"Nick, nack padywack,
Give a dog a bone"
Goes the nursery rhyme, but like many other old wives tales, this is outdated and just plain wrong.
Every couple of weeks we see a dog who is having problems because they have eaten bones. Some of them have stolen a chicken, or something they shouldn't out on a walk, but unfortunately many of them have been fed bones by otherwise caring owners.
Dogs like bones. Their history and evolution as scavengers, means that they have adapted to eat many things and this includes bones. However they also like chocolate and we all know that can be harmful to them. Just because they like bones doesn't mean that they should be fed them. This applies to any sort of bone, including specially cooked bones, as chips can be easily broken off when the dog chews.
Bones can cause a variety of problems, including constipation, but most seriously large pieces of bone can cause blockages. As you can see from this X ray, this bone has stuck in the dog's oesophagus, require a serious operation to remove it.
A number of dogs and cats die and have to be put to sleep every year because of the damage bones cause, so we have a simple message for you. Please don't feed your dog (or cat) bones.
