# Another Pork Thread...



## xxshaelxx (Mar 8, 2010)

So, I've decided that once the pork is gone from my freezer, I think I'm cutting it out. I know that the problems with worms are supposed to be gone from meats in the US, but last night, in a conversation with my coworker, she said that she got some pork chops from someone to cook up for a pot luck, and when she opened them up, they were COVERED in worms. I'd rather not take the chance of one day finding worms in my dogs' food if they're still out there, especially if this could happen to someone I know.


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## RawFedDogs (Jun 16, 2008)

You're getting all bent out of shape for nothing. If you get your pork from the human food chain, you have no more to worry about pork than any other meat. I've been feeding my dogs raw pork weekly for almost 9 years without seeing anything unusual. I have never heard of anyone who did find anything in all my years on these raw feeding boards. I don't have a clue what the situation was with your coworker but there is something (s)he's not telling you.


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## List (Oct 28, 2008)

Pork is still a staple in my house. 
I must say, if you can 'see' the worms, chances are that the meat had gone bad and the worm are maggots. 

Trichinosis (the parasite in pork that everyone freaks out about), is essentially eradicated from the North American food supply.
If your getting your pork from hunters (wild boar) or small farmers there may be a chance of this parasite, but as stated many times freezing will kill it. 

To me it would be silly to stop feeding pork for the typical 'myths', its an affordable red meat source and its a great source of varity.

And keep in mind some people out there are under the belief that ALL RAW MEAT carries extensive parasites and deadly pathogens,and insist it will kill your dogs....so its important to take some things with a grain of salt. :smile:


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

First off, the worms that are carried in pork meat are in cyst form and you can't physically see with the naked eye. They are only visible by microscope. The two most common and worrisome parasites carried by pork products:

_Trichinella spiralis_










Prevalence in the US:










CDC - Trichinellosis - Prevention & Control

Trichinella spiralis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

_Taenia solium_

Which isn't a worm you'd see in the meat, it actually comes from ingesting meat contaminated with pig feces. 

Taenia solium - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I don't think you have anything to worry about. I bet your friend got pork that was infested with maggots. Which is gross but they are actually harmless.


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## xxshaelxx (Mar 8, 2010)

RawFedDogs said:


> You're getting all bent out of shape for nothing. If you get your pork from the human food chain, you have no more to worry about pork than any other meat. I've been feeding my dogs raw pork weekly for almost 9 years without seeing anything unusual. I have never heard of anyone who did find anything in all my years on these raw feeding boards. I don't have a clue what the situation was with your coworker but there is something (s)he's not telling you.


Ummmm...No, this WAS human-grade pork, it was MEANT for humans, not for dogs. She was going to bring the pork chops in for a work pot luck.

And I'm not getting all "bent out of shape," Bill...and just so you know, the words "bent out of shape" are pretty offensive. There are other reasons, too, like the fact that Ryou chucked up an entire pork meal yesterday morning after it was sitting in his stomach for 7 hours, and it was COMPLETELY undigested. Whereas the chicken he had eaten was absent, which I can only assume means that it was digested. And seeing that, I can't help but wonder if perhaps pork is just not right for his stomach. It's also the most expensive thing I buy at $1.39/lb, and I try to keep my costs under $1/lb, especially since I'm a single home-owner now and am trying to put as much money into savings as possible so I can not only do things that I enjoy, but so that I have money for if there are emergencies.


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

While it may be completely possible that Ryou is intolerant to pork, I still don't think parasites should worry you one bit. And you know that Bill can be pretty tactless sometimes :wink:


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## jdatwood (Apr 13, 2009)

xxshaelxx said:


> Ummmm...No, this WAS human-grade pork, it was MEANT for humans, not for dogs. She was going to bring the pork chops in for a work pot luck.


But you have no idea what the actual source of the pork was, how it was handled (improper refrigeration?), etc... other than she "got it from someone"?

If there were VISIBLE worms on the meat it was more likely they were maggots, NOT worms.




List said:


> And keep in mind some people out there are under the belief that ALL RAW MEAT carries extensive parasites and deadly pathogens,and insist it will kill your dogs....so its important to take some things with a grain of salt. :smile:


I'm probably going to die an early death since I like my red meat RARE, my pork slightly pink, eat RAW fish all the time :biggrin:


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## xxshaelxx (Mar 8, 2010)

danemama08 said:


> While it may be completely possible that Ryou is intolerant to pork, I still don't think parasites should worry you one bit. And you know that Bill can be pretty tactless sometimes :wink:


lol. Agreed...but I can be pretty tactless sometimes, too... *shifty eyes*

But yeah, that just made me think. I was thinking worms, not parasites, so I guess I was wrong there. But what she did describe did put me in mind of maggots. *cries and gags.* SO GROSS!!! I wouldn't even be able to touch it. haha.

And I don't think Ryou is really intolerant to pork, so much as it's not as easy for him to digest, and perhaps not the best protein for him.


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

Maybe just feed him smaller meals of it instead of a whole pork exclusive meal. Pork is an excellent source of fat and protein for dogs so it would suck to have to cut it out....


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## xxshaelxx (Mar 8, 2010)

danemama08 said:


> Maybe just feed him smaller meals of it instead of a whole pork exclusive meal. Pork is an excellent source of fat and protein for dogs so it would suck to have to cut it out....


I feed beef heart as their main source of beef, though, too, and that has just as much fat on it as the pork does. haha.

And I dunno if I can get over when I walked in front of that crate and looked down to see Theus munching on what looked to be a piece of bread, then reaching out and touching it to find that it was really slimy, disgusting, nasty pork fat. eeeeeeeeew! haha.


And Jon, I'm gonna die an early death, too...I LOVE my meat cooked as rare as possible. Otherwise it just seems too dry.


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## jdatwood (Apr 13, 2009)

xxshaelxx said:


> And I dunno if I can get over when I walked in front of that crate and looked down to see Theus munching on what looked to be a piece of bread, then reaching out and touching it to find that it was really slimy, disgusting, nasty pork fat. eeeeeeeeew! haha.


LOL! In our house if one of the dogs horks up their dinner and doesn't want to eat it again we send in the rest of the pack to clean up the mess :wink:


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## xxshaelxx (Mar 8, 2010)

This was seven hours old, though... haha.


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## JayJayisme (Aug 2, 2009)

One of my dogs horked up a partially chewed pork rib a couple days ago. I left it there since she was "guarding" it from my other dog and our visiting dog (also a raw eater). Later in the afternoon I came home and it was still there and she was still guarding it. She ate it some time that evening. I don't worry about it just like I don't worry when they leave meat in the sun for a few hours before they eat it. One of my dogs seems to prefer it when it's...um...past its prime.

My dogs love pork. I can't imagine not being able to feed it to them. It's extremely economical and a nice twice-per-week or so diversion from poultry. I love it too and eat it on the medium-rare side while I eat my beef blood rare (barely seared if possible).

As others have stated, if you actually saw worms on/in those pork chops, they were likely maggots and any meat that hasn't been stored and handled properly is susceptible to maggot infestation, including fish, beef, poultry, pork, and just about any meat you can think of. 

I once got a nice "red snapper" fillet at a local restaurant that is part of a national seafood chain (I won't mention names). I cut into it with my fork and a blob of dead (cooked) maggots spilled out. Put me off of fish for awhile but I got over it. I have a particular affinity for sashimi so I was happy to finally get past that episode and add fish back into my diet.


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## xxshaelxx (Mar 8, 2010)

JayJayisme said:


> I once got a nice "red snapper" fillet at a local restaurant that is part of a national seafood chain (I won't mention names). I cut into it with my fork and a blob of dead (cooked) maggots spilled out. Put me off of fish for awhile but I got over it. I have a particular affinity for sashimi so I was happy to finally get past that episode and add fish back into my diet.


HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! I probably work for said national seafood chain. 


As for letting the dogs eat it, I wasn't about to do that, because it sat in Ryou's STOMACH for seven hours. Not on the ground. It would probably have been fine, but I couldn't allow it just because it was probably the grossest thing I could imagine him doing...


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## Shamrockmommy (Sep 10, 2009)

I feed the dogs pork on occasion.

For the humans (well, mostly me), I am not fond of it. Takes me f o r e v e r to digest the dang stuff and my innards are terribly uncomfortable trying to attempt it and then it results in... well... I'm no fun to be around until it's worked out of my system.

The last of the people pork in the house is gone and I'm not going to purchase any unless dh or the kids ask for it. It just is... bleh.

The dogs do fine with pork here.


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## cprcheetah (Jul 14, 2010)

My hubby totally freaked on me shortly after I started feeding raw as there were what at first I thought were worms in my dogs water bowl, I quickly discovered they were mosquitoe larvae...how in the heck they got in her water bowl (which was changed every day) I have no clue. But I did a lot of research found videos of worms on pork (I think they were staged personally) and came to the conclusion that people will tell you stuff when you feed raw just to get a rise out of you as well as to try and deter you in any way possible. I had several people tell me the mosquito larvae in my dogs water bowl were worms that had crawled out of Zoey's mouth and into her water bowl while she was eating..... Yah I was like hmmmm.....okey dokey...took it with a grain of salt and haven't looked back.


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## xxshaelxx (Mar 8, 2010)

haha. No, it was totally not her intention to turn me off of raw feeding. Just pork.

That is pretty gross, though. I'd probably cry. eeeeeeeewwwwwww...


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## Ania's Mommy (Feb 8, 2009)

This is why I don't eat at potlucks. Ew.


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

i remember when i lived on the east coast, i bought purdue chickens and took them home....put them in a roasting pan....heated the oven..and when i came back, there were little white squiggly things all over the chicken.

the chicken, the roasting pan and i went back to the store...super fresh was the name of the store and i handed it to the meat guy and said, i don't know what it is, don't care, but you owe me two chickens and a roasting pan...

just sayin' this occasionally happens....: )


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## JayJayisme (Aug 2, 2009)

Shamrockmommy said:


> For the humans (well, mostly me), I am not fond of it. Takes me f o r e v e r to digest the dang stuff and my innards are terribly uncomfortable trying to attempt it and then it results in... well... I'm no fun to be around until it's worked out of my system.


I used to have this problem. Guess what fixed it? Eliminating carbs, especially high-glycemic carbs. I pretty much eat meat and veggies and some whole grains now. No more issues digesting meats. Carbs are the enemy...for people and dogs! :biggrin:


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## Shamrockmommy (Sep 10, 2009)

JayJay, I eat very little carbs and no grains at all most of the time. My body doesn't digest those things well at all either.


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

JayJayisme said:


> I used to have this problem. Guess what fixed it? Eliminating carbs, especially high-glycemic carbs. I pretty much eat meat and veggies and some whole grains now. No more issues digesting meats. Carbs are the enemy...for people and dogs! :biggrin:


that's exactly what we do....we eat protein in the form of meat, fowl, pork, fish...etc....veggies and some fruits...and no starches...occasionally bread...and that's a treat or i have to make honey a sandwich, because he's driving that day....

carbs ARE the enemy....


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## List (Oct 28, 2008)

....except when you have to eat a high carb diet.

I have to eat a diet VERY high in carbs, little to no fat and low protein. 

Carbs for people aren't so evil....without them I couldn't eat, lol.

For dogs and cats on the other hand. Evil.


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## RachelsaurusRexU (Sep 4, 2010)

I was looking at fish in my grocery store and there was a styrofoam package of whole smelt. One of them had some type of roundworm coming out of its vent. 

All animals carry parasites to some extent. Don't let it turn you off of pork! My dogs and cats go crazy for the stuff!


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