# beef heart & beef liver....



## Lloyd-Cane Corso (Apr 6, 2015)

Here goes nothing. This is my first post in any forum, ever.
I have a thirteen month old Cane Corso. I'm current feeding Orijen dog food & have been buying frozen raw beef that come in 5# tubes from my local pet store. He gets 2 1/2 cups of Orijen mixed with 5oz of raw. Twice a day. I'm getting tired of paying so much for the raw portion of his food. I'm thinking about buying beef hearts and liver, grinding them up, and dividing them into daily portions. Does this sound like the correct way to handle this? Also any tips would be greatly appreciated.


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## Kritter (Jan 9, 2015)

Orijen already has liver in it so I would not add it. Heart would be ok as a topper but I would add it as no more than 10% of his total food for the day based upon his weight. You did not say how much he weighs. For instance, when I make food for my 32 lb dog she gets 2% of her weight per day in food, 10.24 oz. If I was including heart it would amount to 1 oz per day. Adjust your kibble according to the topper, and don't worry if it's not exact. As long as you can feel ribs, he has a waist, and his stools are well formed it's fine. I feed mostly on how my dogs look nowadays and rarely measure.


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## naturalfeddogs (Jan 6, 2011)

Beef heart and liver are both nutritionaly very rich, and can easily cause digestive upset if fed too much. And lots of times, mixing raw and kibble don't mix either, but if it's working for you keep doing it. Just keep an eye on poops. 

Really, it would be best to decide whether you want to feed raw, or kibble and stick with one or the other. If you go with raw, look into how to to go about it correctly, since it is more than just throwing them anything raw all of a sudden. Here is a site for you to look at with some good info on raw, and a getting started guide, just for some info for you.Prey Model Raw - PMR dog food


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## Kritter (Jan 9, 2015)

Lloyd, Orijen is a pretty rich kibble as it is so the heart may not pose any issues. I feed the Regional Red 2 times per week, separate from raw and my dogs have no digestive problems.


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## Lloyd-Cane Corso (Apr 6, 2015)

Thank you both for replying back to me. Currently Capone weighs 115 pounds. His poop is normal and ever since I started adding raw to his diet his poops are actually smaller. If I should only be using heart as a topper, what other meat parts should I be using? He seems to enjoy beef and lamb the most. He's not a big fan of chicken or turkey.


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## Kritter (Jan 9, 2015)

When you say parts, are you looking to feed raw meals instead of kibble? Or did you mean proteins? If you mean proteins I would add anything he likes, beef, lamb, or pork muscle meats in small amounts in rotation. My dogs get a variety and I include the 3 I mentioned plus buffalo, tripe, a little poultry sometimes to get the poultry fats in their diet. Heart is actually considered a muscle meat in raw feeding, but it is rich. I do a combination of raw grinds, raw meaty bones, and kibble because that suits our lifestyle.


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## Lloyd-Cane Corso (Apr 6, 2015)

I'm going to be mixing kibble & raw. He always snubs kibble by its self. So I mix raw in with his kibble. He had had no issues with me feeding him that way. I guess what I'm asking is what cuts of protein should I be feeding him? I'm not looking at buying a bunch of hamburger & steaks am I? This is something completely new to me, so I'm all ears. I've talked to a local butcher about grinding some beef heart & liver for me, but if liver would be to much for my dog to handle I don't want to feed that to him.


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## MollyWoppy (Mar 19, 2010)

Why grind? Just buy some meat and throw some on his food. Hell, I'd even throw a chicken quarter on top if I were you, that way his teeth would be cleaned as well. Heart is a great food, and it pays to give some now and then, chicken, beef, goat, pig, what ever you can source. Pig ears, anything. Any type of protein would work, just no weight bearing bones of large animals and maybe watch the fat content of some cuts (pig feet etc) until you know his stomach can handle it. If you buy from a supermarket, just watch the sodium content. Seriously, don't over think it, if I've managed to do this successfully for so long, anyone can.


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## Kritter (Jan 9, 2015)

Lloyd-Cane Corso said:


> I'm going to be mixing kibble & raw. He always snubs kibble by its self. So I mix raw in with his kibble. He had had no issues with me feeding him that way. I guess what I'm asking is what cuts of protein should I be feeding him? I'm not looking at buying a bunch of hamburger & steaks am I? This is something completely new to me, so I'm all ears. I've talked to a local butcher about grinding some beef heart & liver for me, but if liver would be to much for my dog to handle I don't want to feed that to him.


I've had luck mixing raw in with kibble for one of my dogs in the past. But no, buying steak at the store would defeat the cost savings you mentioned earlier. I buy my novelty grinds (and most organs) online, beef and pork whatever is on sale at the grocery store as long as its not enhanced. If the butcher is easier for you then I would just ask for whatever is on sale that week, plus any hearts, kidney, lung, pancreas, tongue would be a great addition to the kibble.

Have you thought about cracking an egg in his food or adding cottage cheese to get him to eat? Even adding the leftovers from your meals might work as long as it's not seasoned.


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## Lloyd-Cane Corso (Apr 6, 2015)

That is what I'm looking for. Actual cuts that I should be buying. All I've been able to find is people saying the word "meat". Not specifically saying what cuts of meat/organs to use. I had no idea you could buy pancreas, lungs & kidneys.like I said, I'm going to grind them up so it mixes with his food well.Should I keep everything separated after I grind it? Or is it ok to mix it all together? The butcher I've been talking to deals witha lot of grass fed animals, but I will be sure to clarify what I'm looking for. As for the egg, I've never tried it. Leftovers are a no go for him. I season everything lol.


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## Kritter (Jan 9, 2015)

I have a freezer with several shelves of organs! I personally only feed my dogs one protein at a time but plenty of people mix proteins with success. Just pick your recipe and have the butcher grind the ingredients all together. Grass fed is ideal. The amount of raw you are feeding is not going to put his diet out of balance but I will suggest starting with 1 oz of raw per meal and working up to 4 oz per meal to see how he handles it because organs are definitely richer. If you did want to use liver I would keep that separate and add small amounts and keep an eye on his stool. But Orijen uses it in their products so I would hesitate to feed too much. So aside from "meat" here are the cuts I use from various proteins - heart, liver, beef tripe, pancreas, lung, thymus, kidney, poultry gizzards, beef cheek. I hope that helps.


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## Kritter (Jan 9, 2015)

Lloyd - sorry I meant to say start at 1 oz and work up to 4 oz per day. This would keep it at a conservative ratio if you were feeding all raw.


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## Lloyd-Cane Corso (Apr 6, 2015)

Thank you so much! I spoke with the butcher. He is not allowed to sell pancreas or kidneys. He said he would see how much heart & tongue he will have for me after he butchers the cattle that are coming in. I'll have to check about the tripe & cheek. Again, thank you. This has been a great help to me!


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## Kritter (Jan 9, 2015)

Hope it works out. One more thing! If you decide to ask about tripe, it is GREEN tripe. Very stinky but my dogs love it. It's not the bleached tripe you might see in grocery stores. If you ever want to order your own organs I get mine from Reel Raw in Maine. Hare Today also sells them but I have never ordered from them.


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