I ordered a couple of parma ham bones, (these are air dried raw ham bones) for Benson as he is going through a chewy stage...I let him have one to chew he loved it, only let him have it for about 10 mins, and I was watching him closely and even examined some the pieces he chewed off to make sure they weren't splinters, or too hard. Well happened to be browsing the internet and to my horror found there was a facebook page called ban Parma Ham bones, this described a very distressing tale of a dog owner who almost lost her dog to an obstruction caused by small pieces of the parma ham bone. I am bit worried, and feel like chucking them both in bin! Does anyone here feed them? Or have any opinions? Just wondering if maybe I am over-reacting a bit?
Re: Parma Ham Bone OK or Not? I don't have a clue, sorry, but just wanted to say I've never heard of them being bad for dogs!
Re: Parma Ham Bone OK or Not? I don't feed any kind of bone right now, but might feed raw. I wouldn't feed cooked, smoked or, in the case of Parma ham, salted and dried. I don't know, but my guess would be that there is indeed an increased risk of dangerous splinters. But, you know, there is very little that everyone agrees is risk free. I mean, some people think feeding kibble is gambling with a dog's life...
Re: Parma Ham Bone OK or Not? Personally I wouldn't feed that kind of bone as they are too hard for teeth (risk of breaking teeth). I am on the high end of the 'hard bone paranoia' scale and avoid all mammal leg bones - cooked or raw.
Re: Parma Ham Bone OK or Not? i have only once give this type of bone to my little guy, ...he was sick, would never give them to him ever again,...you will be able to find lots of good chews,
Re: Parma Ham Bone OK or Not? I don't know about this kind of bone, I haven't seen it here in Canada. But Julie is right, you will find alarming stories on the Internet about everything. There is likely a risk of some splintering or chunks coming off, but many dogs chew these types of bones without any ill effect. And you can see from the replies some of the other members' experiences and thoughts. As Lynne said, there are other options if you decide against bones, such as stuffed and frozen Kongs.
Re: Parma Ham Bone OK or Not? I think dogs vary a lot in their ability to process bones. My last dog was sick if he had any bones at all, so obviously we stopped giving them. However Molly has these ham bones, among many other types, and is always fine. The ones I get are vacuum packed (Parma or Serrano ham) - I can get them for £1.50 each locally, she eats every bit and it keeps her occupied for half an hour. She does also have spotlessly white teeth, though I suppose you'd expect that at her age. (Molly's only been sick once in her life - the other week she ate a whole dead starling, yes everything, but it returned fairly quickly!)
Re: Parma Ham Bone OK or Not? We don't actually get the Parma ham bones here in Australia as the prosciutto hams have to be imported de-boned (dunno why the bones pose a threat to national security but apparently they do!). But it is basically a pretty dried out pig leg bone. Having had a dog that split a major tooth on a dried cow leg bone I'd really caution people about giving these hard bones as recreational chews. Aside from the tooth breakage risk, they wear teeth down over time. If your dog's teeth have any brown spots on the upper surfaces then that is the soft inner part of the tooth that has been exposed (and is now dying) due to the repeated abrasion of hard substances (like mammal leg bones....or gritty things like sandy tennis balls). Lecture over now
Re: Parma Ham Bone OK or Not? Er, yes, I should have mentioned the teeth issues in my reply. Was thinking mainly about the other risks. Good point, Rachel.
Re: Parma Ham Bone OK or Not? I'm just a teeth fanatic, having spent far too much time in veterinary dentist waiting rooms You are absolutely right, Lisa, that most dogs will not have any acute problems with hard bones as they won't bite down hard enough to break anything. But a few will and then the results can be broken teeth.
Re: Parma Ham Bone OK or Not? Thank you for all your replies, they have been very helpful...in the end I have decided it is just not worth the very minimal risk. I am pretty sure he is a "chewer" though which is good There are so interesting and varied chewy alternatives out there which do not seem to carry any risk at all, as long as they are bought from reputable suppliers. So, when considering the age of Benson, dental hygiene - (risk of tooth fractures) -risk gastric obstruction, increased fluid requirements due to high salt content...we have decided to bin the parma ham bones
