Archive for August, 2010

When I was young it was drilled into my head that you never ever ever eat pork even slightly rare – if you did than the trichinosis worms would get you!  I’m sure than many of you were told the same thing – it became part of the common knowledge – raw pork is bad.  Unfortunately, that thought process carries on today with raw feeders everywhere.  Many do feed pork but I can’t tell you how often experienced raw feeders will balk at feeding raw pork and will tell me

Pork isn't what it used to be - its better and safer than ever before!

“absolutely NOT”!  Who’s right?  Is it dangerous?

There are actually two concerns where pork is concerned.  Most people concentrate on trichinosis because its the one they have heard of, the one that they remember.  The other is pseudorabies and while many people aren’t aware of it, we will deal with that one next.

Trichinosis used to be a problem in the US.  Caused by a worm that encysts in the muscle meat of pork, it is transferred by ingesting infected meat.  Thankfully, through an eradication program, it has ceased to be a danger to humans OR other animals.

“The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that cases of human trichinellosis have declined to below 25 annually over the past several years. Only a few of these cases have been traced and associated with consumption of pork. A USDA, National Animal Health Monitoring System national swine survey conducted in 1995 reported the infection rate in United States swine to be 0.013%. Modern swine management systems have virtually eliminated trichinae as a problem in domestic pigs.” (www.aphis.usda.gov/vs/trichinae/)

Further, freezing, as well as cooking, kills the parasite.  While we, as raw feeders, aren’t exactly going to cook for our dogs, freezing is typical and normal operating procedure for most of us.  At A Place For Paws, all of our products are frozen prior to sale and our freezer is set at 10 degrees below zero.  According to the USDA, trichinae were killed instantly at -10 degrees F (-23.3 C).

Pseudorabies isn’t as well known as trichinosis.  This is perhaps because it does not affect humans.  It does, though, affect dogs and cats.  Fortunately, like trichinosis, pseudorabies is something that we really don’t have to worry about.

According to the USDA, “Currently, all 50 States are considered free of PRV in commercial production swine herds.  Commercial swine herds are defined as those herds which have adequate measures in place to prevent contact and potential infection from feral and transitional production swine which are known potential carriers of the PRV virus.”  Further, “No commercial production herds have been found to be infected with PRV since early 2003. Sporadic infections have been found in transitional production herds, those swine which are captured feral swine, or have the potential to come in contact with feral swine. Any infected transitional herds have been promptly depopulated when

Our Pork mix is a great source of variety for your dog (or cat) and is a great food for your animal who suffers from kidney issues

found, and intense epidemiological investigations have been conducted to ascertain that no viral spread to commercial production swine has occurred.” (www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_health/animal_dis_spec/swine/)

It is unclear as to whether freezing can or will kill the pseudorabies virus, but the chance that your dog or cat will contract the disease if you are feeding commercially raised domesticated pork from the United States is nearly non-existent.

So essentially the old thoughts on pork simply no longer fit in this world.  Such drastic measures have been taken over the years as to virtually eradicate such problems from our commercial hog population.  The benefits of pork outweigh the minute chance that it could harm our pets.  Its a great lean meat to feed and helps to add much needed highly available variety to the diets of many dogs and cats.  We market a special Pork blend that is a superb protein for dogs with kidney issues as it has Eggshellent Calcium rather than bone and is low in high phosphorus organ meats.  So while our distant memories may tell us that undercooked and raw pork is bad bad and bad, its important that we take that educated leap into the future and realize that pork isn’t what it used to be – its better, safer, cleaner and a perfect food to feed to our pets.

Its time for the annual K9 Fun Days and Greyhound Reunion!

Mark the dates – August 21st and 22nd – for the seventeenth annual K9 Fun Days and Greyhound Reunion to be held at

Greyhounds, swimming, agility, racing - tons of games and stuff to do at the 17th Annual K9 Fun Days!

the Cleveland MetroParks Polo Fields in scenic Moreland Hills, Ohio.  Two days of fun, fun and more fun for all dogs and their people!  You don’t have to be a greyhound to grab your people and come out for a rockin good time. Gates open both days at 10:00 am and close is at 5:00 pm.  All proceeds will benefit Greyhound Adoption of Ohio, Inc, a non-profit dedicated to finding homes for retired racing greyhounds.

There will be a practice agility course, Rescue Row where you can perhaps meet your newest family member, police dog demos, Search and Rescue demos, a Fun Dog Show with plenty of prizes, Dock Diving and a doggy pool, lure coursing, fun dog races and lots of games and challenges.

Vendors from 4 states will be on hand for you to purchase fun stuff for your dog and for you.  A Place For Paws will be there both days so come check us out for sure!

There is often some confusion amongst raw feeders as to what is organ meat,  or what is “offal”.  Most people have a general knowledge of what an organ is – considering we, as humans, have many.  Where the confusion comes along is figuring out which organs from which animals are okay for our pets, which organs give the best “organ nutrition”, how

Beef organ blend is one of the best of our organ blends as it contains a nice variety of organs in an easy to use ground mix

much of them to feed and what is and isn’t considered an organ.

What is considered an organ – seems like a silly question.  We all know what organs are, but do we really understand the difference between those that constitute an organ for the purpose of raw feeding and those that do not?  Oftentimes people feed that which is most available to them.  In the grocery store that means chicken and beef livers, chicken gizzards, chicken and beef hearts, beef kidney, and occasionally beef tongue.  Arguably all are organs – in a technical sense anyway.  What people don’t realize though is that certain of those listed above (whether they are from common animals or more exotic sources), aren’t going to give your pet what they need by way of organs when their whole diet is taken into account.

First let’s start with the organs that are, for the purpose of food, considered muscle meat.  These include hearts, gizzards and tongues.  Are they still organs?   Certainly.  For the purpose of raw feeding your pets though….the rules are a little different.

Beef heart is generally considered a muscle meat and should not be figured into your final organ amounts when feeding

Muscles meats such as those listed above, while technical organs, are not going to give your dog the nutrients and vitamins that you would be feeding organs for.  Since this is the case, you cannot feed hearts, tongues or gizzards and count it towards your organ totals – which should be approximately 10% of the total diet.  You count these instead as muscle meats realizing that you must still feed liver, kidneys, spleen etc. to hit that organ recommendation.

As stated above, organs should comprise approximately 10% of your dogs total diet.  Liver is probably the most important of the organs and thankfully is quite easy to obtain – especially beef and chicken livers.  Liver is rich in potassium, copper, and Vitamin A as well as the B vitamins.  Vitamins D, K and E are also well represented.  Because of the high amount of Vitamin A, liver should be fed often but in small quantities to avoid the dread “dire rear”.  Believe me, you’ll know if you have fed too much!  Other viable organs are kidneys, which are rich in Vitamins D, K, A and E, iron and zinc, and spleen which offers much of the same.  Remember that moderation is the key – you can easily feed too much and each dog, as an individual, is going to have a slightly different tolerance level

Liver is one of the most nutrient dense foods you can share with your dog and should make up the greatest portion of your organ feeding

for organs.

Offal can refer to organs in general and usually does.  It also refers to items such as raw green tripe (again, technically an organ but NOT an organ for the purposes of raw feeding your dog or cat).  Essentially, the term offal encompasses organs but is not an exclusive term for organs so don’t let it confuse you!

Organs are an important part of your pet’s diet but you need to know that if you are feeding items like hearts and gizzards only you are shortchanging your pet nutritionally speaking.  Always make sure to include some liver at minimum to your pet’s diet to give them access to those vitamins that they may not receive anywhere else.