Treats-a warning
 

We have a friend who has a catahoula/schnauzer/staffordshire mix, and we will occassionally give eachother advice, knowing that the other one may appreciate and use the advice, or may ignore it.

When we were over at her place, I noticed she had soft treats, bisquit treats, rawhides, and other type of chewy treats. I asked if the treats were grain free (because Jaeger's grain free and i'm always looking for new ideas) and she guiltily told me no (her trainer said gluten can make dogs aggressive, and she's on a grain free kibble.) I cautioned about the obstructive issue with rawhide, and asked about the cowhooves, because i'm always looking to keep Jaeger busy. She didnt think they were an issue, but we never did get around to buying one for Jaeger.

Yesterday, we came over, and her dog was inside so I only briefly said hello (her dog is dog aggressive and we had Jaeger with us) and she ended up coming on a picnic with us for the rest of the afternoon. Last night, we got a text-her dog had been acting "funny" all day, and throwing up, so she took her to the emergency vet. Turns out she had an obstruction from ATLEAST a cow hoof (the vet thinks she may have other pieces of shrapnel in their from other, previous chews) and had to be kept overnight. She is on antibiotics, a "stomach lubricant" and has to have pepcid every time she eats anything the rest of the week. If she doesnt improve, they'll have to do surgery. So far, the vet bill is $800.

PLEASE be careful and mindful of what you're giving your pet!

Thanks for the post. Every time I read something like this it makes me glad I've just stopped giving Tibbe things to chew except those white rawhide rectangles that he just carries around now and doesn't chew on. They don't interest or engage his chewing desire anymore so he just plays with them - mostly squirrels them away in his favorite "hidey holes" and then goes and moves them - all day and night. I buy a new sack, let him have them for a couple of weeks, round them up, trash them and buy a new sack. But after what happened when Jilly stopped breathing from swallowing too large a piece of rawhide, I'm scared to death of things they love to chew that aren't really food. Hope her doggie is going to be okay.