# "best" organ meat?



## balakai (Feb 9, 2005)

Is one kind of organ meat better than another? Kidneys versus liver? What about one type of animal versus another?

I don't need much, only one ounce per meal between the 3 dogs (India should get 3/4 ounce and the terriers 1/8 ounce each).

They get mostly chicken RMBs and mostly beef MM, if that matters.

Right now I am only feeding raw 3 meals per week, but I hope to eventually go to 5 meals per week.

~Kristin


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## DianaB (Jan 3, 2007)

the only thing I know is if you use liver, be sure it is organic as the liver cleans out all the toxins from the body, and remains in the liver itself (for your dog to consume). I know Liver, and heart are high in iron. Don't know much about the kidneys. 

My dog only eats beef because of chicken allergies, so some of it is hard to find here. I don't feed raw, but supplement her diet with heart and liver for the extra iron.


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## Amaruq (Aug 29, 2001)

Heart is not an organ- it is MM. I believe liver should make up at least 50% of the OM. My guys get beef, chicken and venny organs on a regular basis and occasionally pork, duck and turkey.


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## balakai (Feb 9, 2005)

Beef and chicken are readily available, but I might have some trouble getting the others. I know that I need to feed variety, but I didn't know if one was better than the other.

Off to search the product list of the vendor I'm ordering tripe from.

~Kristin


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

I would like to feed kidney instead of liver all the time. It is too hard to find around here.
I am getting a beef grind ~ heart/tongue/liver but this time the liver dominated...so I have been cutting it w/ground beef. 
The meat processer said he didn't like doing the liver, it doesn't grind well. I wish he would have left it out!


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## balakai (Feb 9, 2005)

I am ordering lamb and beef kidneys, plus beef and pork liver. That will give me 6 pounds of organ meat, which should last anywhere from 5-8 months, depending on how often I feed raw dinners.

Now I have to figure out how to repackage it since I'm only going to need one ounce at a time. Maybe chop it up in the food processor and freeze it in ice cube trays?

~Kristin


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## lucymom (Jan 2, 2009)

Jane...why do you prefer kidney? My local grocery store stocks beef kidney regularly, but I buy liver. Does kidney have some additional benefits?


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## LuvWorkingGSDs (Aug 24, 2008)

I mainly feed beef and chicken organs (kidney, spleen, liver) because of the convenience/availability to me. Of course when my dog gets whole prey items (like rabbit), she gets all the other ones as well. That's not very often lately though as rabbit is expensive for me!



> Originally Posted By: DianaBthe only thing I know is if you use liver, be sure it is organic as the liver cleans out all the toxins from the body, and remains in the liver itself (for your dog to consume). I know Liver, and heart are high in iron. Don't know much about the kidneys.


This is something I see circulating on the internet in some circles, but this just isn't how the liver works. It doesn't store toxins, except in extreme cases where the animal is significantly ill. The liver modifies and breaks down toxins so that they can be *excreted* from the body (mainly via the kidneys). It is designed to store certain vitamins and minerals...but again not the toxins. 

If there are toxins present that the liver is unable to convert to a form that can be excreted, then they tend to get stored in adipose tissue. So really you would have to feed all meat containing significant amounts of fat (which is likely the bulk of the dog's diet) as organic to avoid these excess toxins.


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

> Originally Posted By: JenniferDJane...why do you prefer kidney? My local grocery store stocks beef kidney regularly, but I buy liver. Does kidney have some additional benefits?


I'd just rather have the variety, and liver is all I can get at the moment.


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## phgsd (Jun 6, 2004)

I also believe that liver should be 50% of the OM. I can get beef and pork liver and kidney at the grocery store, and occasionally brains and sweetbreads (those are expensive though @ 4.99/lb so I don't get them often). 
I've also gotten some whole animals (sheep and a deer) so I can give ALL the organs from them which is great!

Also from my rawfeeding group I got beef pancreas which I *think* is great because of the pancreatic enzymes. I got the pancreas and liver ground, in 5 lb bags. I've done the ice cube tray thing for those, and it worked pretty well. They don't just pop out of the trays, I usually have to pry them out with a knife. But I just put the right number of cubes on top of each of the dog's food and they're set. My only complaint is that I wish the bags were smaller than 5 lbs - it's way too much to use at one sitting so I have to keep refreezing it. But if you do it yourself you can control the amount more!


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## BowWowMeow (May 7, 2007)

Ok, stupid question: When you get a whole chicken what is usually included inside? I have the stuff right now and can recognize the kidney and liver and neck but the other things I don't recognize. Also some of those mystery items are very tough to cut up! 

And finally, which type of organ meat has the least amount of fat? Cleo (my cat) LOVES organ meat but I don't want to overdo with her as she's just recovering from a terrible bout of pancreatitis. And Rafi can't handle any high fat items. 

Thanks!!!!!!


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## Lauri & The Gang (Jun 28, 2001)

If you think about the size of the organs - the liver and the brain would be the two biggest and, as such, would be a larger portion of the 'whole' prey model.


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## DancingCavy (Feb 19, 2001)

I've always gone with 50% liver and the rest whatever I can get. Usually kidney. I can rarely find anything else. I do have some spleen now. A nice change!


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## kengb (Sep 3, 2021)

Amaruq said:


> Heart is not an organ- it is MM. I believe liver should make up at least 50% of the OM. My guys get beef, chicken and venny organs on a regular basis and occasionally pork, duck and turkey.


Hi.
Liver is very high in vitamin A, and should only be 5% of there food .
They can get vitamin A poisoning from to much liver which will show up in a blood test at the vets l have been informed.


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