Sink Their Teeth Into Health: Why Raw Meaty Bones Matter

THROW YOUR PET A BONE

Keeping Your Pet Happy and Healthy

Raw and meaty bones aren’t just a snack — they’re an essential part of your dog or cat’s natural diet. From calcium-packed nutrition to the joy of a good chew, bones support physical health, mental well-being, and dental care all in one go.

Let’s sink our teeth into the details!

Why Raw Meaty Bones Matter

Calcium & Cartilage: Nutritional Powerhouses

Calcium isn’t just important for strong bones — it’s vital for:

• Blood clotting
• Muscle contraction
• Vision and heart function
• Bone density and joint health, especially in growing pets and larger breeds

Every prepared raw dinner and blend we carry contains the right amount of ground bone or bone dust to meet your pet’s needs. Bone content will vary slightly by protein and brand, but rest assured: if it’s in our store, it’s balanced for your pet’s health.

The Happy Quotient

Dogs are facultative carnivores; cats are obligate carnivores — and both have jaws designed for tearing meat and crunching bone.

• Front teeth (incisors & canines) rip and tear.
• Back teeth (molars) crunch and smash bone and cartilage.
• Their jaws move up and down only — unlike omnivores or herbivores, there’s no side-to-side motion for grinding plants.

When you give your pet a raw meaty bone, you’re letting them use their mouth exactly as nature intended. They focus, they enjoy, and they’re content. Watching a dog take on a beef neck or a cat crunch a chicken neck is watching them in their happy place.

A Full-Body Workout

Chewing a bone isn’t just about the mouth — it’s a workout for:

• Jaw muscles
• Neck and shoulder muscles
• Legs and paws

For puppies and kittens especially, this is a healthy outlet for their chewing instinct — and it can help prevent unwanted chewing on shoes or furniture. The best part? It tires them out!

Dental Health Benefits

A balanced raw diet doesn’t promote the same tartar build-up as processed foods. Add in bones once or twice a week, and you’ve got nature’s toothbrush.

The crunching of soft bone and cartilage scrapes the back teeth, helping to prevent plaque and tartar, reducing the need for costly dental cleanings, and supporting immune health.

If your pet is prone to staining and tartar despite a good diet, you may want to look into our Happy Hounds Teeth Cleaning Clinics in Burlington and Oakville — safe, gentle cosmetic cleaning without sedation. Learn more here.

Two Types of Raw Bones

1. Meal Replacement Bones

These chunky, meaty bones can replace a regular raw meal:

• Examples: Turkey necks, duck necks, boar necks, chicken or duck feet
• Can be fed frozen for a tougher workout or thawed

Browse our Meal Replacement Bones here.

2. Recreational Bones

These are mainly for chewing pleasure and dental benefits, not as a full meal:

• Examples: Marrow bones, knuckle bones, kneecaps, hocks, rib bones

See our Recreational Bones here.

A Note on Marrow Bones

Marrow bones are weight-bearing bones and extremely dense. While the meat and marrow are nutritious, chewing the hard bone itself can damage tooth enamel or cause fractures in aggressive chewers. Supervise closely and remove the bone once the edible bits are gone.

Raw Meaty Bone Recommendations

Cats & Small Dogs:

• Chicken or duck feet
• Cornish hen feet
• Whole sardines
• Chicken necks

Medium Dogs:

• All of the above, plus duck necks, small turkey necks, pork tails, medium beef necks, duck heads, whole herring

Large Dogs:

• All of the above, plus large turkey necks, chicken frames, boar neck bones, large beef necks, kangaroo tails

How Often?

If you feed a balanced raw diet, meal replacement bones once or twice a week is plenty. This will depend on the bone type, your dog’s size, and how well they digest cartilage and bone.

Never Feed Cooked Bones

Cooking makes bones brittle, causing them to splinter and potentially create dangerous blockages. Raw bones and cartilage are highly digestible for most healthy pets — including raw chicken bones.

Final Tips

• Always supervise your pet when giving a new bone
• Match bone size to your pet’s chewing style
• Remove bones before they become small enough to swallow whole

Bottom line: Feeding raw meaty bones makes pets happy, keeps them healthy, provides a workout, and maintains those pearly whites — exactly what nature intended.

The Proof is in the Poop!