Cooked Mince

[lou lou]

I have always given my frenchie cooked mince with her biscuits but just wandered is it safe to serve them raw mince? I have always assumed its better to give it to them cooked.

[gmacleod]

Raw mince is perfectly safe to feed :) Unless it is just a small amount though, it is better not to feed it in the same meal as dry food. Better that her moring meal be dry food, and the evening one raw (or vice versa).

The reason for that is as follows: Dogs are not susceptible to food poisoning (bugs like e-coli or salmonella) because they have extremely short digestive tracts that are specifically designed for the fast processing of raw meat and bone. A meal of raw meat and bone will be digested in about 5-6 hours. Their defence against bugs is twofold - first the speed at which they digest raw food, which doesn't give the bugs time to multiply to problematic levels; and second their very strong digestive acids (far stronger than humans have. So it is extremely rare for a healthy dog to get food poisoning from raw meat (no more common than it is for them to get food poisoning from kibble - which is known to occur on occassion) - even when that meat is clearly past it's best. Humans, on the other hand, would probably get sick eating that.

BUT dogs do not digest dry foods terribly well. That is because they aren't designed to digest grains and plant material, which make up the bulk of dry foods. So it takes about 11-14 hours for a dog to digest a dry food meal.

Anyway, if you mix the two, the speed of digestion is still dictated by the kibble (dry food). So you've got raw meat sitting around in the stomach for far far longer than nature ever intended, and you're eliminating one of the dog's primary defences against bacteria.

With all that said, having a dog get sick this way is still very rare - plenty of people do add raw meat to their dog's dry food without incident. So I would be cautious about doing so with a dog that is in any way sick, and otherwise just be aware of the potential it has to cause bacterial problems. If your dog were to develop loose stool, for example, then it would be a good idea to stop mixing the foods and feed the raw and dry foods as separate meals instead.

[franp]

What is Mince?

[gmacleod]

Mince is minced up meat. Usually known as hamburger in the US, I believe ;)

[franp]

Thank you! :D

Funny that we all speak English and need a translator..

fran

[gmacleod]

ROFL! Yes :) I remember when I first heard the term "hamburger" and was left wondering if that meant feeding McDonald's :lol: :lol:

Now I usually say "ground beef" or "ground chicken" etc. Even if it's not a local term, I think (hope) most people understand what I mean then :)

[franp]

Please; the first time my family went to the UK, my Mom said things that made the concierge at the Hotel cringe...;cause we spoke "American".And he in turn said things to us that we thought were awful...

Asking for a napkin ,rather than a serviet. Wanting to be awakened rather than knocked up..
Talking dog food is NOTHING compared to some of the things. :lol: that can get REALLY rude...Words here that are just so innoccent. And in the UK are just nasty.. :lol: :lol:

Sounds like a Monty Python skit in the writing..

[gmacleod]

"Knocked up"??? ROFL! Fortunately, I haven't come across that one yet!

[EmD, MD]

I keep reading the title of this thread as "Cooked Mice." Ugh.

[Frankie's mom]

Raw mince is perfectly safe to feed :) Unless it is just a small amount though, it is better not to feed it in the same meal as dry food. Better that her moring meal be dry food, and the evening one raw (or vice versa).

The reason for that is as follows: Dogs are not susceptible to food poisoning (bugs like e-coli or salmonella) because they have extremely short digestive tracts that are specifically designed for the fast processing of raw meat and bone. A meal of raw meat and bone will be digested in about 5-6 hours. Their defence against bugs is twofold - first the speed at which they digest raw food, which doesn't give the bugs time to multiply to problematic levels; and second their very strong digestive acids (far stronger than humans have. So it is extremely rare for a healthy dog to get food poisoning from raw meat (no more common than it is for them to get food poisoning from kibble - which is known to occur on occassion) - even when that meat is clearly past it's best. Humans, on the other hand, would probably get sick eating that.

BUT dogs do not digest dry foods terribly well. That is because they aren't designed to digest grains and plant material, which make up the bulk of dry foods. So it takes about 11-14 hours for a dog to digest a dry food meal.

Anyway, if you mix the two, the speed of digestion is still dictated by the kibble (dry food). So you've got raw meat sitting around in the stomach for far far longer than nature ever intended, and you're eliminating one of the dog's primary defences against bacteria.

With all that said, having a dog get sick this way is still very rare - plenty of people do add raw meat to their dog's dry food without incident. So I would be cautious about doing so with a dog that is in any way sick, and otherwise just be aware of the potential it has to cause bacterial problems. If your dog were to develop loose stool, for example, then it would be a good idea to stop mixing the foods and feed the raw and dry foods as separate meals instead.


do you thing that incorporating vegetables, cooked chicken (meat), cottage cheese and that sort of food into his diet instead of something like grandad's is sufficient if he is consuming a high quality kibble like solid gold? i really want to be sure i'm switching him to the right food while he is on the chicken and rice in the interim.

[piper's~mom]

I keep reading the title of this thread as "Cooked Mice." Ugh.

I'm glad it wasn't just me! I had to read it three times before I figured out it said "mince" and not "mice" :lol: