[whiteleo]

Quick question. I got some beef ribs a while back and gave them to the dogs the day I got them, they didn't seem to have ever been frozen and the dogs easily ate the bone as it seemed very pliable. :biggrin: I had gotten another package of the same kind but put them in the freezer for later and just defrosted and gave them to the dogs, they can't seem to eat the bone as it is really hard, What's up with that?

 

[rannmiller]

Maybe freezing it made the bone harder?

 

[Todd]

are you sure what you gave them this time and what you gave them last time are both the same kind of ribs? There are all different types of ribs.

 

[whiteleo]

Absolutely sure!

 

[Todd]

mmmmm. Maybe the particular animal (with the hard bones) had thicker ribs??? Not sure if that's possible or not. Just a thought.

 

[whiteleo]

Come on, no other takers to this question? I'm really surprised............................

 

[RawFedDogs]

Come on, no other takers to this question? I'm really surprised............................

The only thing I can suggest is sometimes bone from a particular individual animal will be harder and another indivual softer. A dog's digestive system may work better one day than another. Other than those two WAGS, I don't have a clue. :smile:

 

[whiteleo]

Well at least thats a clue, do you think it could be from freezing them like Rannmiller suggested?

 

[Todd]

To be honest, I'm still thinking this is the case of what I said earlier and what RFD just said. I think it's just has to do with the size/structure of the animal. This time the animal's bones were probably thicker/less dense than the last one. That's honestly all I can think of. Sounds logical to me.

 

[spookychick13]

I am not sure what to tell you either, but I can share a similar anecdote.
I gave Flip some pork spare ribs the other day, I just took a meat scissors and cut a 8 oz off at a time and threw them on the towel for him. The first few meals were great, the last one, where the bone seemed 'longer' was harder for him, and he couldn't finish a section of the bone. So even the variance on the same rack 'o ribs seemed to have stronger bones vs. easier to chew ones.

Weird.

 

[RawFedDogs]

I feed my cats raw chicken drumsticks 8 or 10 times a week. Sometimes they eat all the bone. Sometimes most of it. Sometimes half of it. Sometimes just a small amount. Sometimes they don't eat any of the bone at all. I don't really attribute this to anything other than how hungry they are or what they feel like eating at the time. All the drumsticks were previously frozen. I buy them in 40# cases.

 

[JayJayisme]

I feed beef ribs quite often and I've never seen one that is very soft or pliable. Sounds like it might have been an aberration that had something to do with the animal it came from. Also, not sure about regions outside of So Cal but almost all beef ribs sold here are previously frozen, even the ones that aren't frozen when you buy them. I can't imagine freezing having anything to do with the bone density though.

 

[whiteleo]

I don't know, maybe it was because it was from a smaller animal? My dogs have never been able to eat the whole bone before this certain batch, so maybe it was just a fluke.