Chewing Bones And Lacking Teeth

[XTRAWLD]

Back in June, Ryder had both of his upper molars removed because they were in bad shape. We stopped feeding raw at this time, because of the tooth removal and various other reasons (cost, time, mess, etc.). We fed raw pork ribs as the bone portion with their meals. I found that these ribs did an incredible job at removing tooth plaque. I still have a tonne of it left over in the freezer and thought, nearly 6 months later, Ryder could prolly try a small meaty piece and see what happens.

 

I fed him a small piece (about 2 inch by 1 inch) this morning, he slowly worked at it, but I noticed dark red blood in dotted format on the floor where he was eating. I slightly panicked and waited for him to finish. I checked his gums after he was done and cannot see any open wounds anywhere, or near where his molars were. I really hope that dark red blood came from the bone because it had a bit of vein off of the one I fed him. There isn't anything gushing in his mouth, had to be the bone? Yikes. Kasey enjoyed his just fine. Ryder is now content and sleeping.

 

Aside from this, I know there are lots of people here that feed "hard stuff" to dogs that have little or no teeth in their mouth. I wanted to give this bone a try again, because he is developing plaque on some lower teeth that we are trying to stay on top of with brushing and other treats and other bones to gnaw on, but it's getting difficult.

 

Is feeding him these bones ok or should I just not try again after today's event?

[Guest KennelMom]

I wish I had the pics on this computer, but our old guy Grandpa would work over a chicken frame until it was gone and he only had his teeth from his canines forward.

 

With fewer teeth, and missing teeth in the back, bigger bones are actually probably better so they aren't tempted to eat/swallow the bone. You basically want a large, meaty bone so they're really just scraping the meat off of it and not so much eating bone. A pigs foot would probably work well and we used to give those to Grandpa too.

 

we have dogs missing one or more of their back teeth and they still eat raw, though the base of our diet is chicken which is softer than a pork rib.

[XTRAWLD]

I've considered giving pigs feet, but I find them at the local store that are the split variety, and I hear that's not a good option? I have also come across pig ear - would this be something chewy that would be a good option as well?

[Guest KennelMom]

split feet should be fine. that's usually what we get around here too. I've never given pigs ears...if your dog is only missing a couple teeth, that really shouldnt affect what he can eat until you start getting into the really thick, denser bones.

[XTRAWLD]

split feet should be fine. that's usually what we get around here too. I've never given pigs ears...if your dog is only missing a couple teeth, that really shouldnt affect what he can eat until you start getting into the really thick, denser bones.

 

Thank you. Do you think the dark blood was from the bone or something punctured in his mouth? After 6 months I'm very surprised.

[Guest KennelMom]

I'm really not sure. I've generally only seen bright red blood from mouth/teeth, unless it's set for a while and started to coagulate. If you looked and couldn't find anything, I'd give it another go with a different bone and see if you get bleeding again.

[Guest FrankieWylie]

Glad to read about the pig ear! I found some of that at our local grocer today. Didn't buy any because I wasn't sure if it was ok or no! Can't wait to go get some!

 

XTRAWiLD, that is a fear of mine, that my boys will have to have teeth pulled then no more bone chewing which is what they both love so much!

[Guest greyhound9797]

Piper had 13 teeth removed, including her molars, and had no problem eating chicken quarters. Granted, it took her a bit more time but she never turned her nose up at bones, even when she had an abscessed tooth so bad that one night I came home to blood all over the house. When she got to the e-vet she said that the roots were exposed.

 

The blood could have been from the meat or it could have been from Ryder's mouth, it's hard to know. Even if his mouth did bleed, I wouldn't stop feeding bones. It could have been a tiny cut from a small piece of bone (I've cut my mouth on potato chips before) but that wouldn't worry me if it were my dog.

 

Pig ears will be generally cartilage and skin, not super nutritious but not bad either. Ryder may try to chew it into pieces or swallow it whole. It's not something I would feed, only because I think there are better things for the money, but it definitely won't hurt.

 

Good luck, he's a beauty!

 

Sandra in FL