I copied this from another forum. I don't like being an alarmist, but, to tell you the truth, its enough for me to toss out my greenies. There were also more replies from others who went through similar experiences. Just thought I'd share, use your own judgement.


"Greenie Bone Warning


My little dog, Nickey, a 6 month old Maltese, has survived two surgeries this week and is now stable and recovering at the Vet hospital. After exploration, they found part of a "greenie" bone stuck in his esophagus.

The vets I spoke to this week are furious about this product. The product DOES NOT DISSOLVE if swallowed in chunks that cannot pass through their system. They have done numerous surgeries to remove them, especially from the intestines. This is the first that the Dallas surgeons have seen in the esophagus.

I wanted to share this with you and ask you to pass along this warning to any pet owner that you know and to keep it passing on. BAN THE GREENIES!! I know my little one will never see another greenie again.

After almost $5000 in vet bills since last Friday, this has been a very expensive lesson to learn. The worst part of course is that my little Nickey (only 6 months old) has suffered tremendously and will most likely develop other esophagus problems because of this.

He is not 'out-of-the-woods' yet so I ask that you say a prayer for him. This has been an extremely emotional week for him and for his Mommy.

I'm hoping to get this word out -- not to damage any one in particular -- but to prevent other pets and families from having to go thru this trauma.

6/10/05: Update on Nickey... he passed away about 1:30 this morning. Many of you have asked more information and have said you would contact your vet -- please do -- please do not let Nickey's death be for nothing."

There is a big discussion on the dogster forums about this right now. I fed them once and will never do it again! The way it came out it can't be good for the dogs!

And the scary thing is that its not only gulpers that get hurt. Even the stuff you sprinkle over the food has caused blockages when it builds up in the intestines and doessn't break down.

***Edited By: joce on 8/16/2005 11:35:29 AM***
Reason: f

oh that poor little baby. i dont usually give my dogs greenies because they are way too expensive to buy for them considering they chew them up in a matter of minutes. my neighbor gives me some once in awhile cause she gives them to her dog. but she doesnt buy the ones appropriate for the size dogs we have she buys the teeny ones. knock on wood my guys have never had a problem with them.

i wonder if any of these people who have had problems with greenies have taken this issue up with the company ?

Dogs under 10 pounds aren't supposed to get the greenie bones.. that's what the greenie chips are for.

Well I just read somthing about a new greenie they came out with the "Teeny Greenie" for dogs 15lbs & under. Because chips don't do the same thing as a bone for their teeth. I am so sorry for your little one. But hopefully this will provent people from giving dogs greenies because of this. I am so sorry.

Yeah, I had read that before somewhere. I have never fed them, I got a little nervous of them.

layayla--thankyou so much for posting this. I, too, will copy and paste this into the other forums I regualarly visit. And I can only hope that people will open their eyes,....*sigh*

I can only feel for this person that lost their dog... I will be getting of the computer now,...and go to play a game of ball with my baby.

Mafia, the chips are what has caused it in a couple of the cases apparently. Because they just eat them and then they collect in the intestines nad form a big mass.

Lalayla, thank you very much for your kind words to my post. I'm so glad that you checked into it further for me. Pretty much, I decided to not say more on my claim that Greenies are dangerous when a few people got ugly with me for stating my opinions.

No problem, Maggie.

Actually, I wasn't looking into anything, I just came upon it by accident. I have a small dog, but she is large enough for the peitit greenies. It seems its the small dogs are having the most problems. Probably because of their size and the fact that large greenies are so expensive that the bigger dogs don't get treated to as many as the little ones do. Mine are in the trash, I'm not taking any chances, either.

Here's more of the story:
Nickey was playing with the bone while we were eating dinner at the coffee table. He was right in front of us. I didn't see when he got it down his throat but he became very quiet. I thought he was worn out because we had played fetch so much earlier. Sometimes he does that and just falls asleep (you know how puppies are) -- about midnight he woke me up from his crate and he had vomitted yellow fluid. I cleaned it up and took him outside -- I didn't think too much about it but then the next morning, he wasn't stirring when I opened the crate. For the first time ever, I had to lift him out of his crate. I took him to potty and he did both jobs fine -- then when I was making breakfast, he threw up 3 times. Everytime I would move him, he would just lay down -- NOT NORMAL!!
I took him to the vet (that was Friday); he gave me medicine to calm his stomach. Saturday, he was still lethargic but not throwing so I took him to the Vet ER Clinic and that's when the x-rays began. The vets there couldn't figure it out but held him there and had him on IVs ~ I had to wait til Tueday (because of the holiday) to get him to the specialist. They did exploratory surgery and didn't come up with anything - they thought the mass was his stomach lining coming through a hiatal hernia. The next day they did an xray and the mass was still there. They did an endoscopy and found it was a 'greenie' chunk at the bottom of his esophagus. The surgeon could not get hold of it with the biceps because it was so slippery so they did another surgery through his stomach (again) and got it out successfully.

As you might imagine, I am going through a tremendous amount of guilt about ever giving these to my dog. He has only had 2 whole ones. I wish I could take back one week!!

If your vet would like more information, my vet is a specialist at the Animal Diagnostic Clinic Hospital (Brad Hines, DMV Dipolmat) here in Dallas.
He has removed several 'greenie' parts from dogs but from the intestines; this is the first he has seen in the esophagus -- which could become common for very small dogs. This is also the first death he has encountered as a result. I think large dogs are at risk also because they make very large sizes for them. They get very slippery while they are chewing on them and any movement can make them lose control and swallow it. According to the vets, they DO NOT dissolve in the body.

I will be contacting the Greenie company to tell them of what happened. My surgeon and vets are writing papers to submit to the Vet associations.


***Edited By: lalayla on 8/16/2005 3:29:35 PM***
Reason: add

Does this also go for the greenies bits too????

Don't know. Guess you'll just have to decide for yourself.

Personally I trhink the greenie bits don't really serve any purpose. Its supposed to be for chewing and they probably swallow the bits whole anyway, so why take a chance?

I have bought the greenies one time. All three of my babies got sick and threw-up from them. I have never bought them since.

Oh great..
and I'm supposed to be getting a free Greenie *sigh*
Now I'm to freaked out to give my dogs the Greenie :(
Dog Gone it!!!

LOL BluHusky. I think every here is getting a free greenie.

Bluhusky...lol I was thinking the same thing.

I'm sorry for Nickys family. Thank you so much for posting.

As I posted awhile back, my puppy also got sick for several days from just one large Greenie. I learned that my puppy wasn't alone. Some dogs do survive, but other ones have not survived from the complications of this good tasting dental treat. Everyone needs to make their own personal decision on whether to feed it to their dogs. I know that I will never give one to my puppy ever again.

I've given all my dogs Greenies for years and never had a problem and I have 25 dogs. I think the key is to make sure they are size appropriate ( they tell you what weights their for on the bag) and that you don't give them to "gulpers". My dogs don't even have green stools after eating them. I don't let puppies have their first greenie until 4 months of age and only when supervised so that I know they aren't eating them too fast. I personally really like them. I guess I don't get turned off by stories like this mostly because I've heard so many people say the won't give their dogs any kind of dental chew or bone because their afraid of them choking. Instead their dog has massive amounts of tarter and gets sick because their teeth are nasty. Dogs could choke on their own food if their owner wasn't paying attention.

id agree ...i had a dog named Dillion...a smooth collie/shepherd mix...he didnt like to eat alone..so if you went into the front room or dining room...he'd load his mouth and drop it in the front room or where ever you were at and reeat it...one time he choked and hacked and finally hacked up a pile of food that had blood on it...seems he hurt his esophogus while trying to stay in oursight...scared the crap out of me..but i could not get him to stop...he never was able to eat alone...and he ended up being just fine from his hack attack...i dont no much about greenies...ive only given them spareingly

what about the generic greenies? I just purchased a whole bag. They are shapped like a green leaf. I also purchased some called bone a mints they are small bones about 3 inches for my chihuahua's. I have like over 50 of these things now! (I buy in bulk esp if getting shipped to me)