No beef for Emma

[dpenning]

I have tried adding in beef to Emma's diet twice and each time she starts itching more and gets sores under her arms. I have been using leg quarters but I guess I'm going to have to buy some boneless chicken till I can find another protein to add. On all leg quarters and chicken liver her poops are all chalky and she isn't getting the right ratios.

I'm going to have to go treasure hunting today to see what I can find, maybe some ethnic markets.

 

[angelbears]

Chicken hearts are cheap and they aren't considered an organ.

 

[dpenning]

So would she be ok eating chicken hearts gizzards, leg quarters and chicken liver as her protein long term?

 

[NYDDB]

Have you tried pork, fish, duck, turkey, goat, rabbit, or venison? And tripe? I know some of these may be hard to come by (but easy by ordering online-- just the shipping can be costly)...I don't think just chicken long term would be enough variety, IMO.

 

[angelbears]

I agree with NYDDB. Most all my research said, at least 4 proteins with at least one being red meat.

 

[DennasMom]

Bummer. It may be a stretch, but if it was a grain-finished cow, the grains might change the meat enough for it to be a trigger.... going to grass-fed/finished meat might help. But, that won't help the pocket-book any.

We do a lot of pork here.

Since you're OK with poultry, emu would be another option for a lean protein. There may be an emu farm in TX that you could get some fresh emu from.... the coop I'm with ships in about 6 pallets worth of emu meat once a year from TX. It's no longer human food 'certified' (they dropped that due to expense), but really good meat. Very lean. I can't find the name of our source, though. Let me know if you want me to try and dig deeper to find it.

 

[Hector]

I thought tripe was beef too? I'm allergic to beef too. If I eat too much beef in stir fry I get really hot internally and heat rashes on my chest and itchies on my arm, legs, and neck area.

 

[dpenning]

Yes, tripe is beef.. I picked up some pork and turkey. I'll go a few days of just chicken to get back to baseline itchy. :|

 

[Hector]

You can supplement with kibble too. My problem was finding enough variety. Chicken was our main meat. Beef was expensive. Pork was too fatty. I stayed away from turkey bones...so I just went back to kibble. and sometimes feed raw.

 

[dpenning]

I would love to feed kibble if I could find one she didn't react to. The allergies get so bad she gets sores under her arms. I'll keep working at it.

 

[TricAP]

I would love to feed kibble if I could find one she didn't react to. The allergies get so bad she gets sores under her arms. I'll keep working at it.

How's Emma doing now?

 

[dpenning]

Great, thanks for asking! She is eating chicken, pork and turkey with no reactions. She was starting to get a bit tubby so I cut her portions down a smidge but the rash problem seems to be mostly cleared up which is great!

 

[TricAP]

Great, thanks for asking! She is eating chicken, pork and turkey with no reactions. She was starting to get a bit tubby so I cut her portions down a smidge but the rash problem seems to be mostly cleared up which is great!

That's great! We don't do pork - have the same issue here. Did you switch your other 2 dogs to raw as well?

 

[dpenning]

That's great! We don't do pork - have the same issue here. Did you switch your other 2 dogs to raw as well?

No. I was going to at first, and of course they loved it but I will admit to being lazy and my male doesn't have teeth to do bone or really anything but ground so they are on the last kibble I tried Emma on before the switch. They do get treats every now and then.

 

[TricAP]

No. I was going to at first, and of course they loved it but I will admit to being lazy and my male doesn't have teeth to do bone or really anything but ground so they are on the last kibble I tried Emma on before the switch. They do get treats every now and then.

Funny how that happens - they suddenly love food again and get so excited even if just a little treat! Our 4 lb. Chihuahua - Miss Diva (yeah she lived up to her name and then some!) has I think 4 teeth left in her mouth so no bones either. I've found a quick smash with a meat mallet (tenderizer hammer) works great on chicken bones with a quick mince of whatever the big dogs are getting - her couple ounces a day isn't a big deal at all. Certainly not worth the cost of a big grinder like I originally thought. Have you looked into "saw scraps" - its the bones and fat that butchers get off the meat saws when they break down larger cuts of meat - that might also be an alternative for your little ones.