Does anyone feed raw turkey necks to their dog? Do you feed them frozen or thawed? Any problems? Thanks in advance.
thawed. I’ve never had a problem, but I know someone with a greedy Doberman who tried to swallow one whole and had to have it quickly pulled back out before she choked, so you might want to watch carefully the first time you feed one and see what your dog’s eating pattern is.
Thawed. They were a bit large for my 24 lb. dog and if she couldn’t chew a piece off, she would just swallow and keep chewing her way down the length of it. After a few times of that, I’d break the neck by hand into manageable portions.
Turkey made her gassy though : p
Thanks all, we tried one last night, hoping she would have a nice long (1/2 hour?) chew setion. She chewed it 6 times then swallowed it! So far no ill effects, but a little gassy. Worried all day she would get an impaction, but so far OK. Guess I’ll make soup with the rest.
uh, yeah, that’s how dogs eat naturally- chew it just enough to allow it to be swallowed, it’s healthy and normal. It’ll clean the back molars, and feeding chunks of meat has been shown to be protective against bloat.
Turkey necks aren’t rec bones.
Chicken and Turkey necks are the #1 reason we have to go in with the endoscope to retrieve an esophageal foreign body. I have known pets to die as the esophagus becomes too necrotic, or is perforated when the bone is removed. While a thawed bone is “soft”, the lining of the esophagus is even softer.
Saying that, I know a LOT of people who feed necks with no issues whatsoever. Just be aware of potential issues so if it ever happens to your dog you will know how to react.
This dog has reflux/ esophageal issues already. So, altho she Loved the neck, I am to “chicken” to give her another,
I was all into them when I started to feed raw. I listened to the satisfying crunch of my mini downing the neck. Several hours later he violently threw up and I realized he had bit down in between each vertebrae and was throwing up huge hunks of bone. Of course tons of people feed them with no problem but it really wigged me out.
It is natural to throw up pieces of undigested bone. Not an issue. Mine chew theirs very well, but even then, they will yak up some small pieces.
Yup, many dogs yak up kibble too. 
I just started my GSD pup on a raw diet. She hasn’t had any necks though yet.
[QUOTE=horsietalk;7117238]
Yup, many dogs yak up kibble too.
I just started my GSD pup on a raw diet. She hasn’t had any necks though yet.[/QUOTE]
Yacked up kibble is less dangerous - a vertebrae that is tossed up partially, or gets stuck in the throat can kill a dog. You are likely not going to have a perforated esophagus from a kibble. That’s the difference. For dogs with regurgitation issues its not ideal. Most dogs handle bones fine, but understand the risk. Purposefully fed vertebrae are the number one cause of esophageal foreign bodies leading to fatality in dogs. If you are interested in feeding whole bones, there are other much safer ones to feed.
Purposefully fed vertebrae are the number one cause of esophageal foreign bodies leading to fatality in dogs.
do you have a cite for this? because I don’t believe it. Necks are one of the safest bones to feed. I suspect more dogs die from nylabones than from eating necks. I know large numbers of people who feed necks daily to large numbers of dogs and not one has had a problem.
Yes, I am one who has fed large numbers of dogs chicken, turkey, pork, lamb, goat, and beef neckbones with no problems over many years, though these are very large dogs. I usually combine these meals with tripe or other things.
My friends who feed kibble have had many more problems than I have had.
Whoops, just read that this dog OP has had some esophageal issues.
That is a different kettle of fish!
For any dog with esophageal issues, I would not feed any sort of bones, although I have a friend with an older greyhound who had acquired Megaesophagus who did feed chicken necks and he did well on them. But I would feed such a dog golfball sized meatballs. They are often said to do well on a gruel consistency food , but that has not been my experience. It is very individual.
There may be some medications that might be helpful for your dog, like Reglan, Prilosec, or sucralfate. You might want to get her checked out, they can X-ray, endoscope, etc.
Thank all, made turkey broth and picked the meat off the bones for her. She has been on Prilosec for awhile now and vet knows her history.
Wendy, we euthanized three young, healthy dogs last month because of esophageal perforations from bones. And no I don’t have a “paper” on vertebrae getting stuck in the throat more often than say a femur, but if you ask any internist what types of bones they pull out of the esophagus with the most complications - and it will be a vertebrae. Most smooth bones will pass nicely into the stomach,however some breeds are more predisposed to having any bones get lodged in the esophagus. If you have a spinous process sticking into the esophagus walls, you are risking perforation if you push it anywhere.
THIS— http://i44.tinypic.com/2wog8is.jpg is what is being fed under the meat. The shape of these vertrbrae (even when “soft”), can cause serious issues in smaller breed dogs. Less so in large dogs unless they have an unknown esophageal disorder or stricture.
Believe it or not, but bones are the most common esophageal foreign body, not nylabone fragments.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23016814
Here it states the most common esoph. FB;s are bones and rawhides. Doesn’t specifically say vertebrae, but you will get the point. “Kibble” doesn’t tend to cause an esoph foreign body, and nylabones were not in the top two.
“In dogs, bones or bone fragments are the most common cause of oesophageal obstruction ranging from 47% to 100% in reported studies [13,6,9,12].”
http://www.irishvetjournal.org/content/63/3/163
Not saying dogs cant be ok with bones, 99% are. But for dogs who are already predisposed to regurgitation and esophageal issues its really not worth the risk!!!
We most commonly see problems in small breeds like yorkies and Pomeranians but have also been managing a Belgian malanois recently as the small vertebrae (we pulled 8-9 from him) had created a blockage at his illeocolic junction. Its a very very rare complication in large dogs.
Someone suggested having the butcher grind the turkey/chicken necks. would this be safe to feed? Can it be cooked, or must it be fed raw because it contains bones? Thank in advance, for all the help.
