Hard boiled eggs to help heal rib fractures?

[Discussing Labradoodles & Goldendoodles]

Well I had the scare of a lifetime.I found a fair sized lump on my pugs rib a week ago and got him into the vet today.Cancer was the first thing that i thought of.Ozzy's dad died of cancer when he was 9 years old.Same age as Ozzy is now.But 300 dollars later I had some good news.No cancer but Ozzy has a dislocation of the sternum which has lead to a fracture of the rib.The bump I was feeling is due to the bone healing over the rib fracture.I don't know how this happened.Maybe Dakota was playing a little too rough outside when i wasn't watching.Or maybe Ozzy did it jumping off the bed.He has steps up to the bed but doesn't use it all the time.I will have to make sure he uses the steps every time now.Being 9 years old the vet said it doesn't take a whole lot to break a rib.The vet also said it happened 2 months ago.Ozzy is a tough guy because he never complained or acted any different.

The vet said to give him half of a crushed up hard boiled egg every 3 days.For the calcium to aid in the rib fracture healing and to prevent brittle bones.Is this really going to help or is there something else i should be doing??How to I protect him from future rib fractures and dislocations of the sternum?I have to let Ozzy and Dakota play and I cant be there every minute of the day so what can I do??

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Does the vet want you to give just the crushed shell, or the egg and the shell both? Eggshell does contain calcium, but the egg itself doesn't contain very much at all.

I don't think you could get a dog to eat the shell, though, unless it was mixed into soft food of some kind.

Powdered bonemeal is what is usually added to homemade dog foods as a calcium source. Maybe you could try that in some yogurt?

I don't know that adding calcium to his diet at this point will do much to help the fracture heal, but it may help strengthen the bones for the future.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Egg yolks are NOT fattening. You know that vets, like doctors, don't have much nutritional education. The idea that foods which contain cholesterol are fattening is not true. Half an egg, yolk and white combined, has only 40 calories, and dogs don't have cholesterol issues like people do.

You can buy powdered bonemeal in  pet supply stores, sometimes you have to ask them to order it for you. Solid Gold sells powdered bone meal, and there are other companies as well.

[Kaytlin and Cooper]

Cooper will happily eat egg shell - especially if theres some egg still attached to it

[Nina, Phil, Harlow & Lacey]

Jared, the extra calicum will help Ozzy build bone.  As we get older our bodies don't absorb calicum as easily so a little extra helps.  BTW, did you know that the water left over from boiling the eggs is good too?  As the eggs heat up in the water the shells (which are calicum) add calicum to the water.  It is great for house plants.

[Sherri, Sophie, Winston, & Kitty]

wow? really? I'm going to try that!

[Kaytlin and Cooper]

I never knew that!

[Kaytlin and Cooper]

i wouldnt give him milk - that may upset his stomach as dogs dont digest milk protein very well. You could give him the water the eggs boiled in to drink once its cool

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

Another issue to be considered here Jared is calcium absorption. It seems to be coming to light recently that  many people as well as cats and dogs are vitamin D deficient. Vitamin D helps the body absorb calcium.  I recently found out that my cat has a  problem with this and I now give her a vitamin D supplement per her Dr. I contacted  the makers of both Origen and Wellness to determine how much she received in her food and it is really minimal.

Eggs have a small amount of Vitamin D but very little calcium outside of the shells which I wouldn't consider to be the best or most absorbable type of calcium. I like Karen's idea of powdered bonemeal and also adding some cold water fish oil which is high in Vitamin D if he isn't already taking it.

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

I don't think the water would be as good as putting on his dry food. It would just float on the water and he may not ever actually drink it. Here is a link to a site which discusses food sources of Vitamin D. Vitamin D is one of the vitamins that you can overdose on too so you want to be careful about that. I suggest you Google Vitamin D and read up on it a bit.  My cat who is 7 pounds is currently taking 1500IU every three days. Which is a LOT but she was very deficient. That will probably decrease at some point. Quality fish oils can be purchased at health food type stores.

http://www.health.ny.gov/diseases/conditions/osteoporosis/vitd.htm

[Elizabeth & Cosmo]

I would think you could add the egg-boiling water to their water dish, when it's cool, or to their dry kibble when it's warm.

For the fish oil, Cosmo takes his in capsule form. I just put it in his food bowl, and he eats it.

I order the fish oil capsules from Puritans Pride, online. I also order Vitamin D3 and other supplements from them, but not for Cosmo--that's for the humans in our house!

Here is a link:

http://www.puritan.com/

I live in a smallish community, so ordering online is a big help to me!

[L.M.]

Aww poor Ozzy.  I have such a soft spot for pugs and am not surprised that Ozzy didn't show any "complaints" about his broken rib....they are tough little guys.  I don't know anything about the egg thing....although I'm sure Ozzy will enjoy eating them...minus the shell!  Even with people and fractured ribs, there really isn't much a doctor will actually do, so I guess with time it will heal.  Best wishes to Ozzy in his recovery!  

[Pat and Traveler]

Awwww....poor little guy.  Sounds like he's doing great, though.