# Have any of you had your dog get sick on deer antlers?



## Cathy's Gunner (Dec 4, 2008)

I'm really curious about this question. My Gunner loves deer antlers. Several weeks ago he had a deer antler that had a lot of morrow in the end. He chewed on it for several days. Shortly after, Gunner got sick and threw up every other day for about a week. The last time he threw up a whole days worth of food. I put him on hamburger and rice and also took him to our vet. She did and xray on him just to make sure nothing was blocked or too large in his stomach to digest. Nothing showed up. I kept him on HR for about a week to 10 days. No problems. I waited another two weeks before I offered him another antler. This one is new, and also from another company. He chewed on it for about an hour last night. This morning he threw up just a tiny bit. I'm wondering if it's from the antlers. It sure seems that way. I've researched each company and this last one seems like a safe place to buy them. I'm just wondering if there is something in it that Gunner can't handle. Anyone else have this reaction?


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## Tahnee GR (Aug 26, 2006)

Bone marrow is very rich and I would imagine that too much could cause an upset stomach. There has never been anything soft about the antlers my dogs chew on, including the center. My girl Bindi will chew on them for hours and hours and has not suffered any ill effects. The Crested also loves them and chews on them for long periods of time with no ill effects.

It may be that something in how he chews the antlers causes an issue with his throat or mouth, or maybe for some reason he can't handle the antlers. Or, the two incidents could be unrelated, especially if he just threw up a tiny bit this time. 

For some reason, at least one of my dogs always gets sick in the spring. I don't know why, have never figured it out but they do. I suspect they get into the cut grass from the lawn mower or something similar, once the snow is gone and the ground is clear.


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## Nancy0118 (Sep 13, 2017)

My dog too got sick from antler. Threw up. Took to vet and they x rayed and found no blockage or foreign objects. Took antler away for a week and he was fine, then we gave it back to him because wanted to know if that was the issue. He got sick again....so antler got discarded. I didn't think that this natural by product of a animal would make it sick, but seems to be the culprit. He loves to chew so not sure what to give him thats natural. Rawhide is bad and too many greenies are bad. I do make him chicken jerky treats from chicken breast that I dehydrated and he loves those, but I need to find chew items.


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## Sweet Girl (Jun 10, 2010)

It's funny - when my dog was a pup, she had diarrhea and a bad tummy for several months (giardia, etc) and someone said antlers were actually BEST for sensitive tummies. My dog LOVED them, but we stopped using them after my vet told me nearly every broken tooth she sees on a dog... broke it on an antler. :frown2: But have never heard them causing vomiting.


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## cwag (Apr 25, 2017)

We haven't tried deer antlers but I've been getting some giant knuckle bones that are made in USA. They were less than $4.00 on Chewy.com and they've given Rukie hours of chewing fun. I did scrape the extra fat off them and give for a short period of chewing when we first got them and he was still so young. They are a little greasy so he starts out on an old dog towel or the deck until he's gotten them cleaned up some.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

http://www.goldenretrieverforum.com...ology-breed-standard/73376-antlers-uh-oh.html

For funness, digging up an old thread on antlers...


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## Atis (Jul 8, 2014)

Have been giving both of my guys antlers from puppy age never a problem, they are now 6 and 7. I understand there may be a risk to the teeth. When I order from my source I always request softer varieties.


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## Lambeau0609 (Aug 3, 2015)

We use Antlers all the time with no problems. But raw hides and bully sticks will cause diarrhea every time.


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## DblTrblGolden2 (Aug 22, 2018)

I use to give my dogs antlers regularly until Duke broke a back tooth completely off. No more antlers in our house. My dogs current favorite chew is a stick shaped benebone in maple flavor. (sort of looks like a tree branch) I bought them on a whim and they don't put them down. I also bought the peanut butter flavor and they just sit in the toy basket.


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## cwag (Apr 25, 2017)

DblTrblGolden2 said:


> I use to give my dogs antlers regularly until Duke broke a back tooth completely off. No more antlers in our house. My dogs current favorite chew is a stick shaped benebone in maple flavor. (sort of looks like a tree branch) I bought them on a whim and they don't put them down. I also bought the peanut butter flavor and they just sit in the toy basket.



Apparently your boys know there are maple trees but not peanut trees and prefer to go as nature intended.


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