# Safe seafood choices?



## StGeorgeK9 (Jan 5, 2008)

On another thread someone was complaining about scaling fish....I was raised in the northwest and we were always careful not to let our animals get into the cleaned salmon or stealhead which was usually the fresh fish we had (availability and all that) Anyway, I always had the assumption that all fish was unsafe for animals....which of course now just seems silly to me. I now live on the gulf and crawfish and shrimp are really cheap. I can get them for $2 or less a pound on the docks.........great for me because I love shrimp but can dogs eat raw shrimp or crawfish?


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## Raziel (Sep 29, 2009)

I give my dog one or 2 if Im eating them.
Just make sure he does not have an allergic reation to shellfish!
<3


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## DogGone (Nov 28, 2009)

Don't Inuits feed their dogs whole frozen raw fish?

Of course that may not be safe in most typical climates and regions because many of the fish are loaded with parasites that can cause illness or even death if eaten raw.


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## 3K9Mom (Jun 12, 2006)

> Quote:
> Salmon (salmonid fish) and other anadromous fish (fish that swim upstream to breed) can be infected with a parasite called Nanophyetus salmincola. Overall, the parasite is relatively harmless. The danger occurs when the parasite itself is infected with a rickettsial organism called Neorickettsia helminthoeca. It’s this microorganism that causes salmon poisoning.
> 
> “Salmon poisoning occurs most commonly west of the Cascade mountain range,” says Dr. Bill Foreyt, a veterinary parasitologist at Washington State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine. He adds, “Canids (dogs) are the only species susceptible to salmon poisoning. That’s why cats, raccoons and bears eat raw fish regularly with out consequence.”


whole article at http://www.vetmed.wsu.edu/clientEd/salmon.aspx

The general guideline is no raw fish that spawn from the Pacific Northwest all the way up into Canada. There IS a question whether fish from Southeast Alaska is included in this guideline. I've heard it both ways. So I assume that Southeast Alaskan salmon aren't safe to feed raw. 

(I don't think we have any members who live in Southeast who feed raw that can opine here. But if we do, I'd love the input.







) 

Alaskan Inuits, who live in Northern Alaska (not Southeast, unless they simply moved there by personal choice), have access to fish that aren't contaminated. So the fish they feed to their dogs should be safe from the deadly parasite.

If you know where in Alaska that the fish comes from (and you know Alaskan geography well enough), then you can feed some fish raw. But be sure you know what you're feeding.









As for shrimp and other seafood, I've fed shrimp and crab to my dogs with no adverse effects. I once tried oysters, but that gave him diarrhea. I think that was just an idiosyncratic reaction, and there isn't any particular reason that dogs can't eat other shell fish as long as you take reasonable precautions.


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