Bones and veg

[Bunnylover]

Hi everyone Happy new year to you all.Sorry if this question has been asked before.Ruby is a very fussy eater and the vet advised me to just stick with her food (Nutro) and she will eat eventually! She has just come into her 1st seaon so this is probably a factor in all this but what I'd like to know is (I do get to the point eventually!) what veg/fruit is safe to give her,cooked or raw? and what bones can I give her? What would I ask the butcher for? Sorry if I sound really thick Thanks for all your help x

[CavyMom]

Honestly, for nutrional questions, I prefer to ask a specialist who's done alot more research and has more training, most vets will shamelessly promote Science Diet despite the fact it's really not that good of a dog food. Most vets really don't get alot of nutritional training in vet school, and most of what they do get is paid for by Purina and Science Diet.

Anyway, as for veggies, most are safe, but stay away from grapes, avacodo, and onions. Raw bones are all safe, but be careful with weight bearing bones on large animals, often these are to hard for a small dog and can lead to broken teeth. Bones from young animals are usually all good.

[Karlin]

Raw bones are not always safe -- most vets don't advise feeding them as most have had to deal with emergency cases from bones, raw or cooked. I used to feed raw bones but Jaspar nearly went into the emergency vet once because of a chicken wing with bones remaining as sharp and undigested as when he swallowed it half a day earlier. He was very distressed and I was about to leave with him when he vomited it up and what was there did not fit what raw advocates say -- that bones are safe and will be dissolved by stomach acids etc. Clearly shards can remain intact as well as whole pieces as in my own case. Many feel the benefits of bones outweigh the risk nonetheless but after seeing those sharp shards, I don't feed many raw bones. I feel the best are marrow bones that they gnaw but don't actually eat. I prefer to give them flat rawhide sheets, bully sticks and other natural chews which are also abrasive for teeth.

Many different chews and objects can represent risks though, from rawhides to soft toys that can come apart and be ingested, so it really becomes a weighing up of risks vs. benefits.

Raw vegetables and fruits are definitely good -- they provide roughage and bulk without calories and are much better treat options then constantly giving dog biscuits. There's information on feeding in the Caring for Your Cavalier and Health sections of the Library forum. Somewhere in there there's also a link to poisonous foods and foods to avoid. These include raisons and grapes, onions, seeds in apples. But most are fine and I give a wide range of fruits and veg.

[Bunnylover]

Thanks so much for replies I did do a search but it was all abit mind blowing and I'm so nosey I started reading every thread on every board! My vet was very good and didnt try to push any foods at me just told me to stick with it,his words were "She is a cavvie" meaning they are one on their own! this was said while Ruby was almost draped round his neck having a cuddle.The bones issue does worry me as you read so much and some people are for some things and some against I guess I need to see what suits my girl best.She does have flat rawhide chews and I chop any soft bits of but I was worried I was depriving her of bones.I'll pop to my butchers and ask for a largish marrow bone for her just to gnaw on rather than eat.Thanks again.

[Matte]

Our girl loves a good marrow bone, but we scrape out most of the inside so that she doesn't get diarrhea--she chews away at the bone itself and the connective tissue on the outside. Since we started with the marrow bones she has almost completely stopped chewing on the furniture.

She also loves raw carrots as a chew toy (watch out if it gets too small--I would avoid baby carrots) and raw apple (take out the seeds--they have cyanide in them).

[Matte]

Our pet store also sells dried (not smoked) pigs tails, which she also loves.

[CavyMom]

Rawhides and things can be good for cleaning teeth - But keep in mind if you ARE going to try raw DO NOT make your own if you won't feed bone, either use a mix or skip the raw, meat without the calcium in bones WILL cause serious problems for your dog, the phosphorus in meat is to high without the calcium to balance it out.

[Bunnylover]

Thanks for advice,sorry if I confused you I'm not changing to RAW I'm thinking of trying another kibble but was thinking of bones as a recreational thing.I don't always explain myself very well!

[pinkpuppy]

I'm no expert like everyone here, but here is a link http://www.aspca.org/site/PageServer...pcc_poisonsafe for safe veggies you can feed your pup and unsafe veggies/foods to avoid. Hope it will help a bit.

[simonrickell]

Dr Ian Billinghurst is a vet who does promote bones - I have read some of his books and an convinced too.
(One of his important findings is that dogs fed raw have fewer illnesses)


The bones he suggest for your dog to eat are not the traditional "dog bone" but meat with bones in it. Such as chicken wings. The bones are soft until they are cooked. Small wings have smallish bones. If you give your dog a whole wing - chances are he will have to munch it a bit to get some off to swallow - this crunches the bones up smaller. If you still do not like this idea - then you could always smash it up with a metal meat tenderiser. Thats is the whole wing - now it only has little bone pieces and you may be convinced to at least try.

NO COOKED BONES THOUGH