There are pros and cons to allowing your dog to gnaw on ox hooves. The biggest pros are that they are cheap and last long. The biggest cons are that they can be nasty and stink.
One of the Animal Welfare Society of SA’s longstanding clients, Mr Cupido decided to give his magnificent one-year-old German Shepheard Luna an Ox hoof as a treat.
These “treats” are best for moderate chewers not power chewers like Luna who after a few powerful crunches swallowed the hoof.
The slippery hoof quickly travelled down her gullet before becoming stuck in her stomach causing her tremendous pain and discomfort and putting her young life at risk.
Luna tried to vomit the hoof up but it soon became obvious just how significant an obstruction it was to her digestive system and her owner immediately sought our help.
An x-ray revealed where the hoof was stuck and after carefully weighing up all of the risks associated with surgery it was decided not to operate (immediately) in the hope that Luna would somehow pass the hoof.
“To further complicate matters Luna also had debilitating ehrlichiosis (tick bite fever) that sapped her strength. Luna was admitted into our Critical Care Ward where she was monitored around the clock and taken for daily x rays”, says the Animal Welfare Society of SA.
She responded well to treatment and on day six much to the relief of everyone especially her worried owner she passed the hoof. Luna is very happy (and extremely lucky) to be back at home with the appreciative Cupido family.
According to Mr Cupido Luna is “visibly happy” and “back to her old self” and he puts this down to the power of prayer and the dedicated AWS Nursing Team who took such great care of her.
What happened to Luna can happen to any dog and proves just how dangerous hooves can be. Any dog chew can be harmful so supervision is key and extreme caution should always be exercised for “power chewers”.
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Picture/s: Supplied