Arsenic in dog treats? (rawhide)

Walking Man

Walking Man

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http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2007/08/rawhide.html
I recently acquired my first dog ever, and as a responsible pet owner, I want the best for my dog.
While shopping for rawhide chews, I noticed there were 2 of some products, one white, and the other more natural looking, so, I asked myself,......
What's the difference?
No one that I know knew why, EXCEPT my friend Jason who was a manager at a pet store for a couple of years. He said the white ones were bleached, and probably had some arsenic in them as a result of poor consumer standards in foreign countries, and dog food and treats aren't regulated in other countries.
He also said that he preferred bones (beef only) for the doggies because they can't scratch up a dog's insides the way a rawhide chew can.
Does anyone know anything about these issues? I did a search on the internet, and didn't really find too much information.
Thanks.
 
IMHO real beef bones are the best choice for your dog, any artificial stuff made for pets in foreign countries probably lacks good quality control.
 
Make friends with someone at your local butcher shop. Never give your dog COOKED bones. They will splinter and can cause major problems. Raw/uncooked bones only.

Good:

Turkey necks
Chicken necks
chicken wings
chicken backs
pork bones if you freeze them for 48 hours first (raw, not cooked)

All of the above should be given to your dog RAW.

Bad:

ALL cooked bones
weight bearing bones (legs, thighs, etc.)

You can find the necks once in a while pre-packaged in the meat department, especially around Thanksgiving and Christmas. They freeze well. You can even give them to your dog frozen.

If you talk to the butchers, let them know you want chicken and turkey necks. If they cut up these birds themselves, they will have them. Ask them to save them for you and you'll pick them up every X number of days. If they don't cut up the whole bird, they can order you chicken/turkey necks.

It won't hurt your dog to have a neck once a day. Helps keep the teeth clean and the dog's breath will smell much nicer.

As far as rawhide bones, many dog people do not like them at all. I've been giving them for 19 years with no adverse effects. Never heard of arsenic, but that doesn't mean it's not there.

I do not care for the rawhide bones with the twisted/round ends. I have found that my dogs can work that twist out and depending on the size of the rawhide chew, they have that rawhide chewed to such a softness that they try to swallow it and it gets caught in their throat and they start to gag.

I prefer the "retriever sticks" which are rolled rawhide sticks. My chew crazy dogs can chew and chew but they work towards the other end and they don't work off a piece they can swallow.

When I see a retriever stick that is approximately 4 inches long, I pick it up and throw it away. The dogs will be looking for it but what the heck do I care? They can just start on a new retriever stick. Since switching to the restriever sticks I have not had any problems with gagging or choking.

Hope this helps. Good luck with your pup. They sure are wonderful to have around.

TJ
 
Our vet told us to never give our dogs the rawhide chew toys. They've seen too many dogs choke on them, or have them so bound up from being lodged in their intestines that they had to do surgery. A $1,000 vet bill for rawhide treats? No thanks...
 
I figure as long as the USPS has guys "walking a beat" my dog has an endless supply of leg bones.:o
 
i try to limit the rawhide for my two dogs, my lab is a machine as far as chewing, but i learned early on too much rawhide can mess with her, they have plenty of edible chew treats, Nylabone makes quite a few they can be pricey but are digestible. Not sure about real bones, havent tried that.
You could try a Kong Ball, indestructible rubber chew toy, some of them can be filled with peanut butter etc, drives a dog nuts.:)
BTW what kind of dog ya got?
ivan
i've got a 3 yr old black lab and a 10 week old blue-red heeler/beagle mix
 
Arsnic is natural, as is death. Soup bones, with marrow, are a favourite. Cow hooves are also a winner that keeps your dog entertained for hours.
 
stevengregory said:
Our vet told us to never give our dogs the rawhide chew toys. They've seen too many dogs choke on them, or have them so bound up from being lodged in their intestines that they had to do surgery. A $1,000 vet bill for rawhide treats? No thanks...
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I've always read the same, no rawhide treats for dogs.


$1000 for intestinal surgery seems cheap to me...:(
 
We give our dogs raw beef marrow bones. Generally speaking they do not totally crunch up the bone completely, just snip chunks off the edges.

They do tend to urp up bone if they eat too many chunks, if they are really going to town I take it away after 30 minutes or so, then wait a day or two and give it back.
 
zenheretic said:
$1000 for intestinal surgery seems cheap to me...:(
Click to expand...


We have a little Shetland Sheepdog named Angus. When he was still pretty young, just over a year old, he snuck under an old armchair in the living room and ate a bunch of the stuffing out of the bottom of it. (...little stinker...) He got sick real fast, all that stuffing just locked in place in his intestinal tract, so the Vet had to go in and snip out a couple inches of damged intestine and make sure all the stuffing was removed. It was $963.00 for that little procedure. It seemed like a lot to me, at the time. Money was tight and I had to sell a Kimber .45, from the Kimber custom-shop to pay for it.

So, don't let your dog chew furniture, either...:) Bad for the furniture and bad for the dog.
 
Raw beef marrow bones and raw beef knuckle bones. And the occasional DentaBone as a treat (keeps their breath from fogging up your face ;) ) When we had our three greyhounds, our vet told us never to give them rawhide chews - because of the 'splintering' and because of their unknown origins.
 
Don't feed your dogs any of those "Greenie" type chews. There have been many instances where the Greenies are not chewed sufficiently, and chunks of the chew has gotten lodged in the upper intestine, requiring surgery to remove the obstruction.

Speaking of obstructions, one member of my dog discussion group had a dog who got ahold of some string, unbeknownst to her. The dog was having all types of physical problems. Eventually, the Vet had to go in for exploratory surgery to see what the obstruction/problem was. The string had totally wrapped itself around the intestine and also gotten intertwined. The intestinal tract was basically torn to shreds by the string and the dog could not be saved.

Just a remember that we need to dog-proof our homes the same as we would if we were baby-proofing out home. Some dogs will chew and swallow anything they can get their mouth on.

TJ
 
stevengregory said:
We have a little Shetland Sheepdog named Angus. When he was still pretty young, just over a year old, he snuck under an old armchair in the living room and ate a bunch of the stuffing out of the bottom of it. (...little stinker...) He got sick real fast, all that stuffing just locked in place in his intestinal tract, so the Vet had to go in and snip out a couple inches of damged intestine and make sure all the stuffing was removed. It was $963.00 for that little procedure. It seemed like a lot to me, at the time. Money was tight and I had to sell a Kimber .45, from the Kimber custom-shop to pay for it.

So, don't let your dog chew furniture, either...:) Bad for the furniture and bad for the dog.
Click to expand...

Sorry to hear that.

The Vet market must vary wildly around the country. It cost me about $800 just to get some blood tests, an i.v., an overnight stay, and ultimately to have my doggy put to sleep recently. :(

So $963 for a full surgery seems light.
 
zenheretic said:
Sorry to hear that.

The Vet market must vary wildly around the country. It cost me about $800 just to get some blood tests, an i.v., an overnight stay, and ultimately to have my doggy put to sleep recently. :(

So $963 for a full surgery seems light.
Click to expand...
I think that would probably cost only around $400 around here. :)
 
I forgot to mention we have been giving out dogs dried cow tracheas.

They thinner and snappier the rawhide so it forces them to snip them up into pieces and they even less splintery then raw bones. They also are supposed to contain condrotin.
 
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