Kathleen wrote:
> I give my dogs raw, frozen turkey necks (minus the skin) as an
> occasional treat, and as you mentioned to help clean their teeth. It
> works by a combination of abrasion, scraping the tartar off, and
> enzyme action.
>
> But I have to sit there and grip the things with a wash cloth to force
> the dogs to gnaw on them. I started using the washcloth after the
> time I lost my grip and Zane yanked the frozen neck out of my hand and
> swallowed it *whole*.
>
> I freaked out, called the vet, asked if I should try to make him
> vomit. She said no, just keep a close eye on him for the next few
> days, including following him outside to make sure he wasn't straining
> or passing blood.
>
> He was fine. And evidently the thing was entirely digested. I was
> expecting to see bones or bone fragments, but nothing like that ever
> appeared. It took about a week for me to believe that we'd dodged
> that particular bullet.
>
> But an acquaintance of mine was not so lucky. Her puppy grabbed a raw
> chicken wing and swallowed it whole. It punctured his stomach and he
> nearly died of the resulting peritonitis. He survived but has ongoing
> GI issues from the adhesions and scarring.
>
> With regards to the whole BARF diet (Bones And Raw Food), it takes a
> lot of know how to create a balanced diet and it's not uncommon for
> exclusively raw-fed dogs to develop serious health issues as a result.

My cats eat fairly healthy, I feed them Nurture Heavenly Harvest
Holistic Cat Food. They enjoy it, but if they can catch a mouse, they
eat everything but the head. Yick!

Becca