Is raw cuts of meat for human consumption safe to feed to dogs/puppies
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Is raw cuts of meat for human consumption safe to feed to dogs/puppies?
I'm not so sure. Wild dog packs have a grill team that hauls around the grill for the pack. Most dog packs use a hibachi or simple charcoal grill. When the pack kills a wild animal or even a domesticated animal, the grill team goes to work grilling the meat to a perfect 165°F for consumption. I noted most dogs have a preference for Pinot Noir from the Saarland or a nice Muscat de Craciunel Tirnave (from Romania) to top off the kill/meal. Then they usually sleep for several hours. When they wake from their slumber they'll raid human homes and steal all the socks to play with. Then they'll go back to sleep for several hours and do it all again.
The only thing about raw, or cooked meats that will disagree with a dog is the richness. When a dog isn't used to such a diet, you can expect some diarrhea and/or upchucking. But a meat diet is easier for them to digest. Grains they have some enzymes (more than wolves and coyotes) to digest - evolution ya know. But meat and offal are fine. OTOH, the peas and bean protein sources often used in grain-free foods are the LEAST natural and digestible and healthy source of food for dogs. Grains and other carbs are better.
The only DANGER from meat and offal is bacteria. Unless they're out of the house, and there's competition for the meat in terms of a bigger predator! But bacteria, of many sorts, will cause all kind of issues. That is ONE reason food is cooked. Actually, that's the primary reason. Cooking does change some things nutritionally, making some things easier for people to digest.
Most carnivores and omnivores eviscerate the belly and eat the intestines and organ meat first. My cats will kill rabbits and eat the brains and leave the hind meat untouched. Mother nature hardwired them to go where the nutritionally rich areas are and largely ignore the other bits.
Dogs and wolves go for the gut first- There is found the grain and grasses, liver, paunch etc.. Digestion issues with domesticated dogs is largely a result of feeding animals a high fat content meat- like ribeyes, pork shoulder meat. The things WE like. They do better with the wobbly bits like liver, organs, bone and marrow.
The bacteria is a non-issue. Their gut biome is sturdier than ours. You don't need to cook it. Give them excessive fat, however, and you will see some runny stuff or upchuck coming out of them in short order.
I only feed my dogs occasional table scraps, but they will feast on the venison trimmings, hearts, and offal I save from each harvest.
Dog can eat raw meat and they use it just fine. Myself, I do not feed my dogs raw poultry or raw burger from the supermarket. I will feed them raw poultry and raw burger if I have processed it myself. It's a trust issue, nothing to do with whether or not the dogs can digest it.
Dogs can digest a lot of fat, but only if their system is accustomed to a lot of fat. Throwing in a large amount of fat to a dog that isn't accustomed to it can cause pancreatitis. Most prime rib is quite fatty and I would consider that too much fat unless the dog was on a high fat diet, like what is fed to dogs with long hard jobs. I like to keep fat right around 15%. The closest my dogs get to prime rib is a little bite for a treat.
If you want to feed raw, put a bit of time into studying what makes a good balanced raw diet. It's not hard to do because dogs will eat darn near anything but primarily they are meat eaters, so you would be feeding meat with a few other things to balance the diet. The people that I know who feed raw have beautiful healthy looking dogs with shiny coats.
Raw Diet
Raw dog food can be homemade, store-bought, freeze-dried, or dehydrated. A raw diet usually includes organ meats, muscle meat, whole or ground bone, raw eggs, dog-safe fresh fruits and vegetables, and a dairy product such as yogurt. Advocates of raw food diets site these benefits: shinier coats, healthier skin, improved dental health, increased energy, and smaller stools.
Some veterinarians warn that raw diets are not appropriate for dogs who share their homes with young children or people with compromised immune systems.Meticulous care is required in the handling, preparation, and sanitation of raw food. Dogs with pancreatitis, cancer, or other diseases may require cooked food. Puppies are also better off having cooked food.
The American Veterinary Medical Association opposes the unregulated feeding of raw foods and discourages “the feeding to cats and dogs of any animal-source protein that has not first been subjected to a process to eliminate pathogens, because of the risk of illness to cats and dogs, as well as humans.”
I suspect that many people wouldn't handle/prepare raw food, or use the right types of foods, properly and meticulously.
I suspect that many people wouldn't handle/prepare raw food, or use the right types of foods, properly and meticulously.
This warning is nonsense. Do they not prepare meat for cooking for the humans in their house? You do the same thing in each case. You clean after you have raw meat out, and you wash your hands.
It's amazing how many fall for that BS written by those idiots who don't want you to be free of their crap 'pet food' in bags or cans.
Cats are carnivores. Fluffy may have killed and eaten a bird today, come back to the house, little Laura picks her up and kisses her face...oh the horror! It's no different than when a cat eats a piece of raw chicken.
They eat the food up, or you could give it to them on the patio outside. This baloney about how everyone is going to die of some food born illness is the stupidest thing I've seen them try to come up with.
Every dog I've ever had would and could eat either raw or cooked meat and fat. Most dogs have the constitution of a scavenger, able to eat a wide variety of found meals.
If you plan to make every meal at home, I would research making sure they get a balanced mix of all the nutrition they need. Sometimes our food containing only muscle meat is "too clean" to make a balanced diet for our pets, they need some of the enzymes and proteins found in the organs and gut bacteria of prey they would naturally eat.
They would do well on some of the stuff we won't eat.
^^Yes. I fed my dogs raw for over 5 years. I only stopped because I moved and sadly did not have a good source - or a source at all, actually. A diet of muscle meat and vital organs (gizzards, hearts, liver) as well as neck and back (chicken or turkey) is necessary for a balanced diet.
Some dogs will eat vegetables and fruits. My dogs absolutely refused. In the wild a dog will, of course, eat an animal that has plant or fruit material in its stomach, but they do not need vegetables and fruits. I miss feeding my dogs raw, and they definitely missed it. I would never feed just dry kibble even though what I fed/feed them is excellent and not cheap.
There is no need to cook the meat if it is from an excellent pure source. That means NO antibiotics, NO saline (injections) and NO hormones. Uncooked bones (chicken and turkey) turn to limp rubber in less than 5 minutes in a dog's stomach. Their stomach ph is vastly different than ours.
Recently I made the mistake of feeding my girl some raw meat from the local meat market. She got sick with colitis and required a vet visit and meds. Lesson learned. Always check the source and ask for referrals and documentation if necessary.
Most carnivores and omnivores eviscerate the belly and eat the intestines and organ meat first. My cats will kill rabbits and eat the brains and leave the hind meat untouched. Mother nature hardwired them to go where the nutritionally rich areas are and largely ignore the other bits.
Dogs and wolves go for the gut first- There is found the grain and grasses, liver, paunch etc.. Digestion issues with domesticated dogs is largely a result of feeding animals a high fat content meat- like ribeyes, pork shoulder meat. The things WE like. They do better with the wobbly bits like liver, organs, bone and marrow.
I only feed my dogs occasional table scraps, but they will feast on the venison trimmings, hearts, and offal I save from each harvest.
This is why I don't understand the "grain free" dog food craze. Sure, wolves aren't out there harvesting corn but they get grains and vegetative matter from the guts of the animals they eat. And they are also happy to chomp down herbivore feces.
We will feed our dogs raw bits of the animals we raise and butcher but not wild game. Feral pigs and bear meat especially should never be fed raw to dogs. Venison is probably fine so long as it's not the brains or spinal column.
^^I've always wondered about that. I once knew a woman who got pig meat from people she knew who lived and hunted way, way up in the far north of Michigan. She froze the meat for 3 weeks, which is supposed to kill the trich and other cooties. *shrug* Thanks for the info.
^^I've always wondered about that. I once knew a woman who got pig meat from people she knew who lived and hunted way, way up in the far north of Michigan. She froze the meat for 3 weeks, which is supposed to kill the trich and other cooties. *shrug* Thanks for the info.
Freezing is an effective method of killing parasites, but 3 weeks may not be long enough depending on the temperature of "freezing" and the type of parasite. The figure I've read is 3 months at zero degrees.
Feral pigs also carry non-parasite diseases (here the big one is pseudo-rabies, Aujeszky's disease) that dogs, livestock and other animals can get (humans are immune) from exposure to the blood, meat, or feces. It's a virus, and freezing tends to preserve many viruses rather than kill them, but I have read that 3-4 months in a deep freeze is effective at killing it. But cooking kills it in minutes (seconds at high enough temp).
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