definitely something every pet owner should know!

Sucks about the wormies, but you are right...if it's not one thing, it's another! LOL At least de-worming is pretty easy and inexpensive.

Bird-Dog · 06-11-2009, 10:29 AM

Thanks, lmg. It was one of those things I had a general idea and a common sense feeling about but wanted to tap the vast repository 'o knowledge that is DF.

I don't think we're out of the woods yet, because I haven't seen the tell-tale "white" stool, but I'm going to mention it to the vet when I call her about the worms.

Well, the vet said Hershey should be okay, but not until after thoroughly giving me her views on raw feeding.

She is 100% anti-raw and didn't really leave room for opposing views.

Rather than debate the issue with her I just said, "Okay" and left.

Kathyy · 06-11-2009, 04:26 PM

The chicken neck Max swallowed whole came through looking just about how it went in. I think bone needs a chomp or two to get digested. Max can chomp so fast, maybe Hershey chomped even though you don't think she did. He chomps a whole large chicken wing about 70-100 times in less than a minute and down it goes in one or two mashed pieces.

Oh, I didn't know he swallowed that neck whole. Sassy once ate ceramic shards from a dirty casserole dish she stole and broke and I was very glad not to know about that until I cleaned up the yard!

Both dogs can hold stuff that won't go into the intestines for a couple days. Max couldn't tolerate cooked chicken cartilage and a cooked gizzard. Upchucked after a couple days. Sassy couldn't digest the raw pig ear's cartilage and up it came after 2 days.

Bird-Dog · 06-11-2009, 07:05 PM

Kathyy, not sure if your post reassured me or terrified me.

Tricia_88 · 06-11-2009, 07:10 PM

My Beagle got a chicken leg out of the garbage. When I saw him I heard one crunch and it was gone. The entire leg went down seemingly very easy. I could not believe it. Then I was freaked thinking about how it was going to come out. I called the vet and they said sometimes chicken bones will dissolve. I never heard of that before. It has been almost two weeks and I have not seen it yet. He hasn't had any problems...eating and eliminating fine.

lovemygreys · 06-12-2009, 09:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tricia_88

My Beagle got a chicken leg out of the garbage. When I saw him I heard one crunch and it was gone. The entire leg went down seemingly very easy. I could not believe it. Then I was freaked thinking about how it was going to come out. I called the vet and they said sometimes chicken bones will dissolve. I never heard of that before. It has been almost two weeks and I have not seen it yet. He hasn't had any problems...eating and eliminating fine.

Dogs have a very acidic stomach, designed to break down bones. It's probably better (if the bone as cooked) that it was swallowed more or less whole, rather than chewed up and swallowed...that's when the splintering can really occur, which is dangerous.

Human digestion begins in the mouth where our saliva begins to break down the food as we're chewing...before it even hits our stomach. Dogs have no such enzyme in their saliva and digestion doesn't begin until the food gets to the stomach. Dog saliva is simply there to lube the food so it goes down more easily/quickly.

Kathyy · 06-12-2009, 10:35 AM

Right, dogs have a more acidic stomach than humans. Since Sassy takes antiacid daily that could be why that cartilage didn't work for her. BUT the stinker 'helped' me when I was boning her chicken last time and snatched some cooked chicken bone from the trash and was just fine with that.

I had a 20 pound Jack Russell Terrier swallow a gopher whole. I checked and checked, never even saw any teeth in the poop.

*I* think raw is easier to digest than cooked. Small or broken up is easier than large. And most important, dogs can eat most anything and it will be fine, just fine. I cannot see either of my dogs having any trouble with a swallowed chicken wing tip. Small bones and an easy shape to go through the system.