[Onyx]

Okay, I know I know, it isn't as good as the real fresh raw stuff. But my dog absolutely refuses to eat raw liver. She puts it in her mouth over, and over, and over as if she wants to eat it but I guess the texture puts her off. She then spits it out under the bed where she thinks I won't notice lol. I tried freezing it and lightly cooking but no luck there. Don't even get me started on the cat not eating it :roll:

I figure dehydrated is better than none and both love it. I've been using dehydrated liver, kidney, spleen, whatever to get their organ needs in there since they don't want to cooperate. My only question is, how much dehydrated organ should I feed to replace the fresh 10%? I know dehydtated goes along way so I don't want to over do it.

I hate that I can't do the real stuff but I'm just happy I can go back to DIY raw again now that I have the freezer space for it. I was stuck using a pre made for a long while.

 

[Brodysmom]

Now that's a great question! I was expecting you were going to ask can I use dehydrated liver in place of raw if there's NO other way to get it down? And I was going to say YES. But actually formulating the amount.... hmmmmmm..... I will have to think on that one. I'm not sure there is a table or graph anywhere that will give us that information.

Do you dehydrate organs yourself? If so, just weigh an average piece before you dehydrate and then that would give you an idea of what a dehydrated piece should look like to meet the requirement.

 

[Onyx]

Thanks! A local butcher dehydrates it for me so I have no idea how much it weighs beforehand.

I've got another raw question though lol. Does raw meat lose any vital nutrients if you feed mostly all grinds? I know It's not the best but it gets her to eat fresh organs and I'm not really able to sit with her for a half hour to supervise bone eating. I just want to make sure she still gets everything she needs. I still follow though 80% meat, 10% organ, 10% bone.

 

[AussieLass]

I just have to say that dehydrated is actually just as good in every way as fresh - I think it was Tracy, perhaps another dedicated raw feeder who put up an article that shows none of the goodness is lost (although I personally would be doubtful about the enzymes because they're destroyed on heating over a certain temp and definitely from cooking - hence we get none from our cooked foods which is really, really bad).

What I do is get a lamb kidney slice it length ways, ditto liver etc - if 2 slices were 10%, then I simply give them 2 slices of dehydrated i.e. like for like. So, basically just cut your organs into the sized portions you would add to their normal feed & dehyrdate each portion as one piece - it works for me.

 

[Wicked Pixie]

She isn't dehydrating her own though Dee. Can you explain what an ounce of offal (for example) looks like once dried?
As for the ground meat question, lots of people in the UK feed only minced (ground) meats, even for the bone-in meals. It doesn't lose nutrients but the increased surface area can make it easier for bacteria etc to spread.
I prefer not to feed minces from a dental point of view, but I give Harley one minced meal a day because it's the easiest way to keep his weight up. He simply eats more of the minced meat, I assume because it is easier than having to chew. (Typical lazy male!)
I also mince up their offal and hide it in a minced meal. Green tripe is the best for this as the smell disguises whatever you are trying to hide!

 

[AussieLass]

Gawd strewth, now you're asking ... that there is a bit of bubble gum for the brain ...

It shrinks by about 2/3'rds.

If you buy a cheap dehydrater is so much more fun doing it yourself, you can add in chicken strips, rabbit, beef, venison, lamb, salmon jerky etc. do all your own organs and never buy another treat again - they go crazy for homemade jerky. I even once dehydrated green lipped mussels, NOT something I'll ever do again, but they're as dear as poison in stores, whilst I was getting them for a mere $5 for a whole kilo.

I do my organs so that they snap off into tiny pieces if I want them to, for training etc. I got a 12 tray dehydrated from ebay for $50 and it was one of the best investments ever, it's saved me a fortune and paid for itself over and over.

 

[Onyx]

She isn't dehydrating her own though Dee. Can you explain what an ounce of offal (for example) looks like once dried?
As for the ground meat question, lots of people in the UK feed only minced (ground) meats, even for the bone-in meals. It doesn't lose nutrients but the increased surface area can make it easier for bacteria etc to spread.
I prefer not to feed minces from a dental point of view, but I give Harley one minced meal a day because it's the easiest way to keep his weight up. He simply eats more of the minced meat, I assume because it is easier than having to chew. (Typical lazy male!)
I also mince up their offal and hide it in a minced meal. Green tripe is the best for this as the smell disguises whatever you are trying to hide!

yea I was a little worried about her getting no dental benefits but I give her a pork rib twice a week for a meal and her teeth are staying in tip top condition

Thanks everyone for answering my question about the dehydrated organs. I could maybe ask him to weigh it out first. It would be nice to have my own dehydrator but why spend the money when I can have it done for free :coolwink:

 

[Onyx]

If you buy a cheap dehydrater is so much more fun doing it yourself

Haha, fun huh? Hmm I don't know, with as much as I'm in the kitchen making the kitty's food, it's not so much fun in there any more lol!

 

[AussieLass]

Ah, ok, maybe not "fun", but it sure is rewarding doing for my babies.

I sure wish we could get green tripe & spleen over here, I wouldn't be surprised if our half-insane govt. banned it from sale. I've rung every butcher & abbatoir around, no-one will sell it.

 

[Onyx]

I can't get green tripe readily here either, and I live in good ol dirty America. One of the butchers I asked claimed he couldn't sell it unless it was the bleached kind for human consumption.

I COULD order it but too pricey with shipping AND Onyx hates it. Yep, a dog who can't stand green tripe. Finally got some of that crap a while back and she was having none of it -sigh-

 

[Wicked Pixie]

Spleen = nasty poison that evil Chi mamas use to torture their poor pups with. According to my two anyway
Don't pets shops sell minced frozen tripe over there?

 

[AussieLass]

Spleen = nasty poison that evil Chi mamas use to torture their poor pups with. According to my two anyway
Don't pets shops sell minced frozen tripe over there?

Nope, not available here at all, along with a whole heap of other stuff such as pancreas, believe me, I've scoured the entire country & so has my Vet.

Basically for us, the only things available are lambs liver (no pork or beef), lamb & beef kidneys (no pork), lamb brains (no beef or pork), beef tongue (no lamb or pork, although as a kid lambs tongue was common), chicken livers, hearts & giblets. And bleached whiter than snow tripe to mix in a white sauce with parsley to tortue kids in childcare (I ate it 5 days a week as a kid in childcare). That's it in a nutshell.

I won't feed mince over here either, the butchers fill it full of chems to change its colour, keep it fresh etc. etc. If I want mince, I grind my own from slabs of meat.