My puppy swallowed a pork bone. Will stomach acid break it down, or vet?

As long as he is showing no signs of abdominal discomfort, obstruction or vomiting I would wait it out and give it tim; it may disolve slowly or be passed normally in faeces once smaller. Any signs of gastrointestinal distress would require an urgent vet visit as surgical removal may be required if it becomes an obstruction.

The normal gastric transit cycle is about three days (can be more or less), so I would just monitor him for a couple of more days before worrying about the bones getting stuck or causing a problem. While bones have the potential to get stuck in the stomach or intestines, they usually pass through just fine. While I don't advise feeding bones, the truth is that many dogs eat bones (chicken, lamb, beef, goat, fish) on a daily basis for their whole lives and don't ever have any complications from it. I just mention this to help ease any big concern, because more than likely, Ace will be just fine. If they did get stuck, then it would be apparent. A bowel obstruction or damage, would cause vomiting and pain. Ace would not be active and would likely not want to do anything. If you do happen to notice this, then it's best to take him to the vet as soon as possible. Again, it would be quite rare for it to cause a severe complication, so wait it out and I'm sure all will be OK. I hope that helps and all is well with Ace.

Dogs will be dogs! As a veterinarian, I always recommend to my clients not to allow their pets to consume any cooked bones. As you have already intimated, these tend to break up into shards or splinters, leading to potentially disastrous consequences. It certainly sounds like the pork Sargent consumed is not agreeing with him in one way or another. Two episodes of vomiting by itself is not terribly many. However, if you note continuing vomiting throughout the next few hours, I would absolutely recommend seeking medical attention. In addition to a bone splintering and causing physical damage to the GI tract, theses types of foods have also been known to cause pancreatitis. The clinical signs of this condition will include lethargy, vomiting, and unwillingness to eat. Another thing to look out for over the course of the next several hours will be any blood in the feces. A small amount of blood in the feces is not very concerning, but any amounts of pooling red blood is a definite cause of immediate concern. If you do choose to take your dog to the vet, it is highly likely they will want to take some x-rays to see if it appears the bones are passing through the GI tract. They are also able to run blood work to determine if pancreatitis may be brewing. Should they determine things are looking OK, your vet may want to administer some medications to help calm the gastrointestinal system and prevent further vomiting.

Your dog still may vomit the bone or some of the bone fragments and she will probably have an upset stomach for a day or so. She will probably also develop diarrhea or soft stools because of ingesting the bones. Keep a close eye on her and if the vomiting lasts more than 24 hours or she starts having bloody stools, you will need to take her to the veterinarian. Likewise, if she refuses to eat for more than 12-24 hours you should take her in. I hope this helps. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Best of luck!

If it happened in the past hour I would recommend heading to an emergency vet - they can potentially take an x-ray and determine whether or not it would be worthwhile to attempt to induce vomiting. If the bone was sharp or very large there are risks to inducing vomiting so it may not be worthwhile. Unfortunately I find that pork bones in particular can cause obstructions or constipation. If the vet decides there is too much risk to inducing vomiting they may prescribe some medications to help protect the stomach or a diet change while monitoring closely for any vomiting, decrease in appetite, or difficulty defecating.

I would watch him for now and if he begins to develop symptoms such as vomiting, inappetance, lethargy, abdominal pain, etc. then I would recommend having a veterinarian examine him. I would also recommend having abdominal x-rays performed to see where the bone is. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.

I can understand your concern and worry, but there is is highly unlikely that she would have an obstruction if she'd just now developed mild symptoms 6 days after the fact. If she were going to have problems she would have had it the day or two after she ingested the bone. She likely is just having slowed GI mobility and will likely regulate herself soon. I would recommend continuing to monitor her for the next few days to see if she returns to having normal sized bowel movements. You can also offer her some probiotics (Culturelle over the counter) and fiber (1-2 tsp of canned pumpkin/ not the pie filling) If she doesn't get better, or starts having other symptoms (vomiting, diarrhea, lethargy), then it's best to have her seen by your vet to determine what is going on internally. I hope everything continues to go well for Miss Piggy. Best wishes and take care.