Dog Dies from Rawhide from Walmart

by Jennifer
(San Antonio, TX.)

I have been giving my dogs rawhide for years. I have three dogs. My two-year old 20lbs chihuahua terrier mix started becoming mysteriously ill the last couple of weeks.

This avid eater just stopped eating. I told the vet that the last thing I saw him eating/chewing on was a rawhide. Three trips to the vet, I could not get an answer, just to keep watching him and put him on some antibiotics. I did this and to my surprise he did start to get better, in just a few days. He was playing and jumping, an all-in-all healthy happy pet.

Three days ago, I gave him a rawhide dog chew that I had purchased from WalMart, as I was yet to make a real connection between his illness and rawhides. Within three days, he started breathing heavy, having trouble walking and of course not eating again. This time however, the breathing and walking were of such a great concern.

One vet that I took him to told me that I was crazy to think that a rawhide dog bone could have caused this condition.

While in the waiting room I used my phone to search and see if anyone had experienced similar things with their pets. Come to find out, there were many posts about the dangers of rawhide dog chews. This is where I made the connection.

It is unfortunate that I read them a bit too late. He told me in 25 years he had never seen rawhide cause this kind of damage. Ultimatly, he told me that it was impossible. As a responsible dog owner, as with a parent of children, you usually have a good idea about what your dog's are consuming. He told me that it was poison, an autoimmune disease, etc...but not a rawhide.

I asked the Vet to please give me my dog, as I was going to have to take him elsewhere. I took him to an emergency hospital where he was to stay for 24 hours. I got a call at 12:30am saying that his lung had been punctured. The vet asked me if he had been hit by a car or incurred any other trauma, which he hadn't.

When I got to the vet, I found that he had passed while I was in the waiting room. The vet agreed to do a "educational" surgery to figure out what may have caused this. Come to find out, she found a rawhide lodged in his chest cavity, which punctured his esophagus and his lung causing his chest to fill up with fluids, eventually leading to his death.

If it was not for other people posting their stories, I would have never believed a rawhide could do this to a dog. Please, please be careful with rawhide dog chews.

If you have or are experiencing something like this, I would love to hear from you. It is so important that something be done in educating people about the potential threat that rawhides have on dogs. My e-mail is jamcdaniel22@hotmail.com.