Does Your Dog Eat Offal Awefully Often?

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My dogs eat a very varied diet, rarely eating the same food two days in a row, you’ve probably heard me say that before.

Some of the foods I feed are, chicken (whole or parts) and other fowl, pork (various parts), lamb parts, fish (can include salmon, trout, herring, mackerel), etc.

I also give offal (organ meats) a few times a week, usually as a snack later in the day or early evening.

Note: Read this post before feeding Salmon and trout.

Offal refers to meat from animals which is used as food but is not skeletal muscle. The term offal literally means “off fall“, and was used to describe the pieces of a carcass that would fall to the floor during the butchering process. Offal used to refer mainly to entrails, but now kidney, heart, liver, lungs, spleen, green tripe, brains, tongue, tails, feet and head are all referred to as offal.

Below I’ve listed the four types of offal (always fed raw) that I often feed to my dogs, along with some of the nutrients each meat provides.

Liver (beef)

• is a good source of quality protein
• has the most concentrated levels of vitamin A
• contains vitamins D, E, and K in substantial quantities
• is an excellent source of the minerals zinc, manganese, selenium and iron
• contains all the B vitamins
• is a good source of vitamin C
• contains omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids

Note: Liver can either be fed in small amounts on a regular basis, or as a whole meal once every two weeks. Too much liver can lead to vitamin A toxicity.

Kidney (beef)

• is a good source of quality protein
• contains all the fat soluble vitamins A,E,D and K
• is a source of essential fatty acids
• is a rich source of B vitamins and iron
• is a good source of zinc

Heart (beef)

• is a good source of protein
• is an excellent source of B vitamins and iron
• is an excellent source of the essential amino acid taurine

Green Tripe (buffalo)

• is a good source of protein
• contains live enzymes
• contains probiotics (friendly bacteria)
• contains the omega-3 and omega-6 essential fatty acids

“Three days each week is a reasonable upper limit for feeding your dogs offal.” – Dr. Lonsdale

Offal can be fed  fresh, frozen or dehydrated. I usually feed fresh, but do also feed it frozen or partially frozen. Fresh is best!

In addition to what I’ve mentioned feeding above, I have fed my dogs, pork kidney heart, stomach and spleen. Availability and your imagination are the only limitations here.

Dogs that consume offal on a regular basis are more healthy than their non-offal fed counterparts. There’s nothing awful about that!

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Tagged as: off fall, offal, organ meats, raw diet dogs, raw meaty bones, Tom Lonsdale