Need help with my dog - she ate a piece of rawhide

buckeyebrewer · 01-10-2011, 05:12 PM

I have a 10 month old English Bulldog. She is 55 lbs. On Friday afternoon I gave her a dog treat that I thought was something she could just chew up and swallow. It was a gift from Christmas that a family member gave to us. I was stupid and didn't check the package for rawhide. I would have NEVER given it to her had I known it had rawhide in it. She chewed off the outer layers and got to the rawhide piece. The rawhide piece was wrapped around some type of filling. She chewed on it for an hour or so because it was very soft and slimy. I would say the rawhide was 4" x 4" when unrolled and flattened out. I saw her chewing on it with a small piece of it hanging out of her mouth. I attempted to get it out of her mouth but she had all of it already down her throat. I couldn't get a good grip on it and she swallowed the whole thing. This was Friday at 11am....It is currently Monday at 1pm....she has shown no signs of any ill effects from it but she hasn't pooped it out yet. ( No diarrhea, no throwing up, no lethargy, etc) She seems fine....she is eating her regular food and she is pooping her food out just fine. I've been checking every poop to see if it has come out. I know that rawhide doesn't digest fully but will her stomach acids break it down further? How long will it take to pass? I've read so many bad stories about blockage to intestines. Is there a doctor in the house??? I need some advise....I don't know why these are even sold as dog treats....if they can't digest and pass something after 3 days it can't be good. Any advise would be helpful.....thanks guys/gals. I was going to post this on another board somewhere but I trust this crowd for good advise. Thanks...below is the "treat" she was given.

So called treat

**Ace_Club** · 01-10-2011, 05:26 PM

The long link breaks fine for me. Looks like your display may be wonky, r8rphan.

HBRunner · 01-10-2011, 05:29 PM

page looks fine to me with no issues......

I have no idea about the rawhide, bi I give my labs rawhide chew all the time, but it is not something they can swallow

buckeyebrewer · 01-10-2011, 05:36 PM

OK r8rphan....I'm ready for your valuable input into this matter now....although I'm not sure I actually want it.....jeez

**android** · 01-10-2011, 05:41 PM

i wouldn't sweat it too much man, lots of dogs eat a boatload of rawhide. it will eventually breakdown, i wouldn't expect it to come out in one big piece. my dog used to eat whole rawhide bones (over the course of a few days), she's not that interested in them anymore, but she's fine and that was over a year ago.

r8rphan · 01-10-2011, 05:48 PM

I had a lab/shepard mix that I used to give 4" rawhide treats to all the time.. 'never' had an issue.. The only times I ever had blockage issues with her was when she's get a hold of a rubber toy and eat those...

I wouldn't really know about it until the blockage cleared.. and that was an explosive mess...

If your dog has been pooping regularly since eating it, then she is likely just fine... If for some reason it is still in her, then it will eventually dissolve.. There's no problem as long as the dog is still regular..

As far as giving them to my current dogs.. no way.. They are weims, and they have a genetic disposition to the intestines becoming twisted.. Got to feed them in smaller portions as it is.. Don't want to give them anything that might cause even greater potential for problems than exist already...

I imagine that those treats are safe for many breeds.. I'd check with your vet to see if it's okay to give them to your dog.. They're very good for the teeth/gums/breath...

I'll tell you one thing though.. I've been making my own dog treats from spent brewing grains.. and the dogs absolutely 'love' them.. There's a thread or two on here if you're interested in that.. search for dog treats...

Clonefarmer · 01-10-2011, 05:48 PM

Mine has eaten rawhide and much, much worse. She is almost 10 and healthy. Your dog will probably be ok. Call the vet and see what they say to be sure.

gicts · 01-10-2011, 05:53 PM

The one thing I love about veterinary care verses human medical care is that veterinary offices don't seem to mind offering help over the phone.
I've called the vet many times saying so-and-so has gotten in to such-and-such. Normally they say just keep an eye on them and bring them in if they start to act funny.
I say RDWHAHB
As a side note, I think we have become overwhelmed with pampering a pet's health. I was at SWMBO's family's house over the holidays. They have several cats (ugh) and a new 7 month old 'kitten'. They ran out of 'kitten food' and refused to feed it cat food for one meal. Instead, they ran out to the store and got kitten food and came back. Their reasoning behind it was that kitten food contained very vital fat and nutrients and cat food wasn't good for her yet.

My argument was not only that she was close enough to a cat's age, but that kittens survived for many thousands of years before specialized kitten food. They looked at me like I was chewing through one of their cat's heads. BTW, the whole week 'vacation' was long and filled with tedious stories like that.

[Office Space] PS- What is this I hear about you having trouble with posting URL links? Didn't you get the memo? [/Office Space]

buckeyebrewer · 01-10-2011, 05:53 PM

Thanks everyone...Google can be good and bad....there's so much info out there.....I feel better now

ShakerD · 01-10-2011, 05:55 PM

I wouldn't worry dogs are amazingly resilient. If it's not digesting it would come back up.

I inherited a Costco bag of rawhides and was giving one every other day to each of my dogs.

The only damage they caused was a build up on their teeth and I know they would swallow a chunk here or there. Now that they are all gone they get nylabones and antlers.

Cheers