Author: Debra, Brookside Barkery & Bath
Raw bones play an enormous role in providing digestible calcium and other minerals, which are vital for bone health for both dogs and cats. Raw bones also provide the best in dental hygiene. Macerating meat and bones massages teeth and gums cleaning away food residue and tartar buildup. This in turn prevents plaque formation, bad breath, cavities and gingivitis, thus making teeth cleaning and scaling unnecessary.
So it is disheartening when we hear some of our customers swear off bones because their dog or cat experienced some gastrointestinal upset.
Raw meat and bones, introduced properly into your dog or cat’s diet, can become an important part of your pet’s health.
The first thing to understand is that overly processed dry food, especially those high in carbs, grain, and plant protein, cause the gastric PH to rise, making the stomach more alkaline. When that happens, the acidity levels decrease making it difficult for your pet to digest raw bones and meat. This rejection shows up as vomiting, diarrhea, and general gastroenteritis. This reduction in acid also diminishes your pet’s ability to ward off potentially pathogenic bacteria like salmonella and E Coli and greatly slows down your pet’s stomach emptying ability.
So if you want to give your dog or cat the benefits of raw bones and if they don’t already eat a raw diet, then start giving them a little raw meat every day for about 7 – 10 days. This addition to their daily diet will lower their PH thereby raising the acidity levels so they can break down raw bone and meat.
Feed Fido an appropriately sized bone and let him chew on it for about 20 minutes then take it away and refreeze it to give another day. The second or third time you give a bone, restrict chewing time until after the fourth or fifth bone session then let them have it for however long they want. Usually it takes my border collie about two hours to get at all the marrow and the meat. After that she doesn’t want it any more so I just toss it!
As to Fifi…cats prefer smaller and softer bones such as cut up turkey necks, chicken necks, chicken frames and wings. Cats can easily make a meal of these raw and meaty bones.
FAQ:
Are bones messy?
They can be, we recommend you work with your dog to chew their bone on an area rug you can throw in the wash, if your pet takes the bone off, pick it up and put it back on the designated rug. Or if you kennel, this is a great way to keep it to their kennel or let them have it outside, if it gets messy, wash it off and throw it in a baggy.
Will bones break my dogs’ teeth?
Possibly, this is why you test your dog’s chewing activity to monitor how aggressive they are with their bones.
Read our other articles on Feeding Raw Meaty Bones:
Precautions of Feeding Raw Bones
The Benefits of Raw Meaty Bones
Flashy Feline Fangs
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