Can Dogs Have Pork Rib Bones – When you sit down with a pile of saucy ribs, you settle in with a huge stack of napkins and something cold to drink.
It doesn’t matter if you like them smothered in a flavorful BBQ sauce or left naked to enhance the smoky flavor, ribs are a messy but delightful treat.
When you’ve cleared the bones of the juicy meat, think twice before you pass the leftovers off to your favorite pup.
Can I Give My Dog Rib Bones?
The short answer: No. “I do not recommend giving pork rib bones to your dog,” said Susan Konecny, RN, DVM and medical director at Best Friends Animal Society®. Raw poultry and pork bones, in addition to cooked bones of any kind, should be off limits when it comes to your dog’s diet.
“While pork itself is a fine protein source, the bones should be considered something that’s dangerous and should be disposed of and not as a treat,” said Stephanie Liff, DVM and owner of Pure Paws Veterinary Care of Clinton Hill Brooklyn, NY.
Are Ribs Safe for Dogs? A Look at Different Preparation Methods
When humans cook meat and other food, were doing a lot of work to make it more digestible: Were softening it, breaking down more difficult-to-digest parts of it, and making sure we cook off bacteria or other contaminants that could make us sick.
You circumvent all that if you offer raw ribs to a dog, who may enjoy gnawing on an uncooked rib bone—but who may still be at risk of getting sick.
“Raw meats can cause food poisoning due to bacteria, which is a risk for humans handling the food as well,” Schmid says. “Raw pork also carries the risk of transmission of a roundworm called Trichinella spiralis, which can lead to Trichinosis in you or your pet.” Eww!
Raw ribs present less of a danger of a dog breaking them into smaller, more dangerous pieces that can be swallowed and get stuck in their digestive tract, but many veterinarians advise against letting dogs chew them unless theyre carefully supervised. Even then, you never know when your dog might successfully crack a bone into a piece that could be swallowed.
Can Dogs Eat Baby Back Rib Bones?
Rib bones from table scraps are absolutely off-limits. Cooked bones can splinter and cause severe internal damage to dogs.
FAQ
What happens if a dog eats a cooked rib bone?
What kind of bones are safe for dogs?
It can take anywhere between 24 and 72 hours for dogs to pass a rib bone. Time depends on the amount eaten, how the bones were prepared, and the size and breed of the dog. In some cases, fragments will dissolve in the stomach. However, larger bone fragments will often make their way to the intestines.