# Dehydrated liver/tripe?



## JulesMichy (Feb 15, 2008)

Does anyone know just how much the dehydration process affects vitamin content in liver and/or tripe? Y'see, my mom's dog has a serious aversion to organ meat, but loves anything and everything to do with jerky. If it's dried, shriveled and hard as a rock, he loves it. 

He currently takes a supplement that is made of freeze-dried bovine liver, lung, heart, etc. But I'd like to see him get some vitamin content in his actual diet instead of relying on a supplement.


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## kallie (Sep 3, 2001)

There is a website and I'm sure a google search would come up with it, on the process and vitamin difference in dehydrated meats. I remember finding this one site interesting, as it actually said that people that are allergic to beef "for instance"...would be able to handle "dehydrated beef"...anyway I'm rambling with that, I just found it to be interesting..

What about frozen liver? My dogs don't have issues with anything, I just freeze my liver in the amount each dog gets, then plop into their bowl frozen..Have you tried this?


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## JulesMichy (Feb 15, 2008)

> Originally Posted By: kallieWhat about frozen liver? My dogs don't have issues with anything, I just freeze my liver in the amount each dog gets, then plop into their bowl frozen..Have you tried this?


We've tried everything. I tried making offal patties where the liver and heart was hidden in ground turkey. My mom has tried dicing the liver very small and hiding it in ice cubes (which he loves). 

He is the most picky dog on the face of the planet, and it doesn't help that she has NO will power at all. She will not starve him for a few days until he eats the **** chicken liver. I tried to forbid her from feeding him for a few days until he'd eat the Nature's Variety pre-made raw, which he'd eat in tiny amounts to take the edge off of the hunger, and then hold out for something he wanted more. She caved on the third day and gave him some lamb neck.

Is dehydrated better than nothing, though?


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## natalie559 (Feb 4, 2005)

Have you tried different kinds of liver- like chicken, beef, etc.?

I know Penny passed once on chicken livers but loves beef livers.


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## kallie (Sep 3, 2001)

> Quote:Is dehydrated better than nothing, though?


 I know a few raw feeders that have the same issue with the liver, so they give dehydrated, I'm sure it is fine. They sell dehydrated for raw fed dogs...


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## 3K9Mom (Jun 12, 2006)

> Originally Posted By: kallie I remember finding this one site interesting, as it actually said that people that are allergic to beef "for instance"...would be able to handle "dehydrated beef"...anyway I'm rambling with that, I just found it to be interesting..


Hmmm. That is interesting. I bet this kind of just depends on the dog, especially with organ meats being dense and all. I know that Zamboni gets really gooey eyes eating beef. If she finds one of Camper's dehydrated beef liver squares and eats it, her eyes are just weepy nasty for about 10 days. Dehydrating it doesn't make a bit of good. 

So for a dog with serious allergies, I don't know if I personally would risk this. But, this is off topic. I'm just adding my rambling on top of Kallie's.









But, since the OP's mom's dog just has an aversion, and not a health-related reason to avoid the food, I'd say why not? Probably, the process of dehydrating does remove some of the "good stuff" but not nearly as much as cooking, much less cooking at high heat. Technically, just the water is being removed (although I'm sure it's being removed due to being subjected to quite a bit of heat).

But Natalie's suggestion about trying different kinds of liver makes a lot of sense. My GSD won't touch raw beef liver until it's diced tiny (which means *I* have to dice it







) and buried in other food. He's perfectly fine eating it cooked. But he likes raw chicken liver. 

Also, he loves kidney. Have you tried that?


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## kallie (Sep 3, 2001)

> Quote:Hmmm. That is interesting. I bet this kind of just depends on the dog, especially with organ meats being dense and all. I know that Zamboni gets really gooey eyes eating beef. If she finds one of Camper's dehydrated beef liver squares and eats it, her eyes are just weepy nasty for about 10 days. Dehydrating it doesn't make a bit of good.


This site was for humans not dogs, so it may not actually be the same for dogs. (Hey I told ya I was rambling there..







) I just found that to be an interesting statement. It was actually a site about allergy's and intolerance's to meat in humans..I just could not understand why this would make a difference, however they did give the reason. I'll look for the site..


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## JulesMichy (Feb 15, 2008)

> Originally Posted By: 3K9MomBut Natalie's suggestion about trying different kinds of liver makes a lot of sense. My GSD won't touch raw beef liver until it's diced tiny (which means *I* have to dice it
> 
> 
> 
> ...


So far we've tried chicken, beef and lamb liver, as well as chicken heart and pork heart. No go. She hasn't tried kidney, because I would love to see anyone try and get my mother to feed raw kidney to her dog. I've had a long, long battle with this woman over her dog. If you're at all interested in giving yourself a headache, feel free to read my former posts.

I'm going to go by the feed depot with her tomorrow while she's in town and pick up a bag of Free Range Baa Lamb Trail Mix. That's got liver, tripe and lung.


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## 3K9Mom (Jun 12, 2006)

Well, heart isn't organ meat. So don't get too worried about him not eating that.









Open the bag outside. While I haven't tried the Trail Mix, I will tell you that dehydrated tripe can stink up a house pretty fast!







I open the bag on the back deck; Camper eats it outside, and I stuff the contents into a zip loc bag all outside. That is some concentrated stinky stuff!


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## natalie559 (Feb 4, 2005)

> Originally Posted By: 3K9Mom Probably, the process of dehydrating does remove some of the "good stuff" but not nearly as much as cooking, much less cooking at high heat.


Actually I find it interesting that some foods have a higher nutritional value cooked. If you take a look at the USDA site for beef liver raw vs beef liver pan fried, you can see many of the nutrients increase with the food cooked.

per ounce beef liver:

raw vit A IU: 4731
cooked: 7305

raw copper: 2.731
cooked: 4.085


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## 3K9Mom (Jun 12, 2006)

Thanks for the info Natalie, because beef liver is served cooked in my house. 

That's actually exactly the sort of info I love to hear.







I'm doing something right for a change! 

(or, am I overdosing him on vitamin A?







)


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## natalie559 (Feb 4, 2005)

> Originally Posted By: 3K9Mom
> (or, am I overdosing him on vitamin A?
> 
> 
> ...


I wouldn't be as concerned with the vit A as I would be the copper (although, imo, the vit A concern is valid). For a 75# dog they only need 20mg of copper weekly, which in your case would be supplied in merely 4-5 ounces liver (not counting all other copper sources within the diet).


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## RubyTuesday (Jan 20, 2008)

The raw has more water, so an ounce raw vs an ounce cooked isn't the same beast. Not all ingredients are heat labile.


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