One veterinarian office has shared a warning over the dangers of bone marrow and dogs by posting a picture of a marrow bone stuck over a dog’s lower jaw, with the caption, “Watch out for marrow bones. Here’s another unlucky dog.”
It actually is a pretty serious problem – one that vets are seeing more, and more of these days.
Watch out for marrow bones. Here's another unlucky dog.
Posted by Wasson Memorial Veterinary Clinic on Wednesday, September 2, 2015
North York firefighters in Canada were called out to a similar emergency after a woman showed up at the station seeking help for her dog Ginger. The 10-month-old Shepherd mix had gotten a similar bone stuck to her lower jaw. The woman had first gone to her vet who told her to go to the emergency veterinary hospital – however, she decided to stop at the fire station for some added assistance.
Ginger wasn’t in any danger as far as she was still breathing normally and all, but the fire crew decided to still go with the owner to take Ginger to the Willowdale Animal Hospital, where they offered their assistance to the vet in removing the bone. They used a Dremel tool to help cut the sides of the bone in order to free her jaw.
Video: Firefighters and vets team up to save dog with bone stuck in jaw http://t.co/g46sIBUC9E @cityandreap pic.twitter.com/REPiJJ8kqJ
— CityNews Toronto (@CityNews) September 25, 2015
The vet who treated Ginger, Dr. Jonathan Bloom, revealed that it wasn’t uncommon for dog owners to bring their dogs into his clinic with similar issues: having marrow bones stuck on their jaws.
He told City News, “You see it quite frequently. They’ll come in with these marrow bones wrapped around their lips and lower jaw.”
Dr. Bloom said the problem is that the marrow bone becomes stuck on the dogs’ canine teeth – the “fangs” – and after the lips start to swell, that ends up trapping the bone around their jaw.
Poor dog 😞 just wanted that bone!!! 🐶
Posted by Wasson Memorial Veterinary Clinic on Thursday, March 5, 2015
In order to get the bones loose, the vets need to put the dogs under anesthesia in order to hopefully manage to wriggle them off. If that technique doesn’t work, then they have to resort to sawing them off. Dr. Bloom did reveal that this was the first time that his team had been assisted by firefighters with their Dremel saw.
Dr. Bloom, along with other vets, cautioned pet owners to be wary about feeding bone marrows to their dogs. Not only can the bones break teeth, but they can also split and cause serious digestive problems to them as well.
Spread the awareness with the other dog owners in your life and share.
