How Much Is To Much Liver?

[Janie]

My dogs have never had liver. Tonight for the first time Daisy got some liver off the table when I had to leave for a minute (she has never taken something from the table before) worried about this making her sick. Should your dog even eat liver?

[Janie]

I feed my doodles some boiled chicken for dinner last night...they went crazy over it. They had no problems what so ever. Would it be okay to try sardines next?

[Lynne Fowler-Oodles of Doodles]

Janie, almost any food is good to try. There are some no-no's and all the information is here in The Food Group. Read through "Food's to Avoid," Homecooking for your Doodles," and "Commercial Foods: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly." You'll get a real education.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

The hesitation I would have with sardines is that they are so heavily processed; I believe they are smoked or otherwise preserved with salt, and lots of oil. Maybe a better choice would be canned salmon, or fresh fish of just about any kind. Jackdoodle goes crazy over every kind of fish. Even canned tuna is fine in moderation, get the chunk light in water...half the mercury of the albacore, and cheaper, too.

[Janie]

Lynne and Karen, thank you for the information...will go with the salmon tonight.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

While we're on the subject of liver, I was reviewing some nutritional literature today, and thought this would be worth posting here. Liver is extremely high in vitamin A, which is a fat soluble vitamin which is stored in the body if there is an excess, rather than excreeted in the urine like water soluble vitamins. Vitamin A in large amounts is toxic, and in pregnant females, causes horrendous birth defects. (This is why the drug, Accutane, which is synthetic vitamin A, requires that women of child-bearing age be on birth control pills when taking it.) It is recommended that liver not be fed to pregnant female dogs, and human females should restrict their intake to less than once a week. FYI.

[Jeannine]

Before Thalie came home, I gave Gamine a mix of liver and giblets mix with turkey... I was a huge mistake. She got diarrhea for a full week. I learn after the fact that you never give giblets and liver in big quantities. Just a bit and not every day. learn the hard way... I was on the poop patrol that week!

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

This is an old posting--I am just doing my homework. Question: How much organ meat is to much organ meat?

As you know, I have complained Spud throws up almost everything so I am careful about his diet. He even throws up regular dog biscuits --especially those gross green ones that guy at the drive-thru insists on throwing at my dog.

We make Liver Cookies as his cookies or biscuits and we also use them as training treats--I just break them up into smaller pieces. Training has greatly increased --so is his intake of liver.

We probably give him 2lbs a month. How much organ meat is too much? Do dogs get gout?

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Ahh make that 4lbs a month. ( I have been corrected here )

[F, Calla & Luca]

Oh no, another question of the day. apparently they can get gout but I'm not sure it's the same as human gout. They are treated at times with the same medication and so are birds! Here's an article
http://www.gout-aware.com/canine-gout.html

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Well that was interesting and not promising. :( I think the next batch I will try to mush chicken. Switch on and off. I hate that liver smell any how.
Thanks for a good read.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I can't get the page to load. Can you tell us the highlights?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

That is truly the question, because this is the part where the info is almost impossible to get...the amounts of nutrients that are enough, too little, or too much for dogs.
Four pounds a month is roughly two ounces a day. That doesn't seem like something to worry about, especially since he doesn't have any immune system issues. Lots of people do use freeze dried liver as training treats, and that seems to be accepted as fine. But I can't swear to it.
You know who would know...the raw feeding people. They know how many ounces of what meats a dog should get per day based on his weight. The problem with that is, where do they get their info? Usually from hoodoo holistic websites that also talk about lamb being "hot" and chicken being "cool" according to some chakra or something. Oh, and neurotoxins from plant sources can boost your immune system...you know, that kind of sound scientific info.
I would give Spud the treats and don't worry about it. Ask the vet about it next time you talk to him/her.