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A Bone-y Situation

Bones - Yay? or Nay?

There is a constant debate between animal caregivers and sometimes even a few vets, whether animals should be given whole bones in their meals or not. If the above image isn't a strong enough suggestion, the answer is quite obvious, but I'll still list out why I would never recommend bone feeding.
Chicken bones are very brittle and splinter very easily! Your furry dependant may be used to eating bones and may have never faced a problem from it, YET. All it takes is one bad unlucky day, and you'll wonder why he/she is leaking tomato sauce from its rear end. Only to realise it's not tomato sauce but BLOOD! While that is an extreme, other signs to look out for are choking, coughing, trying to reach the roof of his mouth with his paw, asphyxiation, cyanosis of the tongue. All of which could be fatal if not corrected in time!
No, cooking or overcooking doesn't always guarantee jelly bones, there could be sections of the bone that could still break off and cause damage to your furry buddy's GI tract. Cooking bones makes it worse and can have a higher chance of splintering.
If the risk of your furball's potential discomfort, pain and health aren't reason enough to reconsider bone feeding then consider your wallet's worth. It costs a lot more to fix a bleeding and ailing animal than to not take that risk at all!
If you really want to feed bones, very large-sized Long bones(Femur, humerus, radius, tibia) of larger animals which can't be broken (at least not easily) which could at the same time satisfy their chewing needs. Although I still wouldn't advocate the former since there are cheaper, safer and cleaner alternatives available out there!
T-bone (image) (don't mind our humour), was lucky to have the bone fragment lodged somewhere accessible externally, but if it was somewhere inside, who knows if he'd have lived to see the next or have to go through an unnecessary surgery.
Preach - Don't fall for marketing gimmicks and random online forums that mandate bone feeding. Do your research and then make decisions you're ready to bear consequences of(for your animals as well)! ✌️

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Rohit Joseph

Rohit Joseph

Jeevoka member since Sep 2019

Accomplishing short-term goals to reach larger goals have always been the way to go for me. Ever since I was little, I aspired to work with animals as being surrounded by them made me feel most comfortable and at peace. With my heart purely in Shelter/ Stray Medicine, today, as the Head Vet at RESQ Charitable Trust I not only help run Pune’s Largest Animal Organisation but am also living my dream by being a Veterinarian to those who have no-one!
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