# Nylabone bits causing colitis?



## Summer's Mom (Oct 20, 2010)

I was chatting with a friend online, who mentioned that her friend who works in a vets office said they see dogs with little bits of nylabone (those rice-sized pieces that the company claims can pass through) embedded in their intestines. This can make a dog really sick.

So now thats got me thinking.. we are HUGE nylabone fans. Summer has always chewed and has taken quite a bit off her bones but very gradually and always little bits (i find them all over the carpet). Is it possible she has lots of little rice-sized bits stuck and irritating her intestine causing her mucousy diarrhea? The metronidazole may be helping because of the anti-inflammatory properties.. 

Anyone heard of this or think this is possible? How would we go about diagnosing this? Ideas please...


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

Well, it seems really farfetched to me, but diagnosis is a piece of cake. Keep her off nylabones for a month. Look for a change.

You could also ask your friend how they see those bits. X-ray? Have Summer X-rayed and look.

Honestly, it seems bizarrely unlikely to me.


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## luvgolds (May 20, 2009)

I'm interested in hearing responses as well, because our dogs are like Summer, they love their nylabones! In fact, I just got new ones in the mail today. I gave them their new bones and they were busy chewing for an hour! 

We get the durables, the really hard ones, and we see the little bits, too, all over the carpet.

Pretty scary...


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## magiclover (Apr 22, 2008)

I know our breeder discourages using nylabones due to possible intestinal damage. I haven't complied with that. :uhoh:

I would be surprised if that was the cause of colitis though.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

The tiny sharp bits are exactly why I do not give my golden nylabones. Those bones are perfect for our collie who does not have the same powerful jaws that our golden does. And I have a picture of Jacks with an "indestructible" nylabone toy and you can see where he had gnawed pieces off already. 

I can see them causing irritable bowel syndrome... and the pieces might not show up on an xray.


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

If the dog breaks off a chunk of an insufficiently tough bone (like if you give a puppy bone to an adolescent dog), I can see the possibility of obstruction, but since mammals constantly have to deal with small amounts of undigestible bits in all kinds of food, I'd be really surprised to find that Nylabone material has some strange property that allows it to become embedded in the intestine.


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## Summer's Mom (Oct 20, 2010)

They see the little bits embedded in the stomach/intestine wall during surgery.. I don't want exploratory surgery!! 

It wouldnt show up on an xray. Not dense enough..


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

Summer's Mom said:


> They see the little bits embedded in the stomach/intestine wall during surgery.. I don't want exploratory surgery!!
> 
> It wouldnt show up on an xray. Not dense enough..


This person has been personally present for many exploratory surgeries in which the stomach and/or intestines are actually opened up? And Nylabone bits were present multiple times? That just sounds so weird to me, especially since my vet is an ER surgeon who does tons and tons of obstruction surgeries and recommends Nylabones.

But hey, I sure as heck don't know everything.


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## Dallas Gold (Dec 22, 2007)

Summer's Mom said:


> They see the little bits embedded in the stomach/intestine wall during surgery.. I don't want exploratory surgery!!
> 
> It wouldnt show up on an xray. Not dense enough..


 
That's an interesting theory. I may ask our vet next time I see her.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

> especially since my vet is an ER surgeon who does tons and tons of obstruction surgeries and recommends Nylabones.


Likely because nylabones are generally safer - worst case scenario, they cause IBS instead of Blockage. A dog is not going to bite off a big enough chunk to choke on, unlike a rawhide bone which softens and unrolls and unwatched dogs will try to hawk the whole thing down. 

I prefer rawhide because I have dogs who only chew when with their people who keep an eye on them. Rawhide is not an option for people who crate and leave their dogs alone for a few hours. Whereas nylabone and antlers might be a resort for these people and their dogs...


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## cprcheetah (Apr 26, 2009)

Hmmm I've worked for a vet for 20+ years and have never seen any problems caused by Nylabones. I have seen problems caused by Greenies, but not Nylabones.


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## Dallas Gold (Dec 22, 2007)

*What If?*

Summers Mom, how often do you disinfect/wash Summer's nylabone? What if it isn't Nylabone pieces breaking off and causing distress, but bacteria that gets on the Nylabone and infects or reinfects Summer? Those nylabones are on the floor with all the dirt and germs and any sort of bacteria goes right into the dog's mouth and straight into the body, to do who knows what. Our vet usually discourages Nylabones, just because she's seen dental damage with them, but she Ok'd it for Toby again last year when he was stressed out during Barkley's cancer fight and his death and he needed an outlet for it. She mentioned I could clean it by putting it in the dishwasher. What if you did a trial run without the Nylabone to see how she does or if you haven't cleaned it recently, a daily scrub or something like that?

I just did a laundry of all of Toby's toys, including his balls and his Wubbas but they were just looking too gross!


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## GoldenCamper (Dec 21, 2009)

I bought my 1st girl a Nylabone back in the early 90's. The package said "guaranteed unbreakable". She broke it right in half after a short time so I took it away. Never again. :no:


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## iansgran (May 29, 2010)

You need to talk to ILoveMyGolden if you want a horror story about Nylabones. Finlay ate one of the puppy ones when he was a little older than little puppy stage and was sick for months, xrays, barrium xrays, all kinds of things. Still has tummy issues from it. I will suggest she read and post here.


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## ILoveMyGolden (Oct 19, 2006)

Me me me!!!!!!!!!!

I saw this (thanks Ian'sgran!) on the top of the page and was like "whaaaaat" thinking this is like Fin's story.

Fin just today finished a second two weeks of Metron..... and Amoxycillin AND FortaFlora.

Really condensed backstory:
Nov 26th -Nylabone consumed (whole nylabone, so different than your tiny pieces)

from early Dec to Dec 24th Fin began puking between 5 and 6am every morning and a few times large nylabone pieces came up.

Dec 16th Barium Xrays (after regular ones done 2 weeks prior which of course showed nothing) on the Barium we saw a cluster of pieces. Opted to give it more time as they were still coming up.

Dec 24th "the last" three pieces came up in one puke. We have a ziploc baggy of a nylabone in 8 large pieces, gross pieces -all "make" a nylabone put together, no big pieces missing, but some corners/edges for sure.

January something wasn't right. Mid-January middle of the night Fin needed out urgently and has explosive diahhrea (sp?) so we're thinking "what now". To the vet we go again, scoped him.....showed nothing. We change his food, elimination diet, makes things worse, back on regular food, showed improvement, waited things out. We got into mucus poops and then the middle of the night grossness.

February comes we go on our first round of 2 1/2 weeks worth of amoxy and metron. Fin is 100% back to normal and we're relieved. Once finished those pills, he goes back to needing out urgently between 1 and 2am only about a week after finishing the pills, during the day maintaining normal habits, normal poo's, etc.

This time vet wanted to not only try antibiotic, but the probiotic with it, so anti's ended today, two weeks of the probiotic and hope he can do ok this time.

Last time he came off (a Sunday) by Friday he wasn't right. With ending them today we are on poo watch for the week and if it's going to be bad, maybe later this week we'll start losing sleep again. Who knows, and staying positive with the addition of the probiotic.

Vet thinks as of now bacterial infection or overgrowth he may not have had enough time to rebound from the first round of antibiotics. Next step if he's not ok is exploratory surg and/or specialist for abdominal ultrasounds. We're torn at this point -IS it the nylabone causing grief somewhere in there still, or is this coincidental and the bacterial infection/overgrowth stuff is new to us and obviously made better with the meds?

All I know is that he's not been the same since the Nylabone and they will never be in my house ever again. This was our fault (he was too powerful of a chewer for the Nylabone, but never touched it, months later when he did he overpowered it and being the piggy he is, ate it) but I still will not have another nylabone in our home especially hearing horroe stories from our breeder about their experience once and from the vet -no way.


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## Dallas Gold (Dec 22, 2007)

ILoveMyGolden, Oh my goodness, you have been through so much. I truly hope this time Fin is OK and you won't have more issues. :crossfing 

Can you describe the type of Nylabone Fin ingested? Was it one of the Galileo bones that they advertise as indestructible or one of the thinner smaller ones? I think it might help a lot of us to know exactly what type, since they have so many of them! If you describe it maybe I can find and post a photo of it here. I have not had an issue yet, but definitely don't want to do so.


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## jackie_hubert (Jun 2, 2010)

We recently switched our GI issue plagued dog from Nylabones to antler. So far (1.5 weeks) no difference.

Now if the nylabone pieces (only ever small ones) are stuck in there somewhere perhaps we would not see a difference.

Will update if we see improvement.

BTW, can somone who knows for certain tell me if small bits would show up on x-ray or ultrasound. We might just invest in that if it would show.


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## Summer's Mom (Oct 20, 2010)

I don't think they will show up on Xray. Ultrasound maybe but if they are really little you'd need a VERY good machine and a VERY good technician.. 

Poor Finlay!! Summer's been on the hardest durable/big bones for big dogs/galileo since she was very young.. never seemed to have a problem.. I clean out her bones with a toothbrush and dishwashing liquid once a week (dont have a dishwasher!!). I will start doing it daily.. Her stuffies are washed once every 2 weeks with her bed..

There is a blog of a dog who got REALLY REALLY ill, acute not chronic though, because of a teeny piece of nylabone lodged in his stomach wall.. =( But blogs are blogs, i don't know the owner..


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## 3 goldens (Sep 30, 2005)

Honey loves her giant nylabone and chews them down over a period of time. Once she has them down to about 4 inches, maybe a little more, they are tossed and she gets a new one. But honestly, I have worried about her swallowing all those little pieces.

She has eaten an entire leathe wallet except for the picture holding section, an entire leather glove, about 4: off the end of leather belt, a zillion napkins, paper toewls, envelopes, sticks, corners off credit card and hubby's driver's licesne, and probably much more stuff I don't kow about. But I always worry about the Nylabones and I will not give her roawhides. My Kaycee choked on a rawhide twice. The first time I thought it totally a fluke, but after it happened a secodn tinme, no more rawhides in this house.


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## Dallas Gold (Dec 22, 2007)

Summer's Mom said:


> > I don't think they will show up on Xray. Ultrasound maybe but if they are really little you'd need a VERY good machine and a VERY good technician..
> 
> 
> Toby is actually going in today for an abdominal sonogram to recheck a large lymph node caught on a sonogram 3 months ago. I will ask the technician if she's ever seen sonogram pieces on her machine. I doubt the vet will come in for this procedure but if so, I'll ask. I do know that nothing like that's been seen on Toby's sonograms in the past year (3 of them) and he chews on the Galileo and another "indestructible" one (Souper?).
> ...


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## ILoveMyGolden (Oct 19, 2006)

Here's a pic of 4 pieces (these all came up together Dec 24th) I don't have a picture of all the pieces that have come up -three of the end pieces came up here. That was a huge relief to be honest, the other had come up at an earlier time and it was the first "defined" piece we could begin to piece the Nylabone 'together' again.










I have the xrays at home before the puking started (we just did them to see) and none of this showed up on xray -so for the question posed above.....from my experience, even with big pieces, they didn't show up on xray at all. The Barium series (13 views over 11 hours) showed a spot where they had gathered, but not in great detail. The Barium series was done halfway through everything that came up.

The Nylabone was a non-edible puppy one (see below -Fin was 9 weeks in the pic) he ate the Nylabone at just over 7 months. It being the only one we ever bought and it sat and sat in the bottom of his toy basket we didn't know any different to remove it once he got beyond a certain age. The one day he shows interest it was gone before we knew it, we saw him with it, turned an eye away from him (to the TV, while in the same room) and it was suddenly gone.


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## Dallas Gold (Dec 22, 2007)

ILoveMyGolden said:


> Here's a pic of 4 pieces (these all came up together Dec 24th) I don't have a picture of all the pieces that have come up -three of the end pieces came up here. That was a huge relief to be honest, the other had come up at an earlier time and it was the first "defined" piece we could begin to piece the Nylabone 'together' again.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Thank you so much for posting these photos of the Nylabone. 

As I'm typing this I'm looking at one I found recently while reorganizing a closet, just like the one you gave Fin, but in the original flavor! It is a Wolf Size, large, no mention of good only for puppies or only for adults, nothing! The packaging claims it's for powerful chewers, "veterinarian recommended", durable.. They cover themselves with this statement on the back: _Be sure to select the right chew and size for your dog's chewing style. Different dogs have different chewing styles, even within the same breed- one may be a strong chewer and another more gentle, preferring a softer chew.... *Nylabone Durable is not consumable*, but small shavings (no larger than a grain of rice) should pass through. Replace when knuckles are worn down.....Please read enclosed Guidelines for Use before using._ 

They actually boldfaced the bold faced statement above.

*My previously unopened package did not have any Guidelines for Use!*

At Toby's ultrasound I asked both a veterinary nurse and a full time sonogram technician about the ability to see small to medium sized pieces on ultrasound. Both said that ultrasound is not the best means to see it because it may look like air on the screen. The nurse, who does a lot of dental cleanings, reminded me that the clinic we use does *not *recommend them due to dental damage to the teeth. She said that the best way to see them is by actual examination in surgery and sometimes, if lucky, with barium series. 

I am beyond frustrated that these companies continue to market products they know may be harmful to our dogs but weasel out of possible liability with vague exculpatory language on the product...Sigh...( my rant and my personal opinion). 

Toby's smaller nylabones are being retired immediately, and his larger one will come out on special occasions, for just a few minutes, and only in my presence. Sigh. Thank you so much for making us aware of this hazard. 

As far as nylabone pieces causing chronic colitis, I personally think anything is possible with their fragile systems. I do remember when Toby was ill with colitis from an eating indiscretion (left by construction workers) his vet told me that colitis from these eating indiscretions can turn chronic, but I didn't press that question further. I wish I had now. I don't know if it was a gentle teaching moment and warning or actually true and seen commonly in their practice. I need to find out. 

I hope you both find answers to your pup's issues--it is so frustrating.


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## wxman1995 (Feb 27, 2011)

OK... too many similarities here. I am throwing out Keala's nylabone. She has a red one -









I have not heard of it causing bad things to happen, but I took a hard look at it, and it appears to have some very minute pieces missing (the size of this comma , ) from it. Too scary. I'm going to call my Vet too and see what she thinks or has heard. I know she does ER work on some weekends. Thank you so much for posting this.


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## ILoveMyGolden (Oct 19, 2006)

Dallas Gold said:


> Thank you so much for posting these photos of the Nylabone.
> 
> As I'm typing this I'm looking at one I found recently while reorganizing a closet, just like the one you gave Fin, but in the original flavor! It is a Wolf Size, large, no mention of good only for puppies or only for adults, nothing! The packaging claims it's for powerful chewers, "veterinarian recommended", durable.. They cover themselves with this statement on the back: _Be sure to select the right chew and size for your dog's chewing style. Different dogs have different chewing styles, even within the same breed- one may be a strong chewer and another more gentle, preferring a softer chew.... *Nylabone Durable is not consumable*, but small shavings (no larger than a grain of rice) should pass through. Replace when knuckles are worn down.....Please read enclosed Guidelines for Use before using._
> 
> ...


It's frustrating for us because we're not idiots, but this whole experience has made us feel like irresponsible dog owners. Who knew I guess right? Learn from the experience even though it's had huge implications on my dog's stomach/health. Can't fault the Nylabone folks, no one to blame but ourselves, but again -Nylabones are out of our house forever. I have heard many good stories about them, but the few bad and our personal experience -never again!


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## Dallas Gold (Dec 22, 2007)

ILoveMyGolden said:


> It's frustrating for us because we're not idiots, but this whole experience has made us feel like irresponsible dog owners. Who knew I guess right? Learn from the experience even though it's had huge implications on my dog's stomach/health. Can't fault the Nylabone folks, no one to blame but ourselves, but again -Nylabones are out of our house forever. I have heard many good stories about them, but the few bad and our personal experience -never again!


:no: Oh nooooo, you are not an irresponsible dog owner at all...noooo. :no: You bought a product marketed as safe and durable and you bought it for the purpose of entertaining your dog and satisfying his natural need to chew. I know many of us here on the forum had no idea that this type of Nylabone could be destroyed and swallowed so quickly, especially since it is marketed as safe and durable... I am just sorry you feel you are guilty somehow. Dare I say most of us didn't read the language on the back before tearing open the package and giving the chew to our dogs? I know I didn't...and I'm feeling pretty lucky right now Toby didn't do what your Fin did with his. This company markets the product as durable and safe, for powerful chewers! Please don't beat yourself up about this. I just wish there were more publicity about the risks of these chew toys. I also hope that your dog's health will improve.


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## kprenze (Apr 1, 2021)

Summer's Mom said:


> I was chatting with a friend online, who mentioned that her friend who works in a vets office said they see dogs with little bits of nylabone (those rice-sized pieces that the company claims can pass through) embedded in their intestines. This can make a dog really sick.
> 
> So now thats got me thinking.. we are HUGE nylabone fans. Summer has always chewed and has taken quite a bit off her bones but very gradually and always little bits (i find them all over the carpet). Is it possible she has lots of little rice-sized bits stuck and irritating her intestine causing her mucousy diarrhea? The metronidazole may be helping because of the anti-inflammatory properties..
> 
> Anyone heard of this or think this is possible? How would we go about diagnosing this? Ideas please...





Summer's Mom said:


> I was chatting with a friend online, who mentioned that her friend who works in a vets office said they see dogs with little bits of nylabone (those rice-sized pieces that the company claims can pass through) embedded in their intestines. This can make a dog really sick.
> 
> So now thats got me thinking.. we are HUGE nylabone fans. Summer has always chewed and has taken quite a bit off her bones but very gradually and always little bits (i find them all over the carpet). Is it possible she has lots of little rice-sized bits stuck and irritating her intestine causing her mucousy diarrhea? The metronidazole may be helping because of the anti-inflammatory properties..
> 
> Anyone heard of this or think this is possible? How would we go about diagnosing this? Ideas please...


I’m almost positive nylabone is what’s making my dog sick. The last time he was sick like this the only common denominator was he was chewing nylabone a lot. I ended up getting him x-rays last time and he did have these little foreign pieces in his digestive system which did look like quinoa size more than rice size. Given their density is close to bone, they would definitely show up on an x-ray. And in every poop or every puke I notice something that looks like the bone. The mucous is probably the body’s way of trying to lubricate the passage of the foreign objects upsetting the GI tract.


Summer's Mom said:


> I was chatting with a friend online, who mentioned that her friend who works in a vets office said they see dogs with little bits of nylabone (those rice-sized pieces that the company claims can pass through) embedded in their intestines. This can make a dog really sick.
> 
> So now thats got me thinking.. we are HUGE nylabone fans. Summer has always chewed and has taken quite a bit off her bones but very gradually and always little bits (i find them all over the carpet). Is it possible she has lots of little rice-sized bits stuck and irritating her intestine causing her mucousy diarrhea? The metronidazole may be helping because of the anti-inflammatory properties..
> 
> Anyone heard of this or think this is possible? How would we go about diagnosing this? Ideas please...


I’m almost positive nylabone is what’s making my dog sick. The last time he was sick like this the only common denominator was he was chewing nylabone a lot. I ended up getting him x-rays last time and he did have these little foreign pieces in his digestive system which did look like quinoa size more than rice size. Given their density is close to bone, they would definitely show up on an x-ray. And in every poop or every puke I notice something that looks like the bone. The mucous is probably the body’s way of trying to lubricate the passage of the foreign objects upsetting the GI tract.


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## Sandyp94 (Dec 18, 2021)

Summer's Mom said:


> I was chatting with a friend online, who mentioned that her friend who works in a vets office said they see dogs with little bits of nylabone (those rice-sized pieces that the company claims can pass through) embedded in their intestines. This can make a dog really sick.
> 
> So now thats got me thinking.. we are HUGE nylabone fans. Summer has always chewed and has taken quite a bit off her bones but very gradually and always little bits (i find them all over the carpet). Is it possible she has lots of little rice-sized bits stuck and irritating her intestine causing her mucousy diarrhea? The metronidazole may be helping because of the anti-inflammatory properties..
> 
> Anyone heard of this or think this is possible? How would we go about diagnosing this? Ideas please...


Hi, My 2 dogs have been playing with Nylabones for many years. Recently one of my dogs had developed bloody stool and alot of mucous. We took her to the vet and she was diagnosed with colitis. They gave her antibiotics, probiotics and other meds. She slowly recovered and I recently gave her nylabone toy back (never knew this could be the cause) and she all of sudden relapsed with soft stool and whimpering with discomfort. I really think there's a connection between nylabones and dogs developing inflamed colons.


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## 3goldens2keep (Feb 13, 2019)

Regardless we used to provide nylabones to our Golden's. Then one of our pups developed a large abscess in his jaw. The vet discovered he has a cracked tooth, the only chewing item he had was nylabones! The vet removed the top molar, below the abscess, and that resolved the problem. We thought it must have been a fluke, maybe a bad tooth he had anyway as he was an older golden.

Then a few months later our younger female Golden also had a large abscess appear on her upper jaw. Same problem, same loss of a molar, same cost! That was the last nylabone in our home. Since then, we have had none of our Goldens with a cracked tooth or abscess in their jaw.


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