
Stephanie of Wichita, KS on Dec. 29, 2011
Satisfaction Rating: 1/5
Wednesday, November 2nd, I bought my dog the above-referenced ham bone distributed by this company. I thought it was the same kind of bone I had purchased before, the kind your dog can chew the outside of, but the bone stays in tact. So they basically just get gnawing pleasure. This bone, however, was gone just minutes after I bought it for Levi. He ingested the entire bone. The following day when I took him for his usual run, just seconds after letting him out of the truck, he came running back and jumped back into the truck like he was scared.
I told him, it was alright, he could go play, and let him back out again. He went only a few feet from the truck, squatted and tried to poop again, but immediately came running back to the truck, whining. He was leaking onto the seat out of his back end, maintained a semi-squatting position, and still seemed to be trying to poop. He was clearly uncomfortable and in pain. I immediately called my vet, who I've been going to for years, and told him about the bone I had purchased the previous day. He agreed I needed to bring Levi in. When my vet attempted to examine Levi, hurried in pain, and hid behind the chair. I had to leave him overnight because he had to be anesthetized so my vet could give him an enema and take x-rays, etc. I have a baggy full of bone chips; my vet took out of my dog's lower intestines.
We were sent home with antibiotics, a medication to make his colon spasm to work the rest of the bone stuck in several places in his colon out, a pain-inflammation medication, and I also had to purchase Metamucil and soft food to mix with that to get some "bulk" into him to help with dislodging the bone left in several places in his intestines. It wasn't too long, however, after we arrived home that I had to rush him back to my vet because he was bleeding out of his rectum. I had to literally spoon-feed him later at home, and finally getting him to eat after purchasing several plain cheeseburgers and adding the Metamucil mixture to them. We were up no less than 3 times that night, with me letting him out so he could attempt to relieve himself.
The next morning, at 5:30 a.m. when I let him out, he was outside for at least 5 or 6 minutes when I heard him "yelp" and he came running back into the house. He had evidently passed other "chunks" of bone. I have pictures of the x-rays my vet took which show the large "chunks" of bone lodged in my dog's intestines that my vet couldn't reach. I also have the bill for in excess of $400 showing the services performed to save my dog's life, all over a bone I purchased for $3 at a local Dillon's Marketplace.
I can't believe this product is still on the market when so many people have complained and have been for more than a year! If this bone isn't taken off the market immediately, I am going to contact the United States Humane Society, and every celebrity pet lover in the land and have this company shut down. As my vet said, a smaller dog wouldn't have survived. Levi, who is no less like my son than my only friend, is a 60-pound American Pitbull Terrier. I'm sure, to him, it was comparable to a human having their intestines and rectum torn up by ingesting and attempting to crap shards of glass. No animal should have to suffer like my dog, and evidently many others have.