MajiesMom Posted April 20, 2004 Share Posted April 20, 2004 How do you cook chicken gizzards and heart for a dog? I picked up a pack of it today at the grocery store for Magic, I know it's good for dogs but don't know how to prepare it. I'm not good in the kitchen to begin with but have never bought gizzards and heart yuck!!! Also they have chicken liver that I was going to get too but wanted to wait and see if I can manage with this first. How do you cook these things??? At least long enough to kill any bacteria. Thanks :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TDG Posted April 20, 2004 Share Posted April 20, 2004 you can just gently simmer it all in enough water to cover the contents of the pot. if your dog is large enough, you can leave the hearts whole. cut the gizzards to about the same size. if you start with cold water, a lot of the nutrients will go into it and you'll have a broth you can use. it gets even better if you toss in a few pieces of carrot, celery, sweet potaro and other veggies. add the liver last, just a few minutes before everything is done, otherwise you'll just cook it to a mush. if you want to make a complete meal, you can also stir in some oatmeal or brown rice. if you don't want to make a stew type of meal, toss the meat piecess into boiling water and gently simmer them for a few minutes. that way the heat immediately seals in the nutrients and not much goes into the water. keep in mind that this is not a balanced recipe. if you otherwise feed only commercial food, don't exceed about 15-20% of this kind of food per day long term, or you risk throwing off your calcium-phosphorus ratio. if you plan on feeding more or for an extended period of time, you need to add a calcium supplement or make up the difference by feeding raw, edible bones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MajiesMom Posted April 20, 2004 Author Share Posted April 20, 2004 Thank you TDG! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted June 13, 2004 Share Posted June 13, 2004 TDG..I have a question for you, what do you mean by throwing off the ratio? I feed my dog wellness on some days, and then I'll switch to cooked food. For example I usually cook the chicken and tear off the meat (no cooked bones EVER) and mix it with veggies.. I use ALOT of veggies...and then I'll mix everything together and give her one cup in the morning and one cup in the evening for dinner... I have been trying to figure out how to get her enough calcium when she's eating the cooked food since I do not give her bones...Can you suggest how much calcium is required per pound (2 cups) of meat?... I am also interested in grinding up eggshells instead of using calcium tablets/powder...how much of the grinded eggshells would I need? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted June 13, 2004 Share Posted June 13, 2004 I should probably mention her weight as well.. she's 55 lbs... I calculated the amount of raw (in my case its cooked) meat she should be eating per day..its 1.1 lbs (2 cups) (2% of her body weight)...I'm guessing this would not include the veggie mash.... Anyways..just waiting for replies..thought that might help if anyone had advice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TDG Posted June 13, 2004 Share Posted June 13, 2004 not knowing the exact recipe you are feeding, it's hard to suggest a specific amount of calcium you should supplement. not only boneless meat is calcium deficient, but so are a lot of vegetables and other foods. another problem is that different meats have different nutrient profiles. to avoid deficiencies it's important to feed red meats as well as light ones and to also include some organ meat now and then. heart counts as muscle meat but is much richer than other muscle meats, so don't feed it in too large amounts. for this reason it's best to follow a balanced recipe (e.g. pitcairn's) or to calculate nutritional content of a specific recipe using for example the nutritiondata.com website, which is a free service and easier to navigate than books on the topic. if you just feed "whatever", even a home cooked diet is going to lead to a lot of health issues long term. there's more to it than just mixing a few veggies and meat. the calcium phosphorus ratio is so important in the diet because calcium binds excess phosphorus. high amounts of phosphorus (if unbalanced) damage the kidneys, and kidney disease is one of the leading causes of death in domestic dogs. the bad thing is that it is not detectable until it is so bad that a dog has already lost 75% or more of his kidney function. you should adjust the food you prepare to a calcium-phosphorus ratio of betwen 1:1 to 1.3:1 calcium to phosphorus. if you use the nutritiondata.com website, you will be able to determine the calcium and phosphorus already present in the food and then you can go from there. example: - a prepared recipe contains 95 mg calcium and 850 mg phosphorus. - for a proper 1.2:1 ratio, it would need a total of 850 x 1.2 = 1020 mg calcium. - 95 mg of calcium are already present, so you need to add 925 mg. one teaspoon of egg shell powder contains roughly 1,800 mg of calcium. here's how i make my egg shell powder: whenever i use eggs, i immediately wash the shells and pull out the membrane that sticks to them. it's easier to pull out if you wash the shells in really hot water. then i let them dry for a few days until i have about 10 or so of them. i stick hem in the oven for 10 minutes at 300 degrees F to get rid of the mineral oil coating that is put on some eggs and to make them more brittle. after they have cooled, i stick them in my blender and grind them until i have a fine powder. make sure to grind them up well so you don't have any sharp little pieces. as for feeding amounts, the rule of thumb of x percentage of the body weight fed per day applies to the entire amount of food, not just to the meat. the proper mineral balance is only one aspect of a balanced diet. i always urge people to [b]not[/b] dive into it until they have read a few good books on the topic, because it's so easy to cause health problems - regardless if a raw or cooked diet is fed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted June 14, 2004 Share Posted June 14, 2004 Does Dr. Pitcairn's book give me all the proper ratios and information that I need? What other books do you suggest? I'm goin to the book store tomorrow so I might as well check them out.... *counts her pocket change*....ok..well maybe I'll be able to afford half a magazine this time...but hey at least I'll have a Christmas list... :oops: oh well..there's always the library. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TDG Posted June 14, 2004 Share Posted June 14, 2004 that book will give you recipe suggestions to follow, which makes things a little easier than calculating things yourself, if you don't want to do that. the book isn't very expensive, only about $15 or so, and has a wealth of information. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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