Benefits of Bones

Raw Bones Only – No Cooked

• Raw bones clean teeth like no other chews in the world.
• Raw bones can take a long time to chew and when your dog has eaten all the meat, the bone can last for weeks!
• Raw Bones are rich with minerals such as calcium and phosphorus.
• Raw Bones remove plaque naturally and helps to keep gums and teeth strong.
• Chicken cartilage such as wing tips, feet, and carcasses are great for added glucosamine in your dog’s diet.
• Meaty bones can be used as a meal replacement.
• Raw Bones are a great mental stimulation/chew therapy for your dog or puppy.

Types of Bones

“Toothbrush Bones”: Bones such as knuckles (the knee bones), or ribs are best for cleaning teeth because of their shape and the meat on them acts like floss!

“Recreational Bones”: These bones can also be knuckles, shanks, or femurs that due to their shape and composition, provide hours of chewing action.

“Meal Replacement Bones”: Bones such as Elk necks, Lamb necks, Turkey necks, and Beef meaty femurs have tons of meat so your dog’s get a tasty and stimulating meal

What to Watch Out For

• Aggressive chewers should be given softer bones in case they over chew and grind their teeth down. Soft bones include knuckles, chicken bones, turkey necks, rib bones, and other small animal bones.
• Remember to ALWAYS supervise your dog with a bone until you know what kind a chewer they are.
• Dogs will attempt to hide their bones by burying them so that they ferment. This completely normal and healthy for your dog!

Choosing The Right Bone

• Choose the right size bone for your dog: If you are not sure which size of bone to get for your dog, choose a larger size to be safe. A bone that is the size of your dog’s head is a good start and once you know what kind of a chewer your dog is you can head to smaller sizes.

First time bone chewers such as puppies should be taught how to eat a bone. Choose a stick shaped bone such as a turkey neck, or beef ribs. Hold one end of the bone and let your dog chew on the other and pull away if it seems like your dog will try to swallow the whole thing! Through this process, much like a mother wolf might, you teach your dog how to patiently enjoy a bone.
Given enough time, your dog will eat the whole bone! If your dog eats too much bone however, their stools may come out chalky and hard or if the bone was too rich they may have loose stool. If you suspect they ate too much adding pumpkin to their meal will do the trick. To avoid eating too much bone, you can give it to them in several sittings so that they don’t eat the whole thing at once.

NO Cooked Bones!!!

Cooked bones are dangerous as they become very hard and brittle which increases the likelihood of them breaking and splintering into sharp pieces.

Cooked bones are also very difficult for dogs and cats to digest as the bones lose all of their nutritional value.
Smoked Bones are also dangerous as they often have additives such as artificial flavoring and preservatives

Are Digesting Bones Dangerous?

Information From Raw Feeding Advice and Support.com
Compiled by an article written by Dr. Bruce Syme BVSc(Hons)
Source via: http://www.vetsallnatural.com.au/digesting-bones-gastric-acidity-salmonella-dogs-cats/

The digestive system and digesting bones gastric acidity. Digesting bones and gastric acidity. Gastric Acidity, Digesting Bones, Gut Transit Time and Salmonella. There has been much debate about the “potential” dangers of feeding bones to cats and especially dogs, and also of the potential risks of food poisoning and salmonella infection that the feeding of raw meat to dogs and cats may carry. So it may be of interest to note that much of this information, or mis-information, relates back to the very nature of the gastric environment of the dog and cat, which in turn, is directly related to diet.

The gastric acidity (gastric PH) of the stomach of a dog or cat eating a diet predominantly made up of raw meat is very low (very acidic), with a PH of 2 or lower (relative to the level of meat protein). This highly acidic environment favours the breakdown of raw meats, and raw bones, into soft digestible material. The low PH also is highly effective at killing bacteria, particularly potentially pathogenic bacteria like salmonella spp, clostridia, campylobacter and E Coli. So the natural ‘wild” diet of dogs an cats has evolved a gastric environment that favours the breakdown of raw meats, raw bones, and a PH that kills potentially harmful bacteria – consistent with the requirements of carnivores, and in particular, the scavenging nature of dogs.

Also matched to this highly carnivorous diet (raw meat diet) is a very effective digestive process, which occurs in a relatively short gastrointestinal tract. Dogs and cats have a significantly shorter GI tract compared to other non meat eating (herbivorous) animals, whereas man has an intermediate length. The relative length of the gut reflects that nature of the diet, and how efficiently or slowly the food is broken down and absorbed. Fresh raw meat is easily digested and absorbed compared to vegetable matter, and as such, carnivores have a short gut, and rapid gut transit time – fresh meat can be digested and processed in the carnivores body in as little as 8- 12 hrs, whereas plant and vegetable material in a herbivore’s gut can take 3-5 days to be processed.

What we see with the advent of processed pet foods, is a significant change in the general nature of ingredients in the diet. It is a simple commercial fact that meat protein is the most expensive component in any pet food, and as a result, there is always commercial pressure to keep meat protein levels to a minimum, thereby keeping costs down of the end product (and / or maximising profits). Modern processed pet foods have adapted to these financial constraints firstly by significantly increasing the carbohydrate component of dog and cat foods – corn, wheat, rice, potatoe and other forms of carbohydrate are often the first and most major ingredient in many pet foods. Secondly, processed pet foods have also begun to substitute meat (animal) proteins with plant based proteins that are much cheaper – ingredients like Soya bean and lupins are cheap sources of protein that will increase the overall protein % on the label, but without the associated increase in cost. The problem with this type of substitution is that it does directly impact on the digestive environment of the dog or cat.

In dogs and cats that eat these diets with high carbohydrate, high plant protein and lower meat protein, we find that the acidity level of the stomach begins to decrease (gastric acidity relates to meat protein), and the stomach becomes progressively more alkaline (PH 4 and above). In this less acidic environment, several key issues arise;
1. With the altered PH, gastric digestion and emptying slows down
2. With the altered PH, food bacteria and contaminants are not destroyed as effectively
3. With the altered PH, raw bones and bone material is not softened and broken down effectively (digestive enzymes loose function) and this can result in obstruction.

These problems become clinically apparent when a cat or dog that is fed a highly processed diet is offered a raw bone, or a meal of raw meat. Because the stomach acidity is directly dictated by the meat protein content of the diet, these cats and dogs all ready have a less acidic stomach, which is not able to soften and breakdown raw bone material, nor is the stomach PH able to cope with a load of bacteria. The result can be a sudden “rejection” of the bone or meat, in the form of vomiting, or it can take the form of a bout of acute gastroenteritis, from an overgrowth of bacteria, or it may result in a bone obstruction in the stomach. With the delayed gastric emptying effect, any bacteria that do survive are also able to grow up into much larger numbers, and this effect is continued in the large bowel, with further fermentation of the plant fibre, and a delay in overall gut transit time (up to 24 hrs cf 12 hrs) – this can also result in constipation from excessive water reabsorption, or in loose stools from the over production of short chain fatty acids in the colon. The problem is that it takes from 7-10 days on a meat based diet for the gastric acidity levels to drop down to the natural (preferred) PH 2 level, so it is not possible for the body to quickly accommodate to such diet changes. What we learn from this are a few fundamental feeding tips :

1. If you intend to feed fresh meat or a raw food diet, you must make this change gradually over 7-10 days – a common complaint we hear is from people who feed bones or fresh meat on odd occasions to their dog that eats primarily dry food is that “he/she cant handle fresh meat or bones because she vomits” – as we see from above, these dogs can handle it if it is introduced gradually, and the gastric acidity is allowed to normalise.

2. If you intend to feed raw bones (which I strongly advise as an important part of every day pet health) then you must include some fresh meat every day as part of your overall diet plan to make sure the gastric PH remains low (acidic)

3. Feeding a raw food diet will actually protect your dog or cat from bacterial contamination and food poisoning, and greatly reduce the chance of an obstruction from eating raw bones. It is a fact that cats and dogs that eat processed foods are even more likely to shed salmonella bacteria in their faeces than are cats and dogs that eat raw food !!

In summary, most of the dietary upsets we see that involve raw meat and bones are actually directly related to the dog or cats general everyday diet, and not so much in relation to the meat or bones. Given that cats and dogs have been eating raw meat and bones for over 40 million years, it just makes sense that this is what they will thrive on.