Does anyone give their Mastiffs bully sticks?

[allsierra123]

You can get them on eBay or amazon.

Sent from my HTC VLE_U using Tapatalk 2

 

[ruthcatrin]

For anyone feeding chicken feet the BestBullySticks site has one of these best prices I've seen on chicken, duck, and turkey feet....

 

[dujac]

Have you tried cow hooves?

i bought one yesterday afternoon and gave it to my 5 month old english mastiff

she woke up this morning with a swollen face on one side

i'm off to the vet in a few minutes

 

[ruthcatrin]

If it was an allergic reaction to the hoof I'd think it'd be the whole face, are you sure she didn,t get stung by something?

 

[dujac]

If it was an allergic reaction to the hoof I'd think it'd be the whole face, are you sure she didn,t get stung by something?

no, i'm no not sure, there are lots of yellow-jackets and bees around

i see a couple of little marks on her gum and the hoof has some sharp spots

it's not a severe swelling externally, but her lip and gums appear to be engorged inside


she's been stung by yellow-jackets before

her reaction is to run to me for help and that didn't happen yesterday

i was watching her closely to see what happened with the hoof chewing, so i don't think it's a sting


i think it's bacterial from gums being punctured

there's some info online about bones and hoofs that break teeth and cause facial swelling

but i don't see any broken teeth; she's shedding the last of her baby teeth now, which is why i got her something to chew

 

[ruthcatrin]

Huh, neither of my two have ever had issues with them, and Arty reacts to EVERYTHING it seems like, though I'll admit I've never double checked their gums right afterwards either. Do you know what brand the hoof was by any chance? Definetly let us know what the vet says.

 

[dujac]

Huh, neither of my two have ever had issues with them, and Arty reacts to EVERYTHING it seems like, though I'll admit I've never double checked their gums right afterwards either. Do you know what brand the hoof was by any chance? Definetly let us know what the vet says.

it was loose in a small barrel at 'crossroads feed & seed'

there's a custom slaughter-house nearby, so it could have come from there

i was suspicious about all the pig's ears, bones, hooves and things they offer for sale

which is why i'd never bought anything like that before; i wish i had listened to my intuition

the vet appointment is in 20 minutes, i'll post what she has to say after i return

 

[ruthcatrin]

Definetly!

If you get a chance, call the store and find out where they get them from. A loose barrel isn,t uncommon unfortunetly, but someone in the order chain ought to be able to give you an answer.

 

[dujac]

it's an abscess from the hoof scraping/puncturing her gum

she got an anti-inflammatory injection and a prescription for

cephalexin - http://www.drugs.com/imprints/a-43-500-mg-14461.html

have you ever used this antibiotic? i found at least one horror story online about keflex, but i think the a4

cephalexin that i have, is a different formulation than keflex - http://mycropht.wordpress.com/2008/03/14/a-warning-for-dog-owners/​

​

 

[ruthcatrin]

Poor girl!

I don't believe thats one we've been prescribed here, but looking online really quickly there does appear to be different formulations of it, so its hard to say if the one you have is one that'll cause problems. I'd definetly keep a close eye on her though.

I can honestly say neither of mine has had that problem. Next time I give them a hoof I'll double check their gums, but definetly not had swelling after chewing one. Apollo has a pretty high pain tolerance, but Arty doesn't, if he was hurting he'd be telling us....

 

[DMikeM]

dujac, this is enough for me to not want to give my dogs Keflex. http://mycropht.wordpress.com/2008/03/14/a-warning-for-dog-owners/ maybe you can get them to give you amox or something safer. BTW I used to do hooves too until my dogs were getting cuts in there mouths. Now I use raw beef rib bones or soup bones. Will try antlers from the bullystick place since they have good prices.

 

[AKBull]

Think I might be lucking out next week, someone is giving me a moose antler. I'll let Junior drag it around the yard for photos first before I saw it up.

 

[dujac]

Poor girl!

if it's painful, she' not showing any outward sign of it and the swelling seems to be less, now

I don't believe thats one we've been prescribed here, but looking online really quickly there does appear to be different formulations of it, so its hard to say if the one you have is one that'll cause problems. I'd definetly keep a close eye on her though.

i am, she seems to be ok after taking one capsule with a can of rabbit and brown rice meal

I can honestly say neither of mine has had that problem. Next time I give them a hoof I'll double check their gums, but definetly not had swelling after chewing one. Apollo has a pretty high pain tolerance, but Arty doesn't, if he was hurting he'd be telling us.

as you can see, the swelling wasn't bad, but there was some sort of bacterial infection


it could have come from anywhere and the other dogs that gnawed on the hoof weren't affected


the retailer said it comes in bulk from a wholesaler and i didn't press her for more information about them

dujac, this is enough for me to not want to give my dogs Keflex.

from that same page, about a three-quarters of the way down, there's this comment:




Elsol

"Typical over-reaction from an unfortunate owner whose dog happened to be in the minority to have an uncommon severe reaction to cephalexin.
Common side-effects, affecting about one in five dogs, is vomiting and possible diarrhoea; the nausea causes excessive drinking. The hindlimb lameness is less than a one in a thousand chance, and if it does happen, certainly never give it to your dog or cat again… but you’ll find that the same animal will also likely be sensitive to penicillin-based medications as well, limiting the antimicrobial choice.

However, cephalexin is safe for the overwhelming majority of dogs and cats out there, if dosed appropriately and if dispensed by the veterinarian for the right condition. If everyone panics every time a few animals have a reaction to a medication, then no medication will ever be good enough for any pet. Be vigilant, and certainly question your vet if your dog does have an adverse reaction, but don’t then rule it out for everyone else."


followed by:

Kimberlee Whitaker

“I started out by DOING RESEARCH into scientific studies as well as the anecdotal. I perused over 50 sites and read them in depth. My vet doesn’t even do that!I don’t consider 3-5% rare so much as perhaps, uncommon, but it’s still a concern. As for the lameness, my research found an Italian study where the incidence was .02%. That’s 1 dog in 200 which is also not that rare."​

http://mycropht.wordpress.com/2008/03/14/a-warning-for-dog-owners/

 

[ruthcatrin]

Well, they do have a point about how just cause one is so affected doesn't mean they all will. If you look hard enough there will ALWAYS be someone who had a bad experience with something. It means its something that you should watch out for, pretty much everthing has some incidence of REALLY BAD side affects to some degree. It comes down to do you take the risk or not.

 

[Mooshi's Mummy]

Apollo chews them in about 5 mins too, and he really oes chew it. So I don't bother.

yep moo too

 

[Chrissy]

I give Sampson bully sticks every ten days or so as a treat. I buy the 36" inch ones and those at least last a bit longer!!! Gave him a 12" one once and he swallowed most of it whole and threw up all over three different rooms!!!! Now I stick with just the 3 footers!!! Bought him a deer antler and he pulls it out every few weeks. Not even half done with it after 3-4 months.

 

[DMikeM]

Well got 3 10 inch braided bully sticks Thursday evening. Gave each dog the treat and 15 minutes later they were all done. Not worth the money in my opinion. Neighbor gave me a branch from an apple wood and I gave the dogs those and the older dogs set them asid after 5 minutes but Jade has been chewing her stick for days.

 

[mklamcc]

I give my dogs Ribeye beef bones. $3.99 at Kroger. Usually last them awhile.

 

[Orangevirus1]

I dont really give my Cane corso too much to chew on anymore.. he just chews through them too fast, no matter how big it is. he chewed through one of those white.. boiled bones I guess? the thing was as long as my arm and was gone in a few hours.. not exaggerating on the size either. he also likes to steal bones from my other dogs.. he will follow them around and the minute they put it down it's his lol

 

[swalls21]

Briggs loves the bully sticks, but they seemed to give him the runs, so I don't give them to him anymore. He has dear antlers, and my PetSmart had a chew that is in the shape of a tree limb and says it has "real" wood in it. He loves that wood thing...chews on it all the time.