Marrow bones: can they cause Gi issues

[Heather & Brinkley]

Hey guys!

For the last few nights Brinkley had been very clingy. He wasn't eating as much food but I thought he was just having some seperation anxiety after 1) being left at the groomer for the first time in a bit; and 2) going to doggie daycare for the first time in a month. Well, when I got home from work last night, Brinkley had become very sick. He was very lethargic, whining, not eating or drinking at all, etc. On the phone I got, and scheduled a vet appointment for early Sat. morning. All of his symptoms were very similar to Brinkley's last two bouts with Pancreatitis... so similar I just knew that he had to be having GI issues. Some of you may remember that one of his bouts came after eating too much fat when he sneaked pounds of a smoked pork butt. He just looked like a lump of potatoes and his eyes were lifeless.

He is on great food (Orijen) but I had given Brinkley a new raw marrow bone on Monday of this week and he consumed a lot of the marrow pretty fast and continued to work on it all week. He's had them before, without a problem. I now know (didn't before ) that marrow has a high fat content. Could this have triggered GI issues since he's had issues in the past? I'm wracking my brain trying to figure out what could have made him so sick again.

The good news is after a night of hoping and lots of prayers, Brinkley woke up, ate and drank on his own and has started to want to play again. His stamina is less then usual but I can understand that as he hadnt eaten much. I talked to the vet on the phone at length and since we had seen lots of improvement, we held off on taking him in. He has continued to eat and guzzle water all day so that is a plus.

But I'm sill at a loss...should I avoid marrow bones?

[Jane, Rooney & Stuart]

My friend - a French lady, had made Osso Buco for us for dinner.  It is beyond wonderful but I did not dig the marrow out of the bone - I couldn't go that far.  I'm sure I was eating enough of it without realizing.  This is the same person that turned me on to Foi Gras - another yummy but gross food, I'm addicted.

[F, Calla & Luca]

I'm am well done girl myself. I try not to think about where some things come from, though. Raw meat is so off putting for me. A million years ago I ate a raw meatball served as an appetizer unknowingly, it was all seasoned and brown. To top it all off I was pregnant. I was so worried about toxoplasmosis.

And a friend of mine told me about being taking as a big honor to a expensive restaurant in Japan. The big delicacy were pieces of lobster meat still moving. TG I am allergic and would have had an excuse. That alone might keep me home : )

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

I would have no problem offending anyone that wanted me to eat something still moving :) A raw meatball...OMD :) I seriously would have thrown up.

[Jane, Rooney & Stuart]

Having been to China I thought I had seen most of the gross foods (severed chicken feet piled high in the market) in the world but I've never seen lobster meat that moved - my dh is allergic to shell fish also but I'd of had no excuse.

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Remind me not to go to China :)

[Gail and Bailey]

I had a cousin who went to China on a business trip and was wined and dined at a very nice place.  He was enjoying some small fried crunchie things and one of the men asked him if he liked the fried baby birds (bones and all !!!)  My cousin was a gourmet cook and he actually didn't mind.  YUCK!! 

[Jane, Rooney & Stuart]

OMD - this makes me want to barf!!!  Dh was tricked (by an evil co-worker) into eating an unknown meat that turned out to be DOG.  My dh was so mad.

[F, Calla & Luca]

Like you'd need a reminder: )

[F, Calla & Luca]

A mild fib might be understandable.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

LOL, you guys are wusses! I grew up on Steak Tartare, and my mom never did get over the fact that fine restaurants stopped serving it. My kids used to stick their hands in the bowl of raw hamburger and raw eggs when I was mixing it for meatloaf and eat so much of it that I was often tempted to just skip the meat loaf and let them have Poor Man's Steak Tartare! How I miss the days of rare meat!

However, there's a big difference between food that's raw and food that moves. I don't mind the lobster moving in the tank before dinner, but by the time he gets to the table, I want him very still.

[F, Calla & Luca]

My sister would eat raw meatballs when we made them. Disgusting. Little did we know, pr did they evolve, about E. Coli and Salmonella. But for sure they were around but maybe not the same strains. And certainly toxoplasmosis was known to me before my older son was born.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

My mother was also a fan of marrow sucking. :)