Should we give dogs rawhide chews? Read this...

[ginger899]

http://www.millennium-ark.net/News_Files/rawhide.chew.warning.html

I don't think I for one, will be giving a dog a rawhide chew again.

(I actually posted this a few days ago, and the whole thing disappeared into cyberspace. I have no idea why. So here it is again)

[ginger899]

It's great to hear that your pup is doing well.

You can give her meat, so long as it is cooked. Boiled without any salt, chillies, onions, or anything else that humans like to add to meat! Just plain boiled meat is OK.

Fish is OK too....but NO FISH BONES!! not even the smallest little one! So it would be best to give canned Tuna or canned sardines because you know for sure there are going to be no hard bones that could be dangerous in canned fish.

I know all dogs love boiled chicken, and when you pour off the water that the chicken has cooked in, put it in a dish or jug, cover it, and cool it in the refrigerator. In a few hours all that juice will turn to a delicious jelly, which you can add to dry kibble to make it really tasty.

Be careful with some fruit. Apples are usually fine (my dog loves apples) some dogs like bananas.....but some fruit is toxic for dogs.....like plums, and definitely grapes, they cause kidney failure!!
NEVER let a dog eat peach pits, or anything like that as they are poisonous.
Onions are definitely poison for dogs too!

Oatmeal is very good for dogs. I use oatmeal to bake biscuits for my dog. There is a small amount of protein in oatmeal, and it is a "long-lasting carbohydrate" which is good for energy.

Bug bites:
If you are certain these bites are not caused by fleas??...yes there are mosquitos and also other little biting insects in grass. Sometimes if my dog runs in long grass she gets little bites afterwards, especially at this time of year. They are pretty harmless. But do watch out for any signs that the bites might be infected....(if they swell up, turn very red, or have any pus in them, go to the vet)
If itching gets really bad, I use Benadryl cream on them.

[med_help_seeker]

lol

ok i will not feed raw meat as i came to know abut the deadly bacteria

m just limited to

fruits vegs n diluted milk , rice, a boiled egg each day , some dog food , oatmeal .

thatz it .

shes grewing nice n her coat is shiny n healthy :)


1 question more -

do mosquitos can cause faded yellow bumps/spot on a dog skin ?
my pup have some where there is no fur like the armpits n belly .rest is all ok

[ginger899]

Yes, I feel the same about raw chicken or poultry. It's a bit risky. OK so we know wolves can eat all that raw stuff, but they could have had so much exposure to small amounts of bacteria, they may have built an immunity. And even if they hadn't -would we necessarily know about it?
Did you realize that a wild wolf lives on average about 5-6 years less than a domestic dog? That's not just because of their size (as larger canines CAN live shorter lives than smaller ones)....but it's to do with their wild lives which are unsupported by medicine of any kind, and by (hopefully) human interaction which is intelligent and can make health supporting decisions.
Yes they live wild and free. But they don't get to see the vet if they get sick.

And yes it's true that wolves have different systems in many ways to domesticated dogs. It's about 10,000 years ago that dogs evolved from wolves.

Cook the chicken. It tastes nice too that way. Dogs ain't stupid. They know a good dinner when they sniff one. lol!

[Jaybay]

I don't feed raw meat or poultry of any kind to my dogs.  I know some people swear by a raw diet for their dogs but I'm just not convinced it's entirely safe or necessarily "better" than a commercial or home-cooked diet.  The usual argument is that wolves and other wild canines eat raw meat from a kill and they do just fine.  Well, that's a freshly killed animal, and we don't exactly have statistics on food poisoning or other food-borne illnesses in wild dogs.  Our pet dogs have been domesticated for hundreds of years and their DNA and immune systems are not identical to those of their wild cousins.

Personally, I worry too much about salmonella, e-coli and other nasty bacteria in raw poultry and meat, so my two fur kids only get well-cooked food.  All it takes is one little bacterium to make a dog sick or even kill him, so I'll take the safe route on the meat question.  :-)

[med_help_seeker]

HEY

can i give chicken meat .. which is not cooked in any way ?

i mean jus raw meat will b ok ?

[seeana]

I got three rawhide shaped bones a couple of days ago.If they are sort of hungrey they nibble little bits off but never really bother unless they lick and suck them until they get soft.
      Shane just carries his around yodeling like one of his toys.

Now you have got me worried though.  

[deadgamegrrl]

I can relate to your choking issue.  My bulldog took one bite out of a pig ear and then swallowed it whole!  Talk about quick reflexes!  

[ginger899]

...oh and I forgot to include this horrible extra thing......
Many rawhide chews, especially if manufactured in China (as many of them are) CAN contain hide, not just from cows, but even from dogs and cats as well.

[ginger899]

It might be easier to get to this site by putting "Millennium Ark: Rawhide Warning" into google search.
Maybe the reason the link works on my browser is because it's gone onto 'cookies'....? Don't know, anyway....

The dog I have now isn't a 'chewer', she wouldn't know what to do with a rawhide chew. Someone gave her one once, and she guarded it, insisted on taking it into bed with her (to guard it some more) then forgot all about it.

But the dog I had before used to love to chew on them. This was years ago, and I hadn't a clue they could be harmful then. Anyway, once he chewed up a really large piece of it, and tried to swallow that piece. He was soon choking. I had to put my fingers down his throat and haul it out, and it didn't even come out that easily! That really scared me, and after that, never gave him another one.

They can create stomach and intestinal blockages too, and often do, if large pieces are swallowed. They can cause damage to the esophagus. They can be infected with salmonella bacteria. It is advised that after handling a rawhide chew, hand should be washed thoroughly with hot water and soap.

[deadgamegrrl]

I couldn't access the site but as far as rawhide, there is always a contraversy about it.  I owned a dog specialty shop for 10 years and made the decision not to sell it.  Some dogs can handle it, and some brands are manufactured correctly, but the odds just aren't good.  For me, my bulldogs would swallow it whole ( as with pig ears) which caused an immediate choking issue, and my pit bulls would tear off huge chunks, causing a blockage issue.  
I do think some older dogs that can't chew harder things will do all right w/rawhide, as long as it is manufactured w/o chemicals.

[ginger899]

Thanks Heiferly,
Just my luck!
I copied and pasted it into my browser, and it worked (brought up the website anyway, which I then clicked on).....weird...oh well...

to med_help_seeker:
I think Tofu is OK for dogs, you're right it is protein, but only OK if the dog isn't allergic to soy beans. Soy products can cause allergies sometimes. I think it would be OK as an occasional treat, but dogs are really meant to eat meat. That's the best protein for them.

[med_help_seeker]

btw can we give "tofu" to dogs
?
its calestrol n fat free \


only contains protien

[Heiferly]

It's a broken link.  Doesn't 404, but redirects.