Bone meal and
poisoning can occur when your pet eats a large amount of the product by breaking into a bag stored within their reach. The main dangers from bone meal are intestinal obstruction and pancreatitis, while blood meal can often contain iron which can prove to be toxic in large doses.
If you’ve ever read the ingredients on dog food labels, you may have noticed one ingredient in particular popping up on occasion: bone meal.
What is bone meal, and should you feed it to your dog or should you avoid it altogether?
Animal bones are ground into a powder to create bone meal. According to the theory, dogs have evolved to require the nutrients inside because, when they were wild animals, they would eat the bones and the meat from any prey that they caught.
Many commercial dog foods contain bone meal, but it is also available on its own (sometimes under the name “bone broth powder”). Several pet owners who feed their dogs a raw diet will top off each serving with bone meal.
If you’d like, you can also prepare bone meal at home. Simply steaming chicken or beef bones until they’re pliable and processing them in a food processor is all that’s required.
Homemade Bone Meal:
Some DIY dog food enthusiasts prepare their own bone meal at home. This is particularly well-liked by followers of the raw-foods-based BARF diet. Although feeding your dog raw meat can be dangerous (bacteria is just one of them! ), homemade bone meal is generally safe. To make homemade bone meal, steam bones (beef or chicken) until they are malleable, then process them in a food processor.
Bone Meal for Dogs:
Now we’re in the safe zone! Bone meal for dogs can easily be purchased from online retailers. Sometimes labeled “bone broth powder,” it is often sold as a supplement and touted as a source of balanced calcium and phosphorous. Sometimes it’s present in manufactured dog food as well. This is more or less safe for dogs, although there are some risks associated with over-supplementing.
To keep their dogs and cats safe, many pet owners frequently make an effort to live a more “organic” lifestyle. Nevertheless, some organic products can be just as lethal. Gardeners should be aware of the risks associated with using bone meal, blood meal, or fish meal. Unfortunately, these meals are quite palatable to both dogs and cats when accidentally consumed from the garden or yard, despite the fact that they are intended to naturally increase nitrogen content.
Blood meal contains 12% nitrogen and is made from dried, ground, and flash-frozen blood. Even though it’s a fantastic organic fertilizer, consuming it can result in nausea, vomiting, and severe pancreatitis. Iron toxicity results from the iron fortification of some blood meal types.
Animal bones that have been defatted, dried, and quickly frozen are ground into a powder to create bone meal. To stop squirrels from eating spring bulbs, gardeners frequently dust the bulbs with bone meal. Keep your dog from digging in it and eating the soil because this “bone” is also what makes it so tasty to them. While this is a fantastic organic fertilizer, it can cause problems if consumed in large quantities because the bone meal forms a large foreign body in the stomach that resembles a bowling ball and can obstruct the gastrointestinal tract, necessitating surgery to remove it.
The content of this page is not veterinary advice. Several elements (such as the amount of substance consumed, the size of the animal, allergies, etc.) ) determine what is toxic to a particular pet. Make a call to the Pet Poison Helpline or seek immediate veterinary care if you believe your pet has consumed something potentially harmful.
FAQ
Is bone meal fertilizer safe for dogs?
Even though it’s a fantastic organic fertilizer, consuming it can result in nausea, vomiting, and severe pancreatitis.
How much bone meal should I give my dog?
Like real bones, bone meal almost always provides the right amount of calcium and phosphorus. Give adult dogs two teaspoons per pound of food.
What happens if my dog eats blood and bone fertilizer?
When consumed in large quantities, some fertilizers, such as bone meal and blood meal, can cause serious gastrointestinal distress (vomiting, diarrhea, and constipation) as well as pancreatitis. Some fertilizers may also contain bacterial or fungal toxins that, if consumed, can have harmful side effects.
What happens if my dog eats some fertilizer?
Fertilizers can result in burns on the skin, ulcers in the gastrointestinal tract, and vomiting in addition to breathing issues. Take your dog to the vet right away if you think they may have eaten fertilizer or if they seem sick after you’ve just used it in your garden.