Like Us
Follow @dogster
Google +1 Subscribe to our YouTube Channel Contact Us
Forums Home » Raw Food Diet
GO!

Feeding organ meat: tips or alternatives

This is a dedicated place for all of your questions and answers about Raw Diets. There are also some really cool groups like "Raw Fed" on the topic you can join. This forum is for people who already know they like the raw diet or sincerely want to learn more. Please remember that you are receiving advice from peers and not professionals. If you have specific health-related questions about your dog's diet, please contact your vet!

  


Member Since
09/13/2012		 
 
Barked: Thu Sep 13, '12 9:08pm PST 
We have a 4 and a half month old Siberian husky. We recently started him on the raw pray model diet. He has been eating raw chicken, beef, and eggs with no problems but when it comes to the organ meats he does not want to eat it. I tried feeding him beef kidneys and he would not eat them. I cooked some to see if he would eat them that way. I thought if i cooked them and them slowly started mixing in raw kidneys he could develop a taste for them. He did eat a few pieces but then he puked and now he wants nothing to do with them. I also tried chicken livers. Same thing only it gave him diarrhea. I figure the diarrhea will stop over time as he adjusts to the raw diet, but is it ok to feed the organ meat cooked? Does it have the same nutritional value vs. raw? If not will my dog still be healthy if fed only cooked organ meat? I would also like to hear anyone's tips on feeding organ meat and if there are any alternatives? Would raw eggs be an acceptable substitute?
my posts [notify]
Charlie

The world is my- food bowl!		 
 
Barked: Thu Sep 13, '12 9:19pm PST 
I've found that cooking organ meats doesn't deplete the nutritional value too much. If that's the only way your pup will eat them, then I would just cook them and feed a bit extra to make up for the small loss.

I only know that taurine is depleted a lot when cooking, but thankfully dogs can produce their own taurine. Not sure about other nutrients to look out for, so hopefully someone will swing by with some extra knowledge.
my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals
 [notify]
Winston-dog

Sir Winston- Crazy-dog - can we play yet?		 
 
Barked: Thu Sep 13, '12 9:51pm PST 
How much organ meat are you feeding?
When I started Winston on organ he got bad diarrhea because he wasn't used to it. I had to freeze a bit of liver, and cut it into shavings the size of literally 1/4 of my fingernail. Feed one shaving, couple of days later - 2 shavings, and so on.
Would that be worth trying?
my posts | my page | msg me | gift me | become pals
 [notify]

Jackson Tan

Lad about town		 
 
Barked: Thu Sep 13, '12 10:21pm PST 
Mine also hates organs, even cooked or frozen! I feed him dehydrated beef and kangaroo liver as treats though and he really likes it. The beef liver is crushed to a fine powder so I roll lamb kidneys (and also heart, he doesn't like heart either) in it and he'll eat it up. I find the dehydrated stuff a real godsend in this situation.

The next thing I plan to do is to mince up beef meat and livers together raw and try that with his sprinkle. I think that will work.
my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals
 [notify]
Farley

Farlekiin the- Dragonborn		 
 
Barked: Thu Sep 13, '12 10:47pm PST 
JT laugh out loud sounds like Shake-n-Bake for dogs! big laugh
my posts | my page | msg me | gift me | become pals
 [notify]
Jackson Tan

Lad about town		 
 
Barked: Fri Sep 14, '12 3:14am PST 
It's absolutely ridiculous. laugh out loud But short of jamming it down his throat, it's the only thing that works! He's a shaker-baker dog, lol.
my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals
 [notify]
Brody

Tiny boy, but he- has a huge- heart!		 
 
Barked: Fri Sep 14, '12 8:11am PST 
You are going to just have to try some different things. Here's a few options that might work.

I would stick with beef kidney and beef or calf liver for now. You can try chicken liver later. I've found many dogs don't like the taste of it, but they are OK with beef liver.

BBQ the organs. After you're done grilling, throw some beef kidney and liver on the BBQ and sear it on each side. This is Brody's favorite way to have his organs prepared. They get that smoky, BBQ flavor.

Sear the organs in a very hot pan with a bit of butter and garlic powder. Or try a sprinkle of parmesan cheese. Most dogs love the taste.

Tripe. Fresh is better, but canned will work. Most dogs LOVE tripe. So disguise just a tiny bit of organ with the tripe and most dogs will eat it up. This also works with canned food. Get a good quality canned food and smear it on the organs or dice or liquify the organs and mix with the canned.

Hide it. If your dog likes chicken thighs for example, take a tiny sliver of organ and put it under the skin. Most likely the dog will just eat it when he's eating the chicken.

A friend of mine makes organ meatballs. Hamburger, a little peanut butter, liquified or diced up organs (too small to pick or spit out). All mixed up into little meatballs. Roll in parmesan cheese and feed as a treat.

Dehydrator. Use your own or borrow one or use a very low temp on the oven with the door open and dehydrate a bit of liver and kidney. Many dogs love their organs dehydrated as a crunchy treat.

Whole prey items. If you can feed some whole prey, the organs are included! Quail, rabbit, etc. are all great. Just take the whole animal and hand to the dog.

Ethnic stores. Look for alternative novel organs at an ethnic market. Lamb kidneys and liver, sheep brain, etc. You can find all kinds of goodies. I found pork uterus once. Any kind of squishy organ will do, in addition to liver. Spleen (melt), pancreas (sweetbread), etc. are all good. You can even do chicken or duck heads. They have brain and eyes which count as organ and are a yummy, crunchy treat.

Last resort. Pill him with the organs. Not my favorite method, especially for a puppy. But if he absolutely will NOT eat organs, then open his mouth, stick it on the back of his tongue, close his mouth and hold closed until he swallows. This method can make a dog hate organs even more, so be aware of that.
my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals
 [notify]
Cookie

the chi-weenie		 
 
Barked: Fri Sep 14, '12 4:24pm PST 
Cookie would not eat chicken liver, but preferred beef liver, although I've learned to feed it to her frozen. or else it is too slimy for her taste.

you could also wait a while, like all day until he's acting hungry, then feed him some meat with organ meat next to it, he might eat it up since it's there.

you can also pour chicken broth on it. or sprinkle it with parmisian cheese.
my posts | my page | msg me | gift me | become pals
 [notify]
Zeppelin CGN

Mellow is the- path to- happiness		 
 
Barked: Sat Sep 15, '12 8:13am PST 
Zeppelin is also fussy with organs. If it's whole organs, I have to cut them into small pieces and sear them in a pan, then he will eat them. Sometimes I have to handfeed and work it into a training session.
The easier way for me to feed them organ is to buy them ground. Thankfully, I deal with a great butcher who will grind a mix of beef organs (liver, kidneys, pancreas, spleen, etc) for 1.00$ a lb. Works great and all the dogs will eat organs fed this way. Another benefit is it's the easiest way to mix in supplements!
my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals
 [notify]