Has Anyone Heard About A Nylabone Recall?

[Guest smarthound]

My sister called to tell me that her dog (coonhound) has been in the animal hospital since Monday. He had a blockage due to undigested Nylabone and had surgery to remove the pieces. He is apparently doing well although his intestines, according to the vet, are badly bruised.

 

Sister was worried that I might be giving Nylabones to our dogs and wanted to make sure I was aware of this problem. I haven't heard of any recalls but thought I'd post this just in case.

 

An added concern is that Nylabone pieces don't show up on xrays so, if there is a blockage, surgery is the only way to find it.

[Guest greyhound_mommy]

I've not heard of any. I think that the packages do warn about ingesting small pieces just like greenies. Sorry your sister's pup isn't feeling well. Sending prayers.

[Jiffer]

Nylabones are plastic so like any plastic toy if the dog eats pieces any bigger than a sliver, then it has the potential for blockages. The packages that a nylabone comes in even says that it is not digestible. This is the main reason I do not feed my dogs nylabones, but instead opt for bones that are highly digestible such as rawhides or to a lesser extent Booda Bones (made of corn starch).

[Fiona3]

As much as our dogs love to chew on the Nylabones we discovered they were breaking off pieces and likely swallowing them. We collected them all and threw them out and were lucky there were no blockages or ill effects. They really miss having something hard to chomp down on. Best wishes to your sister and her dog for a quick recovery.

[Guest GunnyGirl]

I have used Nylabones for at least 25 years for all my dogs (beagle/sheltie mix; labrador retriever; doberman; collie; aussies) and have never had a problem. I swear by them. I would buy 2 of the big ones every six months or so because I had such power chewers they would get them down to unsafe nub size.

 

I think the secret to these and any toy is to know your dog and choose the right one. Nylabones come in so many shapes, sizes and materials, you do have to be careful and make sure you get the right one for the right dog. And with any toy, supervision is a must.

 

I would always get this shape:

 

Not this one:

 

The traditional "bone" shape looks like it could have the knobs chewed off rather easily. I would also never get the rubbery, bendable ones, as pieces could be chewed off quickly. I stuck with the hefty, original hard ones and never had even a scare.

 

Gunny doesn't care for them but they are there if she wants them. I'm sorry about your sister's dog, it's always scarey when something is wrong.

[Guest Lori]

I hope your sister's dog is ok!!

 

I switched from Nylabones to Merrick's Sargeant Patton bones - they're real bones all cleaned up so they don't stain or spoil. Damien much prefers them to the Nylabones.

[Greytlady94]

I have never bought Nylabones, a greyhounds jaws are just too strong to give them a plastic bone. They get their chewing enjoyment from things like turkey necks, beef ribs, etc. They are always supervised with any bone.

[Guest rsqdogsmom]

I also heard that RAWHIDE toys/bones were bad for dogs because the rawhide is NOT digestible at all

but merely sits in the stomach until they can pass the pieces.

My vet said NEVER to give them to big dogs because they can demolish them so quickly

that they could eat them before you know it!

Really, it's just like SHOES, right?

If your dog ate a leather shoe, the leather pieces are NOT digestible.

You just hope that the pieces they rip up are small enough to go through easily!

NONE of these chewing toys are really meant to be EATEN like a SNACK!

They are for exercising their jaws or giving them an acceptable substitute for fingers and furniture.

[ahicks51]

The ironic thing is that a small change in the product could make the fragments more visible on X-rays: add something like bismuth (same as in "Pepto-Bismol") that is a non-toxic heavy metal that would show up very nicely on films.

 

I emailed this to the Nylabone company this morning, and got back:

 

"I will pass your suggestion along to our R&D department. Thank you for

contacting us.

 

Sincerely,

Christa Wilding

Nylabone Consumer Care

PO Box 427

Neptune, NJ 07754-0427

info@nylabone.com

www.nylabone.com"

 

I'm sure they've already thought about this and shot it down for whatever reason. It's an obvious solution to the X-ray problem, although it won't help at all with the obstruction issue itself.

[Guest Moebaaviva]

I'm sorry about your sister's dog! I hope he has a quick recovery.

 

We only give Nylabone edibles, which are digestible, and have had no issues.

[Guest SusanP]

I just bought Nylabones because the Booda Velvets seem to be different now--the dogs eat them in one sitting instead of chewing at them for several days--I just can't afford them anymore. But sadly, my hounds don't seem all that interested in chewing Nylabones. I'm really getting frustrated here...

[Jiffer]

I also heard that RAWHIDE toys/bones were bad for dogs because the rawhide is NOT digestible at all

but merely sits in the stomach until they can pass the pieces.

My vet said NEVER to give them to big dogs because they can demolish them so quickly

that they could eat them before you know it!

Really, it's just like SHOES, right?

If your dog ate a leather shoe, the leather pieces are NOT digestible.

You just hope that the pieces they rip up are small enough to go through easily!

NONE of these chewing toys are really meant to be EATEN like a SNACK!

They are for exercising their jaws or giving them an acceptable substitute for fingers and furniture.

 

I guess it depends how they eat them. Mine chew and suck on them so they're soft and pieces tear away easily. I have never found pieces of rawhide in their leavings.. but I did when they had a nylabone. Even turkey necks weren't totally digested.. I found little pieces of bone in their poop.

Now when Icarus had a cow hoof. It took two weeks before he eventually threw up the marble sized piece he had swallowed whole. It was the first and last time I gave them a hoof.

[Guest Ola]

My dogs only have the Durable nylabones, none of these "edible" ones which I expect are very similar to greenies. I have a couple lying around the house that the dogs chew on once in a while. Sometimes I smear some peanut butter or cream cheese on the ends to get them interested.

 

I hope your sister's dog will be ok!

[moofie]

Aww hope your sisters hound is feeling better soon!

 

I have a nylabone that the boys occasionally chew on, more so recently than when i got it a couple of months ago. Its not really even changed shape much so i don't think any big bits have come off, however they tend to only chew it for a few minutes before falling alseep or selecting another toy.

They have chewed up a muzzle they got hold of before now and most of it seemed to pass through (it was red) but it is worrying. I tried them with those dentastix (x shaped sticks) edible chews once and frop had a go at swalloing it whole which scared the life out me.