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What bones and in what form can be given to dogs. Is it possible to give a dog chicken bones and offal without harming her health

There is an undeniable rule, written at the cost of hundreds of lives, that you should not give chicken bones to dogs! However, the bitter experience of owners who have lost their pets does not affect very many four-legged lovers. A loving owner "spoils" the dog, harming the health of the ward and refuses to admit it. The situation is egregious, but as practice shows, harm to a beloved pet is done out of ignorance, which, however, does not beg responsibility for what has been done.

Never, under any circumstances, give your dog the tubular bones of a chicken or any other bird! If you want to see for yourself the danger of such a delicacy, hit the chicken leg bone with a chop hammer, and then try with your finger how sharp the fragments are. Chicken bones are dangerous for dogs, if your pet is lucky, he will only suffer from intestinal obstruction, but the result can be fatal! Of the possible consequences of eating bird bones, we can distinguish:

  • Oral injuries, chipped teeth, pulpitis These are the minimal negative effects. The oral mucosa usually recovers in 12-24 hours. Pulpitis leads to a severe pain syndrome and can result in the loss of both the patient and the teeth growing nearby.
  • Injuries of the pharynx and trachea- leads to acute pain, and with tissue perforation, to severe bleeding. If the dog is not taken to the veterinarian on time, injury can result in death due to suffocation or blood loss.
  • Perforation of the stomach or intestines- leads to bleeding, with severe perforation - to the outflow of gastric or fecal masses into the abdominal cavity. An extremely dangerous condition leading to sepsis and death of the animal. The only chance for salvation is an emergency operation.
  • Perforation or blockage of the colon- consequences from obstruction of the digestive tract and swelling of the peritoneum, to death from intoxication or profuse bleeding. With the formation of a cork in the large intestine, treatment begins with oil enemas. If the condition does not improve, the dog is operated on. When the intestine is perforated, an urgent operation is performed, dead tissues are excised, and healthy ones are sutured.

Important! If you know that the dog has eaten chicken bones, be sure to monitor its condition, or better, take the pet to the veterinary clinic! The consequences of perforation of the intestine or stomach may not appear immediately.

Bird Bones Acceptable for Inclusion in a Dog's Diet

If you get acquainted with the cynological manuals of the times of the USSR, you can find a recommendation about feeding whole carcasses of a bird to a dog. We will not dispute the experience of experts, but today such recommendations are not relevant for a number of reasons. However, this does not mean that chicken should not be present in the dog's diet. Acceptable uses for chicken meat include:

  • Cooking broth on chicken carcasses, if the bones are removed before adding the porridge and vegetables. By the way, chicken skin is considered a more negative ingredient for broth, especially if you buy a factory-made bird.
  • Chicken cartilage added to porridge during cooking.
  • Raw chicken necks, slaughtered to the state of minced meat.
  • All poultry offal except heads and paws.

Important! Even permitted poultry products should not be fed naturally to pointing dogs. The working dog must not associate the bird with food or it will spoil the carcasses during service.

Consequences of eating chicken bones by a dog and first aid

So we found out that You can't feed a dog chicken bones for its own good. But what if the pet did not ask permission? For example, a dog swallowed a chicken bone found on the street or in a trash can. Naturally, this is a matter of upbringing and self-control of the pet, but its consequences can be very unpleasant.

Important! Boiled tubular and vertebral bones of a bird are of particular danger. When cracked, heat-treated bones break up into small and sharp fragments that can be compared to crushed glass.

Read also: How many times a day to feed the dog. Healthy eating rules

The first thing to be accepted as an axiom is the relevance of sanity. Even if a dog ate a chicken bone, it is far from certain that the pet will have to be saved. If the ward is young and healthy, gastric juice is likely to change the structure of the bone, after which it will come out naturally. Further, for unknown reasons, many owners in a panic give the dogs a bowel lavage. In fact, when eating bones, the procedure is not only useless, but also dangerous. So, the dog was already worried and ate a ribbed chicken bone and you know about it. Your actions should be as follows:

  • Watch your dog's behavior- lethargy and whining, these are bad signs.
  • Drink the ward 1-4 tablespoons (depending on size) of vegetable or linseed oil. The oil envelops the walls of the stomach and intestines, which contributes to the rapid removal of feces and simplifies the transportation of bones through the digestive tract.

Important! The only case in which conservative assistance is relevant is a blockage of the large intestine with a plug of compressed bones. Most often, this problem can be solved by introducing oil into the intestine. However, do not be presumptuous, this diagnosis is not made “by eye”.

  • Examine the mucous membranes of the mouth- normally, they should be pink or dark, but not gray or bluish. Pallor of the mucous membranes may indicate poisoning (if the dog picked up a bone on the street) or blood loss.
  • Examine the mucous membranes of the eyes and pupils- with pain syndrome, the dog's pupils become narrower and react poorly to darkening in the room (slowly or not completely expanding).

In the vast majority of sources of information about dogs, in one form or another, there is information that animals love bones. Children's books show a happy puppy with a bone in its mouth. And to the complaints of the newly minted owner of the dog that the animal gnaws things, he is advised to give the pet a bone. Moreover, many are sure that bones are not just a treat, but a complete food for a dog. But there is still very little reliable information about what kind of bones can be given to dogs or whether they should be given at all.

Predators or not?

In nature, canines (wolves, coyotes, jackals, foxes) eat the flesh of prey along with the skin, entrails and bones, without suffering from digestive problems later. Females bring hard parts of carcasses of killed animals (bones, hooves, horns) to their cubs - games with these parts constitute an important stage in the development of the hunting instinct in young animals. But modern dogs have gone so far in the process of natural evolution and artificial selection from wolves and jackals in eating behavior, morphology, the formation of reflexes that for some of them eating bones becomes dangerous to health.

Bones as a treat

A bone is a treat or tasty toy for a dog. Yes, from them the dog receives calcium, phosphorus, iron, but at the same time they are completely nutritious, because they do not contain carbohydrates, they are not taken into account in the amount of food eaten, they are not considered food, and even more so they cannot be the basis of a dog's diet. With any feeding system, a raw bone can be regarded as a toy that the dog enjoys and profitably does without spoiling the owner's things, shoes, furniture, and as a delicacy due to its pronounced aroma and taste.

Animal bones have a number of disadvantages: they are fatty, bone marrow flows out of them, they smell unpleasant. If the dog is kept in an apartment or house, then she can stain the floor, carpet, sofa - depending on where she wants to chew on her toy. This does not suit the owners, who then have to wash stubborn grease stains.

There are industrial analogues of raw bones - products made from tendons, ligaments, animal skin. Such substitutes are sold in pet stores. They do not stain the environment with the bone marrow contained in them, do not deteriorate and do not have a repulsive odor for humans. You need to choose a purchased delicacy without a large number of artificial colors and flavors, an unattractive color (tendons cannot be beautiful pink, light green, lemon flowers), consisting of natural ingredients: skin, veins, cartilage, tendons.

Bones are like a "toothbrush" for a dog

Plaque builds up on canine teeth over time. Its excessive accumulation leads to the formation of tartar and premature bacterial destruction of the teeth. Gnawing on hard objects cleans teeth and removes plaque. As a “toothbrush”, toys made of special plastic are successfully used, which do not crumble, but gently spring when chewed by a dog: tatters, rings, balls. This is a good alternative to bones.

Do dogs need bones?

The question should not even be asked how, is it possible to give bones to dogs, but do they need them? Fresh raw bones are needed for dogs on a natural diet. In this case, chewing on the bones helps to clean the dog's teeth from plaque and massage the gums to improve blood circulation.

If the pet receives high-quality industrial dry food, then he “brushes” his teeth while eating, besides, hard granules help massage the gums. The more often a dog gnaws bones, the faster its teeth wear down. Therefore, you can pamper your pet no more than a couple of times a month. Those who like to gnaw something are constantly offered carrots, apples, twigs of fruit trees.

Bones for dogs depend on the size of the animal, the condition of its teeth and gastrointestinal tract, on the presence or absence of allergies to some types of meat, on its nutrition system.

Small dogs like Russian Toy, lapdogs, Pekingese, dachshunds, Spitz can be offered raw skinless chicken necks, bird keels, skinless chicken and turkey backbones.

Larger dogs - most terriers (Bull Terrier, Staffordshire, Irish), bulldogs, most hunting dogs - can be offered beef drumsticks, forearms, metatarsal and tarsal bones.

For large dogs - like Black Russian Terriers, Giant Schnauzers, Great Danes, Boxers, most Shepherd Dogs - the hips, shoulders, shoulder blades of cows are suitable.

Well, the giants - Bullmastiff, Tibetan Mastiff, Great Dane, Newfoundland, Irish Wolfhound, Caucasian and Central Asian Shepherd Dogs - will effortlessly cope with a sheep or goat skull, pelvic girdle and ribs of cows, goats and sheep.

What kind of bones a dog can have also depends on its health. If she has few teeth or they are heavily worn off, partially destroyed, or loosely seated in the holes, then harmful bone tissue will aggravate their condition. It is even recommended for such dogs to lightly soak dry food so that they do not damage their teeth further and absorb it normally. To massage the gums, animals with weak teeth can be offered apples, carrots, pumpkin pulp.

Hard treats are contraindicated in animals that are prone to constipation, have undergone abdominal surgery within the last couple of months, or have undergone surgery to resect part of the stomach or intestines. Until the change of teeth in puppies, they do not need bones. Before the age of six months, they should not receive excessive solid food at all.

A lot of controversy raises the question, is it possible for a dog to have chicken bones? It is possible, except for tubular ones - in a bird in the wings and hips. They break into sharp pieces that can pierce the esophagus, stomach and intestines, causing constipation or internal bleeding. It is not recommended to give the bones of turkeys, geese, birds, rabbits and small game. When chewed, they break into pieces that the dog can easily choke on. A single bone fragment with a sharp edge is capable of piercing through the soft muscles of the digestive tract. In this case, only an urgent operation can save the animal, which involves the removal of part of the damaged organ.

Pork bones should not be given to dogs due to the high risk of helminth infection, which pig carcasses simply teem with. Only heat treatment helps to get rid of worms and pathogenic bacteria, fungi and viruses.

Fish bones are not discussed at all: they are so thin and sharp that the dog cannot swallow them without choking. It is necessary to choose bones from slaughtered, and not fallen birds and animals, scald them with boiling water and only then offer them to the pet. Boiled and fried bones from any animal clog the stomach and cause constipation, forming dense "plugs" in the intestines. Therefore, you can only give raw and fresh.

What do you prefer to feed your pets?

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  • Porridge with various additives 46%, 7291 voice

Very often, pet owners, without having all the information, will say: “What's wrong with giving my dog ​​chicken bones? In a couple of hours, the gastric juice will turn them into a soft mass - and there will be no problems. Unfortunately, not everything is so simple. The “soft mass”, according to experts, will be similar in structure to a piece of rubber, not so harmless, and a few minutes (not to mention two hours) will be enough for sharp bones to, once in the animal’s stomach, cause irreparable harm to the pet. Let's deal with the problem in detail.

Tubular bones should not be given to dogs.

In answer to this question, veterinarians are unanimous: chicken bones should not be on the pet menu. Tubular bones (they are in the paws and wings of chickens) seem to be quite gentle and safe - the dog will gnaw them with pleasure. In this case, however, many small sharp pieces are formed, which, once in the esophagus, stomach and intestines, can pierce them. The consequences are perforation, peritonitis, a complex operation, the outcome of which can be tragic. In the practice of veterinarians, there are cases when a bone got stuck in a dog's throat and the problem could not be solved without surgical intervention. Is it worth risking the life and health of a pet?

And one more circumstance must be borne in mind: in poultry farms, chickens lead a sedentary lifestyle, which leads to the development of inflammatory processes in bone tissue. This problem will not affect a person - after all, he only eats meat, and the infection does not spread in it. If you give a bone to an animal, the probability of infection of his body becomes real. By the way, even heat treatment does not save: during cooking, toxins are released from the infected tissue that can cause poisoning of the animal.

A big mistake pet owners make when they treat them with boiled chicken bones. Of particular danger are the bones from the chicken, which was boiled to prepare the jelly. This process is long, the bones become soft, and, it would seem, they belong in a dog bowl. The danger, which many owners are not even aware of, is that under the influence of gastric juice, the bones turn into a tight, dense mass, which, once in the intestine, literally clogs it. Well, if the portion of the “treat” was small, the pet’s body will be able to cope with it. If the dog got a large amount of leftovers from the festive table, trouble will not be long in coming.


Chicken bones, even boiled, are strictly forbidden to give to dogs.

How to help a four-legged friend in this situation? Sometimes vaseline oil and an enema are enough. In the most difficult cases, the participation of a veterinarian is required. Unfortunately, even surgical. And then - long-term postoperative care of the animal.

The only option that experts allow is the use of a soft bone in the form of a treat, when the dog has already thoroughly refreshed itself and filled its stomach with healthy food. The pet will not greedily gnaw and swallow the treat, but will stretch the pleasure for a long time.

Attention: when giving bones to a dog, owners believe that it is good for the animal's teeth. In fact, this is not always the case - in adult dogs that chew bones, the teeth wear down very quickly.

Can you give your dog chicken feet?


A dog can choke on a chicken bone.

The main problem is that chicken feet (when given whole) contain dangerous tubular bones, and besides them, they also have rather sharp claws. To make the product safe for the dog, jelly is boiled from the paws, removing both bones and claws from it (when it is ready). You will have to tinker, but the pet will get tasty, and most importantly, healthy food. For puppies, this is an excellent top dressing that strengthens the growing body, especially the joints. True, parting with such a treat is not recommended. Everything is good in moderation.

If you give your pet raw chicken paws, you must follow the following rules:

  • remove bones from them
  • cut claws,
  • scald with boiling water
  • do not give "in pure" form, be sure to mix with porridge.

Can you give chicken necks to your dog?

There are no tubular bones in chicken necks, which makes it possible to include the product in the dog menu. They are given raw, as boiled can provoke intestinal obstruction. In addition, there are more useful substances in raw necks than in a product that has undergone heat treatment.

The necks are given whole, previously poured over with boiling water, or in the form of minced meat. Adult pets are given such food once or twice a week, puppies - up to three times. You can introduce chicken necks into the dog's menu starting from the age of two months.

Reference: unlike wings and paws, chicken necks do not contain small, dangerous bones, so they can be used as food even for small dogs.

Can you give your dog turkey bones?

The tubular bones of a turkey (in the paws, thighs, wings of a bird), as well as chicken, should not be given to dogs. They also have an “aggravating circumstance”: a turkey is a large bird, it is slaughtered at the age of two to three years, so its bones are larger and stronger than those of a chicken, and their fragments can be especially dangerous.


Turkey bones can be more dangerous than chicken bones.

As for the neck and the bones it contains, this is an excellent food for a four-legged pet. Turkey meat is richer than chicken in vitamins and minerals, it is low-fat, hypoallergenic, so it can be specially recommended for our smaller brothers who have any problems with digestion. There are no restrictions for dogs of different breeds, any size. It is in the practice of many breeders to start feeding puppies with turkey: first, babies are given meat, which is very tender, tasty and easily digestible, and then necks.

Important: regular use of turkey neck by a dog helps the pet get rid of plaque.

Each product has its pros and cons. Speaking about the “minuses” of the liver, it must be borne in mind that the by-products (to which it belongs) act as a kind of filter in the body - they accumulate harmful substances - for example, antibiotics, hormones given by birds, as well as pesticides contained in feed. This means that chicken liver can be given to a pet in limited quantities, preferably in the form of a supplement, and not the main food.


Chicken liver is best given to dogs as an additional supplement to their diet.

Of the "pluses" of chicken liver, it should be noted that it contains, and in large quantities, vitamin B12. They give the pet boiled liver, little by little (so as not to provoke an allergic reaction), no more than three times a week.

Can you give chicken to a dog?

Chicken meat is suitable food for a four-legged pet. It contains vitamins necessary for the growth and development of the dog, the amount of proteins and fats. Experts, recognizing its dietary characteristics, disagree on one issue: give the meat raw or cook? In raw, of course, there are more benefits, but there is a danger that it may be contaminated with salmonella. Experts recommend giving the animal raw meat, be sure to scald it with boiling water. They also advise, when introducing chicken into the pet’s menu, do it carefully and observe the reaction of the body - some dogs may be allergic to this type of food.

Is it possible to give a dog chicken stomachs, hearts

Chicken stomachs and hearts are good for dogs due to the presence of a large amount of vitamins and protein in them. This food helps to improve the coat - it shines, looks healthy. Experts recommend that these offal be cooked and used not as an independent “dish”, but in combination with porridge (rice, buckwheat), and even better with vegetables: pumpkin, carrots, zucchini (they can be raw or boiled).


You can give chicken heads to dogs, but you must first remove the beak.

This part of the chicken for a four-legged pet is not prohibited, due to the fact that there are no tubular bones in it. Heads are given to dogs raw or boiled. A prerequisite - you need to remove the beak, if it is not removed, the dog may be injured or he will burp. Heads can be both independent food and supplement. If they are not boiled, then they must be doused with boiling water, cut into small pieces, combined with porridge or some vegetables, and a little vegetable oil is added.

According to experts, this type of food is especially valuable for racing dogs, it provides them with the necessary nutrients contained mainly in the chicken brain. The traditional rule remains relevant: before feeding the dog with this type of offal, you need to make sure that it does not cause an allergic reaction in the pet.

If your pet is accustomed to ready-made food, and you want to switch it to natural (including chicken), do it gradually and do not be afraid that at first, unusual food may cause diarrhea in the dog or the animal will simply burp the food.

Buy chicken and offal from reputable sellers - a store or market that has lab-tested quality.

Watch how your pet reacts to food: the intestines and skin will be the first to give an alarm if the food turns out to be allergenic for the animal's body.

Instead of bones that are dangerous for the dog, let her gnaw on a dried scar or trachea. In a pet store, you can, for example, buy dried deer legs. This will be good for the dog's gums, as well as keeping the pet busy.


Remember, dogs should not be given any tubular bones.

If you give your pet not raw, but boiled chicken offal, you can increase the portion, as after heat treatment their nutritional value decreases.

It is impossible to combine meat by-products with sour-milk food - these types of food do not mix well with each other.

Do not make large stocks of chicken and offal: even in freezer conditions, chicken fat continues to oxidize, and the nutritional value of food is lost. The maximum storage time is from three to four months.

Can you give bones to a dog?

What kind of bones can be given?

Do puppies need bones?

First, I will make a reservation: a bone is not food. A bone is only a toy and a bone is needed for the development of a dog or puppy. Or just for fun.

We take at first bones for a puppy. When you bring a puppy home and his teeth begin to change - a nightmare begins - he gnaws everything. And at this moment bones help you. You buy cool bones in a pet store or in ordinary stores where meat is sold and give it to a puppy and the puppy chews these bones with pleasure for three to four hours, and then falls asleep because he gets tired. This is your salvation. The main thing, in the bone, is to be of high quality and to change it often.

Let's figure out what a quality bone is. A quality bone is one that cannot be chewed, one that cannot be swallowed, and one that is interesting to gnaw, that is, there are remains of meat, tendons and something else. That is, when you buy a bone, pay attention, first, to its size, and secondly, so that there are no chips anywhere, that is, the bone should have cartilage on both sides. And you have to run your hand over these cartilages so that there are no fragments anywhere.

Puppies are very cool creatures and very quickly understand that where there is a chip, something can be chewed off. And if you can gnaw there, then I will gnaw there. He starts nibbling, bites off a piece of bone, swallows, and then we have a problem in terms of the stomach, because a piece of bone can scratch both the stomach and the intestinal wall, and you will have a lot of problems with the veterinarians.

Therefore, to prevent this from happening, there must be bones in the puppy’s diet, but, firstly, they must be large so that the puppy cannot swallow them, and secondly, there should not be chips, i.e. the bone must be solid, from two sides should be cartilage. And third, the bone must be fresh. If you doubt this point, after I brought the bone from the pet store, oh, from the butcher's store, I can take it and process it with boiling water. Just pour boiling water over it so that it stands a little. Then I cool it down and give it to the puppy.

But an adult dog, is it possible to give her bones? There are two points here. First, a bone is of no use to an adult dog. The second point is that a dog that often gnaws bones grinds its teeth very quickly. Therefore, you can give the dog bones, but not often, in the form of a toy there, once every two, three weeks, so that the dog is simply pleased. And the criteria for a bone is the same as for a (bone) puppy. That is, the bone must be on both sides with cartilage so that the dog cannot bite off a piece of bone. The bone must be hard, that is, not soft, so that it cannot crush it, and it must be large enough. For these purposes, I usually use either the femur of a cow, or a knee, or a shoulder blade. These bones of the dog, in principle, do not gnaw.

Again, look at the dog. The larger the dog, the larger the bone, and the more carefully you examine the edges of the bone so that there are no chips. And it’s very important when you bring a bone home from the store, run your hands over it, because very often fragments from other bones remain on the bone, and the dog can swallow and, again, this can either cause vomiting or injure her mucous membrane - or intestines , or stomach.

Our conclusion is that bones can and should be given to a puppy, only those that will be safe for him and before giving, you need to pour boiling water over and check that there are no fragments of other bones on this bone. Further, bones should be given to an adult dog only in the form of a game, in order to give the dog pleasure and happiness, but not more often, because dogs grind their teeth off the bone very quickly, and an adult dog chews the bone much faster and can, again, gnaw it off a piece. Therefore, you need to carefully monitor and not leave an adult dog alone with a bone.

Naturally, if you have a small dog, you buy such a good medium bone, then you can safely leave him alone with this bone. If you have a large dog, for example, I follow them, so that they gnaw on cartilage and tendons around there, but at the same time they do not get to the kostomaha itself.

To protect your pet from health problems, sometimes it is enough to limit his diet. The almost complete exclusion of bones will help the dog live a long time.

Can dogs have bones

By their nature, they have no nutritional value. Cartilage, meat remains, connective tissue - all this is eaten with pleasure by the dog without harming it. The bones themselves, being eaten or swallowed, will at best impede the work of the gastrointestinal tract. Due to their size, they may simply not pass through it. The dog's gastric juice has an increased acidity, however, this does not guarantee complete digestion of coarse bone tissue.

Bones do nothing for a dog

It can be dissolved to a certain state, but no more. At best, the case may end with the use of vaseline oil and an enema. Small non-hollow bones with blunt edges can come out painlessly, but this is clearly not a reason to take risks. The body of a young animal is able to cope with their digestion, dissolving to a state similar to rubber. Puppies, lactating bitches, older dogs can no longer do this.

It should be remembered that the benefits of such a risky type of feeding are very small, and given all the possible risks, it is doubtful. The bone tissue contains a large amount of calcium and phosphorus, which can be provided to the dog's body in a safer way - giving vitamins, adding bone meal. This will help to avoid injury to the throat and walls of the stomach, constipation, and possible surgical intervention.

What bones will harm dogs

First of all - tubular. Turkey, chicken, duck meat is good for dogs, but this statement does not apply to their bones at all. They are easily crushed when chewed into small fragments with sharp edges. They can get stuck in various places: between the teeth, throat, trachea, anywhere in the gastrointestinal tract. Such bones must be categorically excluded from the diet of your pet, even avoiding accidental use.

Completely eliminate medium and small bones

Pork bones must be excluded completely. By itself, pork can serve as a source of various diseases. The immunity of these animals is not resistant to many diseases that can be transmitted to dogs (helmitiasis, toxocariasis, rabies). The remains of meat and connective tissue will be the source of these threats, there is no benefit from pork bones. Even if they undergo heat treatment, due to the gluten contained in them, they will complicate the work of the gastrointestinal tract, causing constipation.

This pattern for boiled bones applies to all types of bones, regardless of origin. The reason lies in the same gluten, which turns them into an indigestible mass, from which there is much more harm than good.

What kind of bones can be given to dogs

Raw beef bones that do not have sharp edges (the so-called mols). They are safe for all animals, it is very difficult to chew them. When the pet gnaws the meat and is sated enough, it is best to throw them away. The usefulness of such bones also lies in the fact that they help the dog reduce itching in the gums during the period of changing teeth. Adult dogs are more likely to be harmed by the constant use of such bones. They may begin to grind their teeth, change their bite. For dogs participating in competitions and exhibitions, this is unacceptable.

Large beef bones are safe

Beef offal can serve as a painless substitute: trachea, dried tripe, dried ears. They will not harm the walls of the larynx and the gastrointestinal tract, delivering useful calcium to the pet's body. On the shelves of veterinary pharmacies, supermarkets, you can find a lot of sticks for chewing. They can be used as a safe alternative. If, nevertheless, it was not possible to keep track, and the dog ate the bone, then it is better to contact the veterinarian. Timely treatment will help to correctly assess the threat, and possibly avoid surgery.