Vet. Nixes Elk Antlers

Vicaroo1000

"Slug Assassin" and PBS Gardening Dweeb
Jun 23, 2011
5,775
389
Mukilteo, Washington State
Bulldog(s) Names
Beefeater's Buxom Beatrice and Lord Harrington's Bodacious Beauregaard
Even a Nylabone can be a choking hazard. Chewing toys should always be supervised - regardless of type. I'm not ready to try antlers again after the last time. Super chomper Bo broke the edge off in shards. He clearly needs a big fat SUPER THICK one if he gets another antler. By the way, he does chew teeny bits off his Nylabone toys too.
 

Sarah

New member
Jun 7, 2011
423
18
CT
Bulldog(s) Names
Brooklyn and Franklin
Brooklyn is sitting next to me as I type this chewing on one of our antlers. Her and Frankie both LOVE them and I've never seen any big pieces come off, they're about the same as the little chunks that come off of the nylabones. I just can't see getting rid of them. The only things they can have when we aren't here are nylabones since they both shred stuffies in seconds and can usually manage to destroy rubbery chews too, which is a MUCH larger choking/obstruction hazard. I guess next time they need new ones I'll get the widest possible to lessen the risks. The really thin ones always made me nervous, like the small one in the picture since both of my bullies are POWER chewers.
 

JeannieCO

Queenie
Mar 11, 2011
12,680
873
Tip of the Mitt, Michigan
Country
USA
Bulldog(s) Names
Emma, Charlie, Milo, Peekaboo and Jack
Huh, I'm going to have to ask my vet too when I take Gwynnie in on the 4th. We have 2 deer antlers and they have never split or cracked either. I'm keeping mine for now and will see what the doc says. We lucky that all our boys like nylas too. We have tons of those around. And now they come in so many shapes and sizes.
 

kim n the guys

Well-known member
Community Veteran
Apr 3, 2011
1,581
138
Holt, MI
Country
United States
Bulldog(s) Names
Oliver, Sebastian, Remy, Gracie, and Tonka (10-21-07 to 05-29-14 RIP)
my boys love their deer antlers too. I finally had to throw one out because they chewed it down to about a couple of inches long and the other one is still one long piece. I've never had them break off into chunks. I'll have to ask my vet too, though she does know they chew on them because she asked me one time why Oliver's little front teeth (not the fangs) were so tiny and I told her he chews on deer antlers
 

LillyNBruin

New member
Community Veteran
Mar 22, 2010
738
28
Central Mass
Bulldog(s) Names
Bruin & Lilly
I know this is an old thread, but I completely forgot to say...
I saw this thread and when Bruin went to the vet for his yearly check up, I asked her what she thought about antlers. She nixed them too! Her main point was that some times they place the antler farther back in the mouth, and chew with their back teeth. Sometimes the teeth back there will crack b/c they're chewing so hard and you wouldn't know until it gets infected. Plus she just had a meeting with the local doggie dentist who did a presentation on this, so I'm sure she was all geared up about it with fresh info. It makes me wonder if some vets just go to conferences and presentations, then spew the same info to their clients, not even comparing it with the other factors. As you can tell, I'm very cynical :( Plus my pups loved their antlers, so I hated to get rid of them.
 

karenben

New member
Apr 18, 2011
1,056
88
uk
Bulldog(s) Names
Hilda
got annie an antler,she chewed it for a couple of hours then dicarded it ,it sat in the lounge for a couple of weeks all sad looking so i binned it!,nylabone and kongs are annies favorites,karen
 

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