A dog food WTF moment! - Page 1

So, one of the Mayors in a town I work for, sometimes gets dog food and when he does, gives it to me and that's much appreciated.  So, when I got to work today, I had a message to call him and he had organic "Butcher & Bushel" canned dog food from a company by the name of Castor & Pollux.  It's grain free and that had me pretty happy because my boy doesn't do well with grains.  When I got home, I opened a can and much to my surprise, there's chicken bones in it, Cooked chicken bones, in a stew type meal!  Has anyone had experience with this company?  Are they out of their minds?  WTF?

Like they missed one or like they're supposed to be there? If the food was steamed or boiled, the bones would be soft and not a big issue...I know lots of people who put chicken in a crock pot and feed dogs the (technically cooked) bones.

A dog's digestive juices can easily deal with cooked chicken bones. Most chickens these days are slaughtered when their bones are still soft and growing, and cooking softens them further. I had my dog scarf down some chicken wing bones she found in the park. The next day, she seemed to be in pain, so I took her to the vet, who did x-rays. Those bones had VANISHED, totally digested. The problem was with her spine. 

I've also had my dogs get into my garbage numerous times over the years, or scarf chicken drumstick bones off my plate. Turkey bones, chicken bones...doesn't matter. Maybe a bit of constipation if they get too much at one time, but otherwise they come out the other end just fine.

I think the cooked bones are dangerous/raw bones are safe mantra is a bunch of B.S. Did early man or primitive societies give one fig over which type of bone they fed their dogs? Come on, now!

If they cooked the bones in the can till they are super soft, then they are fine.

Take a fork and shove it into the can... does the bone crumble??

Evangers does this with a few of their canned foods. (whole chicken drummette, cooked whole chicken)

It's like eating sardines; the bones are there, but so soft they don't seem like bones at all.

Raw is fine, and really, really, really cooked bones are fine (cooked till they crumble).

The stuff I'd avoid is fast-food bones, like kentucky fried chicken scraps, or chinese spare-rib leftovers. Those are NOT a healthy and safe source of bones for dogs..because they are sharp and can splinter..and then act like needles  (although some dogs "might" eat them and still be fine..  they ARE scavenger/carnivores....)

 



 

not sure if that is a good way to look at it SS, early man thought diseases were a result of sin or something, germ theory came along and saved millions of peoples lives by simply washing of hands and sterilisation of water by  boiling it, not so primitive man thought smoking cigarrettes improved your chances of getting a date and lead in fuels was harmless....the point, just because primitive man did not give a fig does not mean it is a sensible thing to do.

we have more data now, as a nurse i thought this would be known to you.

i would hate to see someone's pet die a most excruciating death due to a careless and imo irresponsible comment they read on the internet.

I contacted the company via the 800 number on the can.  Indeed, the stew is cooked in the can and the bones are soft.  I easily crushed one with a fork, so that made me feel better!  He loved it too!  I love the Mayor, pretty cool guy, he spoils my dog :)

I do disagree with SS, I'd never feed my dog cooked chicken bones or any cooked bones.  I'm glad you've never had a problem, but that's a chance I wouldn't take.  Too may sharp pieces to get lodged in the digestive tract and I've know dogs that have died from torsion when they've gotten into garbage.  I wouldn't temp fate, I only feed raw bones.  As a matter of fact, our local supermarkets only sell "previously frozen" shank bones and I won't buy those either, freezing makes them brittle.  I buy the shank, with meat, they haven't been frozen.

Anyway, thanks to all who responded, it's much appreciated!

I worked a lot with bones in my university courses and I have also worked for a vet. I really don't think bones are completely safe unless they are cooked until very soft. Ask ANY vet...he or she will tell you about teeth being splintered, bones caught in teeth and the back of a dog's throat, or stuck in the gut, causing obstruction and perforation. An uncooked bird bone, when splintered has razor sharp edges, and when I was growing up, I was told again and again NEVER feed your pets bird bones.

Now, take a cooked bone from your chicken, and try biting the end of it. Even us humans, whose teeth are designed to be omnivores, can easily crush it.

To say these bones are dangerous is to deny the evidence of your own eyes. Large bones from turkeys or mature chickens I would worry about, but your average bone from a young, still growing chicken is NOT going to hurt your dog.

I have never seen a valid, peer-reviewed scientific study that proves raw bones are safe and cooked ones dangerous!  IMO Billinghurst is full of CRAP, dogs are NOT wolves biologically speaking, that's my opinion,  and my nursing training has NOTHING to do with dogs!  I DO have a degree in biology, though, and have always had a special interest in wolves.

Here's the skulls for comparison. It's easy to see which animal has the ivory to deal with cracking open large bones, and it ain't the dog!

gray wolf

german shepherd

This particular GSD didn't have a very good bite, so here's a husky for comparison. Note overall size and length ot teeth, especially the canines, as well as the thickness and density of the skull bones and jaws.

Hell, take a whole chicken and toss it in a pressure cooker until it's done, and you can feed the whole darn thing to the dog, just as it comes out of the pot, once it's cooled down. All of the bones become fork-tender when cooked that way. Never tried it with a bone from four-legged animal, though...may give it a try one day when I feel the urge to cook something.

And thats EXACTLY how some of our pet foods are made! They cook the bones and other parts of the chicken until they are so soft they can be pressed into a paste, which is then dried into chicken meal! The bones are actually a good source of nutrients.