My pup just swallowed a big piece of pressed rawhide- yikes!

[NewYorkDogue]

It was about 4 hours ago, I gave him what remained of a larger stick of this stuff (it helps with teething and he has not had any issues prior), but this piece was about 6 inches long, so I wanted to keep an eye on him. Well, he was happily chewing away when I left the room for a short while. When I returned (not even 10 minutes) it was gone and he was just sitting there wagging his tail. OMG. He ate it- or swallowed it [I]whole.[I]

What should I look out for? Can his raw eating digestive system deal with this rawhide stick? He seems okay, a bit low-key, but then again he played a lot at the dog park earlier...

I am trying not to freak out. Any advice, please?

[minnieme]

Rawhides can cause blockages...so I would keep a very close eye on him. Hopefully someone more medically inclined will chime in soon, but I'd get rid of those rawhides if he were mine. We find that bully sticks and deer antlers are great for when Minnie really wants to chew. The antlers can be pricey ... but they last FOREVER.

[DaneMama]

Usually they don't cause blockages, but they can. The likelihood of it causing digestive problems like diarrhea are pretty high though. Just keep a close eye on him. If you haven't already fed him tonight I wouldn't. I'd give his system like 12 hours before giving him a meal.

[xellil]

I think if he develops a blockage, he will probably start vomiting.

[NewYorkDogue]

Thanks for the replies-- usually I do keep bully sticks on hand, but he seemed to like this rawhide stick, so I indulged. Not a fan of rawhide, though, and will find other alternatives moving forward!

DaneMama-- well, I did feed him about 2 hours after (course-ground rabbit, some tripe, plus a good shot of coconut oil, thinking it may move things along). I will definitely keep an eye on him. If there is some sort of blockage, what would be the signs? Of course, I'm thinking positive thoughts; that everything is going to be ok!

[xellil]

Here is a page that has symptoms
Symptoms of intestinal blockage in dogs

[xellil]

I fed my dogs rawhides for years and nothing ever happened, so I'm sure all will be well.

[hmbutler]

Yeah I'm sure he'll be ok obviously keep an eye on him, but if it's causing him any troubles, he'll probably throw it back up. I fed Duke a chicken quarter that was smaller than usual the other day (I asked the lady for their BIGGEST chicken quarters and three of the four she gave me were TINY) and he must've swallowed it whole, because when I went to check how his dinner was going, he was trotting around all wierd, then he stopped and threw up the entire quarter, still whole lol. It was so gross. Thankfully he then took a long time making sure he chewed it all up

[NewYorkDogue]

xellil- thank you for that info. It looks like vomiting in most cases would occur within a very short time- or up to 8 hours after ingesting the thing. Okay. So far, so good on that symptom. I don't know how much sleep I'm going to get tonight!

[NewYorkDogue]

hmbutler-- it would be great if he vomited up the whole thing. I would actually look forward to that for sure...