raw causing vomiting?

[Carlasl]

I got some very meaty beef neck bones a few weeks ago and froze them, I fed each of my dogs one of these bones last week and Skye my big girl (3yrs old about 50lbs) threw up the next day, she has a stomach like a rock (rarely throws up), so I was suprised. Maya (9mo old) was fine that time, ate hers and had no problem.

 

Then yesterday I fed them the bones again and this time Maya seems to have the upset stomach, threw up quite a bit this morning.

 

Could it be because they had more meat on them than most of the bones we get (lots of very red meat), just too rich for them?

 

I am trying to decide what to do with the rest of the bones, if I should try again or just give these to friend?

 

They generally give a raw meaty bone 3 times a week, and we haven't had any stomach problems with them until this batch of bones.

[IPSY]

Maybe they went bad..I wouldnt give them away , they might get another dog sick too.

Its possible they were on their way out when you got them , who knows , but it does happen..its best to ditch them , give your guys some benebac or yogurt for a few days and count your blessings that their symptoms didnt get worse.

[M.L.]

I've been having the same type of situation lately. I've been giving our dogs raw bones to chew for 10 - 15 minutes a day for a long time. The last two times they have all gotten really bad diarrhea. Both times the bones were fresh from the butcher. The first time it happened we threw them away and went and got new. Then it happened again. I know the marrow is really rich, but I'm not sure why it is suddenly becoming a problem. Their teeth are getting cleaner (tartar is coming off in chunks!), but cleaning up piles of disgusting crap is no fun!

 

I'm also interested in any suggestions.

[The Good Shepherd]

I have been feeding RAW only for the last 4 years and never had a problem. If you do get loose poop try canned pumkin, not the piefilling so, just the pumkin. Hope your puppers are okay

[Sue R]

Carlasi - Rethinking your post, I just wonder if your dogs didn't simply get a "bug" from somewhere, and it has nothing to do with the raw food. The one got sick and then, some days later, so did the other. Just like in humans, it can take a few days to a week for an illness, minor or major, to show up. Just a thought.

 

As for the problems at "the other end" for M.L., I find that not all bones are created equal. Some bones just never seem to cause any problem and others are either so rich (marrow or attached fat, usually) or so "flaky" (knuckle bones from old, arthritic cows) that they may cause a problem for a dog that otherwise would not have any reaction to a bone (like a rib bone, steak bone, or bone with little to no marrow or flakiness).

 

I usually feed my bones frozen so, if it is a marrow bone, I can limit the time and actually only a minor amount of the marrow is consumed at any one time.

 

One other consideration might be the source of the bones and the feeding program that produced them - our bones come from pasture-finished beef (adult to aged cull cows normally). Store-bought bones would more likely come from corn-fed, feedlot, younger animals (unless they came from cull dairy animals or other aged animals that were made into burger - much less likely, I'd think). Different feeding of the stock results in somewhat differently-composed fat.

 

You might try avoiding marrow bones and looking for rib bones or bones from steak (sirloin are good ones), neck, and soon.