faysie

We visited a friend tonight who had friends visiting her ...with their Basset. I did not take mine but they are supposed to come over here tomorrow.

So this girl basically went off on my husband when he mentioned that we feed our dogs turkey We rotate feeding ours ground beef, ground turkey or ground chicken ...mixed with the Nutro Ultra. We give them about 1/4 cup of the ground meat, just because I want to. Because they LOVE it ...and I assume it's good for them.

I have never heard that turkey is taboo for dogs. Is this girl "full of it" ...or have I been doing a bad thing for more than five years?!

We brown the turkey, drain it, mix it with some brown rice ...and mix 1/4 measured cup of it with their kibble. Have been doing this since we got the hounds. They are happy, healthy ...they do not stink and do not have skin ooogies.

What do you guys think?? If this chick comes over tomorrow ...which she said she's going to do, to see my dogs ...I need to have something to say about the turkey if she mentions it again.

bcc11

I don't know anything about turkey except that dogs get in trouble at Thanksgiving and Christmas time b/c people feed them the fatty skin and it can cause pancreatitis. Maybe this is what she is thinking?

Elvismom

Lean turkey is great for dogs. Like bcc11 mentioned the fatty skin etc. can cause pancreatis, which can be fatal. The bones can also be a problem if they eat them and they splinter. Ground, cooked turkey is a good thing to feed them.

Mine are drooling at the thought of it.

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Chris
Foodslave, chauffer & doorperson to Elvis, Georgia, Ginger & Maggie, Crissy & Dart

Beverly Anne

The few times that Francis has had stomach trouble the vet has had me cook lean turkey and rice together because it's easy on their digestive tracts. Now that Francis is almost 9 years old I've stopped allowing my mother to give him the cheese pieces he adores because I worry abaout pancreatitis and she now keeps lean turkey slices on hand for the little mooch.

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Francis's Bevy

faysie

Thank you. That just didn't sound right to me. I know people who feed their dogs ground turkey regularly and I have done it for years. No fatty skin or bones, ever. Just the good lean ground meat. Our dogs very healthy ...and just a little bit spoiled

Mahna

When Bogie was having stomach troubles (after eating a very large oniony sandwich) the vet directed me to get turkey, brown it, then boil it, and pour off the excess fat with the water, and mix it with rice as you are doing. Its basically a variation of the sensitive stomach diet. You will have quite the response for the other lady!

Rubydoo

Ruby gets turkey-farts after eating a bit of thanksgiving turkey (no skin), but she doesn't when she gets browned ground turkey. (which hubby and I eat because I don't buy ground beef).

Janice and little Ruby

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Aruuuu

You might print out this thread and give it to her when she arrives. Cooked, lean ground turkey is fine. Pancreatitis is the result of too much of the ooky parts, i.e., skin and fats, but what you're doing is just fine......................

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If stress were exercise, I'd be in great shape!

Dean

Even a small amount of turkey had a strange effect on Fred -- he transformed into "the fumigator" --- lots of gas -- one shot could clear a room.

Mikey T

First of turkey and chicken are better protein sources for dog since they contain all the essential amino acids. That said supplimenting a dog food that is "complete and balanced" can upset that blance and render it less than complete and balanced. So any sumplement should only be a small part of the overall feeding. A bigger question is brown rice. grains especial whole grains are difficult for a dog to digest so the have limit benefits for a dog Cooking and processing/grinding increase digestibility.

Plasma and whole blood taurine in normal dogs of varying size fed commercially prepared food
"Mean whole blood taurine concentrations were lower in dogs fed diets containing whole grain rice, rice bran or barley. The lowest whole blood concentrations were seen in dogs fed lamb or lamb meal and rice diets. Plasma methionine and cysteine concentrations were lower in dogs fed diets with animal meals or turkey, and whole grain rice, rice bran or barley. Fifteen of 131 dogs had plasma taurine concentrations lower than, or equal, to the previously reported lowest mean food-deprived plasma taurine concentration in normal dogs of 49 ± 5 nmol/ml (mean ± SEM) (Elliott et al., 2000). These findings support the theory that taurine deficiency in dogs may be related to the consumption of certain dietary ingredients. Scientific and clinical evidence supports the hypothesis that dilated cardiomyopathy is associated with low blood taurine concentration in dogs; therefore, further work is indicated to determine the mechanism by which diet can affect taurine status in dogs."


For a chart with typical protein sources found in dog food and the amount of each essential ammino acid see DOG FOOD PROTEIN AND ITS AMINO ACIDS