Rawhide and beef hide chews: what they are and how risky they are

Beef hide is rawhide

“Beef hide”, “beefhide”, “buffalo hide” and plain “hide” on a chew packet all mean rawhide: the skin of a cow or buffalo, dried and pressed into a roll, knot or twist. Some makers prefer the beef hide wording because it sounds more like food, but the material is the same.

SnoutScan reads all of these words as rawhide, so a chew listing any of them cannot score above 40, and it gets no meat points for coming first on the label. Skin is mostly collagen, not muscle meat.

How rawhide is made, and why a recall matters

Rawhide is a by-product of the leather trade. The American Kennel Club describes hides being taken from slaughterhouse floors, stored in strong salt brine (sometimes for weeks while they ship), then soaked in lime at a tannery to strip fat and hair. Much of the world’s rawhide is made in China. Many chews are then flavoured, smoked or coloured.

That chain is long, and things go wrong. In June 2017 United Pet Group recalled rawhide chews sold as American Beefhide, Digest-eeze and Healthy Hide, because a cleaning chemical (a quaternary ammonium mixture approved for wiping down equipment, not for treating chews) had been used on them. It could cause vomiting, diarrhoea and a poor appetite. The main complaint from owners was an unpleasant smell.

Is beef hide digestible?

Slowly, and it varies a lot from chew to chew. Two university lab studies (listed under Sources below) put rawhide through a simulated dog stomach and gut. Lab tests are not the same as a real dog, but they show how rawhide compares:

The gut stage helps: in the 2014 study, 77.5% to 99.5% of each rawhide had broken down by the end of the small intestine stage. So a dog that chews rawhide down to soft shreds will usually pass it. The trouble is the dog that swallows a big piece. The 2014 study says slowly digested treats should be discouraged for dogs that gulp food without much chewing, because a piece can sit in the stomach and block it. The AKC notes swallowed rawhide can stay in the stomach for months.

Can rawhide kill a dog?

Rarely, but yes. A swallowed chunk can choke a dog, get stuck in the food pipe (oesophagus), or block the stomach or intestine. A review for vets by Dr Audrey Cook lists rawhide and dental chews among the things that lodge in dogs’ oesophagus, usually in the lower part near the stomach. Complications are more likely in small dogs, and 75% to 95% of dogs survive, which means some do not. A blockage further down often needs surgery.

Call your vet now if your dog has been chewing rawhide and then:

1. gags, retches or keeps swallowing,
2. drools a lot or paws at the mouth,
3. vomits, especially straight after drinking or eating,
4. stops eating, or seems to have a sore belly or no poo.

If you still give rawhide

• Pick one bigger than your dog’s mouth can fit, and avoid small knotted ends that snap off.
• Stay in the room, and take it away once it is small enough to swallow whole.
• Skip it altogether for dogs that gulp, and for strong chewers that tear off chunks.
• Read the label: one ingredient is better than a chew that is also coloured and flavoured.

Chews to try instead

Cornell’s vet school suggests a simple thumbnail test: if you cannot press a dent into a chew with your thumbnail, it is hard enough to break a tooth. That rules out antlers, hooves and real bones, which Cornell says can break teeth or splinter.

• A sturdy rubber toy you can stuff with some of your dog’s daily food. Cornell names Kong and Goughnuts toys.
• A dental chew carrying the Veterinary Oral Health Council seal, which means it was tested for cutting plaque or tartar. Count it in the day’s treat calories.
• Bully sticks, which are dried beef pizzle rather than hide. A Tufts study found 9 to 22 calories per inch, and bacteria such as E. coli on 7 of 26 sticks, so wash hands after and take away the last stub.
• Puffed pork skin chews, which broke down far faster than rawhide in the lab test above.

Sources

• de Godoy MRC et al. In vitro disappearance characteristics of selected categories of commercially available dog treats. Journal of Nutritional Science, 2014.
• Hooda S et al. Digestibility of expanded pork skin and rawhide chews. Journal of Animal Science, 2012 (summary).
• United Pet Group rawhide recall notice, announced June 2017, posted by the US FDA.
• American Kennel Club. Are rawhide chews dangerous for dogs?
• Cook A. Esophageal foreign bodies. Today’s Veterinary Practice, 2020.
• Cornell Riney Canine Health Center. Risks of a fractured tooth.
• Freeman LM et al. bully stick study, Tufts University, 2013.

Common questions