# Can too many boneless meals actually make a dog sick?



## lauren43 (Feb 6, 2011)

We ran out of bone in meals and last night I *think* was Avery's 4th boneless meal. I expected his poops to be soft but I did not expect at all what I got. Avery woke up at 1:30pm this afternoon (very out of character for him), so I got up to find two giant piles of diarrhea (cha cha cha) on the floor with a bit of blood too. Avery never has accidents. He also puked bile a couple of times. I am fasting him tonight only because he did poop in the house so his stomach must be all out of wack. I guess Avery is one of those dogs that really needs his bone in meals every other or every two days...

Anyways we have obedience tonight, the first time in two weeks. I think we will go but I will just have to reward with toys today...


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## maplewood (Apr 14, 2011)

LOL Not funny, but kinda. Sorry, he had the runs.

I have a couple that can only tolerate boneless meals once or twice a week and one of those has soft serve poops on boneless. I do more bone lite meals than boneless. Haveing multiple dogs in one house it's interesting to study what they can and can't handle/tolerate. They're each individuals with different requirements. 

Maybe Avery just needs more bone in his diet?


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## lucky (Jan 8, 2011)

I agree with the above post about him needing more bone in meals ... my sisters dog is the same, he needs every other meal to be bone in and has to have his liver/kidney with a chicken wing, lucky though can eat a weeks worth of boneless meals and still have good poops, it just comes down to the individual dog


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

This is classic for what happens to my dogs when they have too many boneless meals in a row. I think you're plan of fasting is smart. Start off with something with moderate bone content.


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## lauren43 (Feb 6, 2011)

BTW its been nearly two hours since I cleaned it up and I still can't breathe in my room lol...the smell is killing me!!!!!!


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## lucky (Jan 8, 2011)

lauren43 said:


> BTW its been nearly two hours since I cleaned it up and I still can't breathe in my room lol...the smell is killing me!!!!!!


Time for the febreeze


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## Dude and Bucks Mamma (May 14, 2011)

This happened to us a few days ago. Nick had fed the dogs for a couple of days and had fed mostly boneless. I thought he was feeding the bone heavy stuff so when I took over during the next couple of days I was feeding primarily boneless to balance out the bone heavy he had been feeding (or so I thought!) 

Of course, Buck being Buck, he had his normal perfect poops regardless of what he had been eating (which included some masking tape and a piece of e tennis ball the other day! Dang dog) but Dude kept getting up and wandering around in the middle of the night. His bed was in the process of being cleaned since they had gotten them dirty the day before so we thought that the missing bed (his favorite place) was causing him to be out of sorts... until we heard gassy diarrhea. I sat up and looked over to see Dude pooing on the carpet. So, in the middle of the night, we had to get up and clean. We slept with the fan on high and the window open.

Use lots and lots of cleaner. Poo stains (of which this was the only one from wither dog since Buck was being housebroken) are the only thing I will use heavy cleaners for. Everything else is your extremely pet friendly, natural as possible cleaners. Poo stains are a rarity around here. We had the smell gone in less than 45 minutes and were able to go back to sleep in the bedroom.

I have to keep Dude on around 30% bone. He doesn't do well with 10%.


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## Kat (Jul 12, 2011)

lucky said:


> Time for the febreeze


Not sure if that was a joke or not, but for anyone who doesnt know, febreze is toxic to dogs and cats and has been shown to cause seizures and even death. I would suggest just opening a window, or you can mix water and hydrogen peroxide, spray the area, leave it for a minute then dab up the moisture. It clears up the stink faster because of the extra oxygen molecule. Thats what I use when there are accidents in the house.


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## lauren43 (Feb 6, 2011)

Avery has been great with two days boneless and then a heavy bone in...I knew I should have just ran to the store last night, lesson learned!



Kat said:


> Not sure if that was a joke or not, but for anyone who doesnt know, febreze is toxic to dogs and cats and has been shown to cause seizures and even death. I would suggest just opening a window, or you can mix water and hydrogen peroxide, spray the area, leave it for a minute then dab up the moisture. It clears up the stink faster because of the extra oxygen molecule. Thats what I use when there are accidents in the house.


I still blame partially blame febreeze for the passing of my last dog, so I am very careful with what I spray around Avery...


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## CorgiPaws (Mar 31, 2009)

A great air freshner is to fill a spray bottle with filtered water and add a few drops of pure essential oil of your choice.


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## Kat (Jul 12, 2011)

I have heard that tea tree and lavender oil can be toxic to dogs too, so just be careful what you choose. If its actually true, Im not sure, but I dont like to take my chances with stuff like that either.


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## BoxerPaws (Jul 19, 2011)

Kat said:


> Not sure if that was a joke or not, but for anyone who doesnt know, febreze is toxic to dogs and cats and has been shown to cause seizures and even death. I would suggest just opening a window, or you can mix water and hydrogen peroxide, spray the area, leave it for a minute then dab up the moisture. It clears up the stink faster because of the extra oxygen molecule. Thats what I use when there are accidents in the house.


Umm...I just Febreezed the crap out of our couches on Saturday, because they were smelling like dog and we had friends coming over. :/ I didn't let anyone on the couches for a little while so they could dry, and everyone's been fine since. Good to know for next time, I guess!

(Sorry...done hijacking!)

Zoey needs a good amount of bone, too. We try to alternate bone-in meals with boneless.


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## Kat (Jul 12, 2011)

BoxerPaws said:


> Umm...I just Febreezed the crap out of our couches on Saturday, because they were smelling like dog and we had friends coming over. :/ I didn't let anyone on the couches for a little while so they could dry, and everyone's been fine since. Good to know for next time, I guess!.


If I were you, I would throw out the Febreze. Its mainly just if they come into contact with it and it absorbs into their skin, but even just breathing it can be harmful.


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## swolek (Mar 31, 2011)

snopes.com: Febreze Pet Danger

I don't really use it (I got an awesome deal on a "natural" air freshener and have been using that) but I doubt it's as toxic as people make it out to be. I'd use it before essential oils since most of those aren't metabolized correctly by cats and other animals.


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## BrownieM (Aug 30, 2010)

Re: febreeze being toxic to pets: ASPCA | Animal Poison Control Center


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## eternalstudent (Jul 22, 2010)

Kat said:


> Not sure if that was a joke or not, but for anyone who doesnt know, febreze is toxic to dogs and cats and has been shown to cause seizures and even death. I would suggest just opening a window, or you can mix water and hydrogen peroxide, spray the area, leave it for a minute then dab up the moisture. It clears up the stink faster because of the extra oxygen molecule. Thats what I use when there are accidents in the house.


Thanks for this i did not know this. 

I do not like air fresheners of any sort but have used febreze a couple of time. To be honest any little accidents get cleaned with Bicarbonate of soda, kills germs kills smells and is safe to eat. Will keep the hydrogen peroxide in mind for the future


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## lucky (Jan 8, 2011)

Kat said:


> Not sure if that was a joke or not, but for anyone who doesnt know, febreze is toxic to dogs and cats and has been shown to cause seizures and even death. I would suggest just opening a window, or you can mix water and hydrogen peroxide, spray the area, leave it for a minute then dab up the moisture. It clears up the stink faster because of the extra oxygen molecule. Thats what I use when there are accidents in the house.


Yes that was a joke, I did not know that it was toxic obviously otherwise I would not have made a joke of it. Thanks for clarifying that though


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## BrownieM (Aug 30, 2010)

lucky said:


> Yes that was a joke, I did not know that it was toxic obviously otherwise I would not have made a joke of it. Thanks for clarifying that though


Read above info from ASPCA. It is not true that febreze is toxic.


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## DaViking (Sep 27, 2011)

DaneMama said:


> This is classic for what happens to my dogs when they have too many boneless meals in a row. I think you're plan of fasting is smart. Start off with something with moderate bone content.


Diarrhea, bloody stool and bile after 4 meals without bones? Is this normal and expected on pmr? Even on the 8th or 16th meal?


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## BrownieM (Aug 30, 2010)

Maybe I am the odd one, but I do not see BLOODY diarrhea as being a normal reaction to too many boneless meals. Loose stools? Sure! But bloody diarrhea? I know that this would not happen to my dogs. They might get loose stool if they have not gotten enough bone, but, to be honest, I don't even think that has happened once in nearly a year of raw feeding.

The only time I have ended up with stool on the looser side was with too much organ meat and not enough bone with that organ meat. Otherwise, it's pretty hard to give my dogs loose stool. And bloody diarrhea? Not unless something really is wrong. I don't think that should be a normal reaction from not enough bone - esp. if the meals you are feeding aren't organ heavy.

I could probably feed at least 5 meals without even seeing a loose stool from a basic boneless meal.


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## Tobi (Mar 18, 2011)

We didn't have bloody diarrhea, never sen that actually, but i know that too much boneless will give him that... especially if they are rich red meats... Take yesterday for example... huge diarrhea twice because he decided to nom some of the venison as we were repacking it... likely to the tune of 2lbs or better... he kinda looked at me as he was pooping like "dad... why didn't you stop me?" :lol:


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## BrownieM (Aug 30, 2010)

Weird. I am glad mine don't have that problem!

I could feed beef heart for a week with no ill effects....


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## lauren43 (Feb 6, 2011)

BrownieM said:


> Maybe I am the odd one, but I do not see BLOODY diarrhea as being a normal reaction to too many boneless meals. Loose stools? Sure! But bloody diarrhea? I know that this would not happen to my dogs. They might get loose stool if they have not gotten enough bone, but, to be honest, I don't even think that has happened once in nearly a year of raw feeding.
> 
> The only time I have ended up with stool on the looser side was with too much organ meat and not enough bone with that organ meat. Otherwise, it's pretty hard to give my dogs loose stool. And bloody diarrhea? Not unless something really is wrong. I don't think that should be a normal reaction from not enough bone - esp. if the meals you are feeding aren't organ heavy.
> 
> I could probably feed at least 5 meals without even seeing a loose stool from a basic boneless meal.


I think this is where all dogs are different, while some dogs are fine with many boneless meals in a row others can't handle it. As for the blood it was not a lot and I think it was after pooping, probably from straining too hard. He has been fine today no loose poos nothing.

Also the boneless meals included beef mix which had beef tongue, tripe, and liver mixed together..


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## BrownieM (Aug 30, 2010)

lauren43 said:


> Also the boneless meals included beef mix which had beef tongue, tripe, and liver mixed together..


Well there ya go. Mine would be pooping liquid if I gave them organ without bone! My boneless meals never include organ.


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## Dude and Bucks Mamma (May 14, 2011)

I have used Febreze (however you spell it) for years in my house and have never had a dog die prematurely or even get sick from it. My dalmatian was 15. My brittany was 17. Dude is 8, etc. The only dog we had die prematurely was our doberman who died of bloat and she had never even been within 100 feet of it or anything sprayed with it. 

And yea, I agree that the liver could have been a huge problem. When my dogs get their organs they get them with a bone heavy meal since the organs tend to give them the runs if they get too much at once or with not enough bone. It looks like Avery is similar to Dude. He needs a bit of extra bone and should never get his organs without lots of bone. Haha.


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## taem (Oct 29, 2011)

Kat said:


> Not sure if that was a joke or not, but for anyone who doesnt know, febreze is toxic to dogs and cats and has been shown to cause seizures and even death. I would suggest just opening a window, or you can mix water and hydrogen peroxide, spray the area, leave it for a minute then dab up the moisture. It clears up the stink faster because of the extra oxygen molecule. Thats what I use when there are accidents in the house.


Great now I won't be able to take my pup into anyone's house without asking if they use Febreeze. It's hard, being paranoid.


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