# How much Heart?



## zoozoo (Jan 19, 2015)

Hi all, quick question..
All of my dog's boneless meals are heart. I did some math and it turns out that 40% of her total food is heart meat (pork and beef). The rest is turkey necks, organs, and whole fish. Am I feeding too much heart, and if I am, what are the concerns/harm? Her stomach handles it just fine. 

I dont know what other meat to feed as a boneless meal. I try to avoid feeding chicken meat as it leaves her hungry the next day. Regular beef meat is out of my price range, and my meat supplier does not sell scrap/trim.


----------



## Kritter (Jan 9, 2015)

Hi zoozoo - I feed my dogs raw and when I feed beef I make sure the heart is not more than 20% of the total meat. With chicken, the gizzards/hearts I buy are not even close to that so it's a non-issue. 

I have noticed, in the pre-made raw I buy, that beef heart is the first ingredient. That concerns me, although I have no scientific reason. If you ate 40% cereal bars would you think that's ok, that's my only example at this time of day. So I rarely, barely feed pre-made, I just try it to justify why the heck I make my own dog food. 

I will ask what proportions of RMBs, organs, fish you are using and maybe you can adjust the heart accordingly. 40% seems a bit much to me. .....I have been supplementing beef heart (as a treat) to one of my dogs who has a heart murmur (like cures like). Another post I guess.


----------



## zoozoo (Jan 19, 2015)

Hi Kritter,

I can see why it feels like a concern to feed so much heart. I hope that someone can contribute some evidence or state why/why not this amount of heart can be harmful.

I package her meals into weekly portions, so it looks a little something like this (per week):
Heart (beef, pork): 40%
Bone (turkey necks): 28% (I figure that the actual bone percentage is lower - about 15-20% as the turkey necks are very meaty)
Liver: 6%
Kidney: 6%
Fish: 15%
Fat: 5% (I add extra fat to some meals as heart is very lean)

All of her boneless meats are heart which is why it is high.. I dont know what other boneless meat I can feed. I want to avoid poultry and it feels like my only other option would be pork.. any suggestions?


----------



## naturalfeddogs (Jan 6, 2011)

I know someone who feeds beef heart at every meal, because she has such a time keeping weight on him. It's fine to feed that amount of heart, it's just really rich and over doing it could cause cannon butt. The more variety of heart the better also, just like other proteins. Organs like liver are what could be bad overdone, due to high levels of vitamin A. 

You could feed boneless pork roasts, call deer processors for scraps. Not sure where you live, but you could also feed goat if you can find it, lamb, or duck. Duck is one of the richest of poultry. 

Have you tried running ads on craigslist for free older meats? If you have any classified papers in your area you could run ads in those as well.


----------



## zoozoo (Jan 19, 2015)

naturalfeddogs said:


> I know someone who feeds beef heart at every meal, because she has such a time keeping weight on him. It's fine to feed that amount of heart, it's just really rich and over doing it could cause cannon butt. The more variety of heart the better also, just like other proteins. Organs like liver are what could be bad overdone, due to high levels of vitamin A.
> 
> You could feed boneless pork roasts, call deer processors for scraps. Not sure where you live, but you could also feed goat if you can find it, lamb, or duck. Duck is one of the richest of poultry.
> 
> Have you tried running ads on craigslist for free older meats? If you have any classified papers in your area you could run ads in those as well.


Thanks for responding Jenny
Yeah, she does fine on this amount of heart, we havent seen cannonbutt in a long time, since transitioning. 
I might go ahead and replace one out of her 3 heart meals with pork. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about pork, but I guess it's something.
I live in NC, in the triangle area. I have called a couple of deer processors in the past and had no bites. If I had access to venison I would feed that in a heartbeat.


----------



## naturalfeddogs (Jan 6, 2011)

Domestic pork is fine to feed. Just don't feed wild boar.


----------



## zoozoo (Jan 19, 2015)

I'll do that then. Thank you. :smile:


----------



## Kritter (Jan 9, 2015)

How about green tripe, chicken gizzards (not sure if this is part of the boneless poultry you've tried but it's considered muscle when feeding), tongue (beef or duck I have seen recently), lung (although it's an organ and a muscle).


----------



## zoozoo (Jan 19, 2015)

Thanks for the suggestions Kritter. I don't consider tripe to be a boneless meat, more like just something extra to give to the dogs. I havent called my supplier for pork prices yet but I might ask how much turkey gizzards are, now that you mention it. Tongue is actually quite expensive here, though I have fed it in the past and it was a hit. Thanks again. :smile:


----------



## Kritter (Jan 9, 2015)

Zoozoo-I mostly feed tripe as a treat too, but I add in a few meals every so often. I believe you can feed up to 10%. Also, I have been hesitant to try pork too, but I think I am going to give it a go for variety. I plan on freezing it for 2-3 weeks just be safe (supposed to kill off parasite).


----------



## naturalfeddogs (Jan 6, 2011)

Freezing would kill parasites, but they are going to be in the intestines, which you aren't going to feed anyway.Freezing won't kill bacteria, which will still always be there if it's raw. I have fed pork plenty of times over the years without freezing first.


----------



## Kritter (Jan 9, 2015)

Ah, good to know. Thank you! Guess I'll order that pork heart and riblets sooner rather than later.


----------

