# Can I substitute a vitamin tablet for organ meat?



## billsharp (May 3, 2011)

Liesl loves all beef, all lamb, cooked chicken (not raw), all bones, whole fresh tilapia, salmon, pork neck and rib (meaty) bones.

She absolutely refuses organ meat--kidney, liver--no way. As in, re-try it as her only food for over 24 hours and she still refuses it.

I give her a Petco multivitamin every other day or so--do I really need the organ meat? What is she missing specifically if she has a vitamin but no organ meat?


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## fg2chase (Nov 6, 2011)

I really hate liver too...


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## I_LOVE_MY_MIKKO (Oct 4, 2006)

Sorry, I don't know about a vitamin, but have you tried grinding it/putting it in a food processor with the other meat? 

Also, just curious why you don't feed the chicken raw like everything else?


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

Chicken liver was the only thing that Jax would eat to begin with. I had to partially cook it to start but now she'll eat anything.


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

I found my dogs more willing to eat liver if it was partially or totally frozen. Same with fish, they won't eat it thawed. Whole foods provide better nutrients than a vitamin supplement. I'd rather give the vitamins naturally than in a supplement.


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## lhczth (Apr 5, 2000)

Liver is an excellent source of Iron, Vit A, protein, a number of minerals and the B vitamins. Beef liver is better than chicken liver in most of these areas. Beef kidney is an excellent source of iron, B vitamins, and many necessary minerals. Kidney also contains Omega 3 fatty acids. Lamb liver may be the best of all of these in its value as a food item, but is not as easy to get. 

Natural sources of anything will always be more available to the body than what is found in a supplements, especially the synthetic vitamins that are most commonly used.


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## natalie559 (Feb 4, 2005)

Sure you can- but you wouldn't know what to supplement without knowing what the dogs needs are and what the other ingredients are contributing to the diet. I wrote more about how I do this here,

http://www.germanshepherds.com/forum/b-r-f-raw-feeding/85948-how-i-create-balance-homemade-diet.html


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## Gmthrust (Mar 3, 2010)

Here is a helpful source of nutritional info; for example on raw chicken liver. To give credit where it's due, who gave me the idea to be more accurate of items being fed----I think it's GSDs-n-Rotties<---not sure on her nic...Nicki?---good grief!---I seriously can't remember her nic---she has/had some excellent links to nutritional facts and values; I lost those links when my laptop imploded! She is the one who helps a lot _and_ she writes way better than I do. lol. If someone remembers---I'm sooo sorry and embarrassed to space out her nic! But using these types of sources that I got thru her, I try to figure out what my girls are eating and whether their needs are being met.... so....let's say.....if I were to find one of my girls refusing, for instance, chicken liver, I can search for nutritional info and replace it with at least a temporary solution of "whole-foods" vitamins and/or "raw-foods" vitamins, while trying to figure out better solutions to an issue. I'm thinking there are many sources for these types of whole-foods, raw-foods vitamins/minerals....one that comes to mind is Standard Process...(one of my girls, the oldest one, Cris, had a terrible flare up of itchies, and my vet recommended that company.... the product name is Antronex. It worked, and Cris is fine now). Probably none of this was helpful, but I hope something comes of it...and best wishes!:wub:


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## Gmthrust (Mar 3, 2010)

:sun:Natalie, thanks for that thread...gonna finish reading it now...just wanted to say thanks!


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## billsharp (May 3, 2011)

Thanks for all the help, you've given me some great leads. 

She won't eat raw chicken. If I braise it in butter she'll sometimes eat it.

I tried mixing minced liver in with the hamburger, but she left that too--although I may have mixed too much in. (She also left it when I mixed ground turkey in. Good grief.)

Jax, thanks, cooking slightly to get it jump-started OR giving frozen may be my best bet.


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