No bones about it!

Lucky was left at his owner’s friend for a few days. Having been told that he ate everything, the owner went ahead and gave Lucky a meal of rabbit bones.

Lucky is a 10-year-old, medium- sized, male terrier-type cross; slim, quiet, well-mannered, proportioned and fawn-coloured.  This was not the first time Lucky had been fed bones; his owner had fed them to him before, which only made the second time worse because probably both knew exactly what was coming. 

For those of you who have not yet guessed, the problem caused by these rabbit bones was that Lucky could not go to the toilet. He quite literally had ‘bone-hard’ stools.  It’s not one of our favorite jobs, but we had to give Lucky an enema, under sedation, of course. This involves soapy warm water up the backside to try to loosen and break up whatever was there.

It took a while, but we managed. In very rare instances we’re not successful, which makes the condition life-threatening and could mean that major surgery is required to resolve the situation.
This would depend on how long the stools have been there and how much waste has accumulated. Obviously, the longer the stools have been stuck there, the dryer and harder they become.
Dogs love bones, yet the only ones I would say are OK to give them are the large, uncooked ones, which dogs can play with but which are too hard and large for them to eat. You can throw them away when play is over.

Cooked bones become softer, and if eaten they invariably cause extremely hard stools because of their mineral content, as was the case with Lucky.  I had to tell this story, as it is a common, uncomfortable problem but easily avoided for your dog’s sake if not for your vet’s.

I wish you all the very best during this festive season, and remember... no bones!

Dr. Martin Debattista
Veterinary Surgeon
thisweekwiththevet@gmail.com