Hi Cannoli,
I read a post from a vet who wrote that chicken and turkey neck bones are the most frequent foreign body he has had to remove via scope from the esophagus …no doubt due the irregular shape.. all those protuberances.
Sadly those protuberances also puncture right through the esophagus and make removal challenging. He wrote that in the last month he had euthanized several young dogs due to perforation from bone. So sad and so avoidable.
I know of 3 bone cases from my own vet. One had already passed before arriving to the hospital ( choked on a chicken thigh bone cartilage “end cap”), in another the bone was successfully removed via scope ( the dog had pet insurance but claim was denied since the bone was intentionally given to the dog) the third was referred to a specialty hospital because the esophagus was perforated… the dog didn’t survive.
Here is a paper on removal of esophageal foreign bodies citing bone as the most frequent problem and reported a mortality of 11% http://www.irishvetjournal.org/content/63/3/163
I’m with you… it isn’t worth the risk.
