# Spleen and other organs



## kathylcsw (Jul 31, 2011)

After having to rely on liver and kidney as my only organs sources for a year I have finally found some other organs. I have a small pack of venison sweetbread and some venison sweetmeats to feed at some point. Next week I am picking up some pork spleen.

Has anyone else fed spleen? Did your dog(s) like it? Lola has been finicky about ostrich liver and lamb kidneys so I worry that she might have issues with a new organ. I hope they do well because I now have a source for pork, beef, and lamb spleen.

Also my dogs have been raw fed for a year now - which for Buster is since I brought him home at 8 weeks. Can I give them a new organ as a meal without slowing introducing? I have to finsih up the lamb kidney and then I want to add in some of the new organs I have.


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## naturalfeddogs (Jan 6, 2011)

Unless either one has sensitivity to new stuff, I would just give it as normal.


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## BearMurphy (Feb 29, 2012)

it depends on the dog. i intro organs a little at a time because that's how I normally feed them but I just gave murphy pancreas for the first time recently and he did fine with it. Spleen is more likely to cause loose stool than kidney though because it's almost as gelatinous as liver.......not sure if that's the best way to describe it but I see it as second to liver in producing loose stool when compared to other organs I have purchased.


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## whiteleo (Sep 7, 2008)

I've never fed any new proteins as a meal until they have been introduced a few times with no issues. I feed lamb spleen but not as a meal, just part of a meal.


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## wolfsnaps88 (Jan 2, 2012)

First, OMG! SANTA! Nice. My dogs would probably not cooperate to do a cool pic like that!

When I first fed spleen (and testicle), I just gave them a little bit at a time. Doing it as a whole meal or a large portion of a meal is asking for disaster. I am sure some dogs have iron guts and can handle it but why chance that?

Congrats on the "new" stuff.


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## kathylcsw (Jul 31, 2011)

When I say feed as a meal I do mean part of a meal. I feed organs weekly so liver makes up about 1/3 of a meal and the other organ makes up 1/3 on another day. Buster has to have his liver split over 2 meals because the entire weekly amount in 1 meal gives him loose stool. I guess I will err on the side of caution and divide the new organs over 2 meals as well.

BearMurphy your description makes me dread having to deal with spleen. I HATE messing with liver because it is so icky. Kidney may stink but it is a nice firm texture.


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## Fundog (Oct 25, 2012)

I only just got my girls onto organs a few weeks ago... but very slowly. Having more than a teaspoon of organ at a time will make their stools too loose.

Just the other night I gave them each a whole kidney with the rest of their boneless meat: I have since learned, and will not make that mistake again, even though the kidneys were small! LOL

In addition, I've found that especially since some organs are larger and smaller than others, and also size of organs varies between species of prey, if I just cut up all the organs, and put a little tidbit in each portioned out bag of meat, whether it has bone or not, then they are more likely to get a good rotation of organ-- in other words, one day it might be liver, and another day they might find a delicious bite of testicle... (a billy goat's prostate gland is so small, it's a wonder I even found it, lol!)

So far all they've had is chicken liver, beef liver, and all goat organs-- well, I'm saving the brain for their Christmas Dinner-- and so far they love all the organs the way I love chocolate. :tongue:

But with mine I do have to be careful, and only feed a bite sized "truffle" with each meal. Ironically, I feel like the organs are spreading a bit farther this way too, so I don't worry about needing to run out and buy more really soon. :thumb:


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## BearMurphy (Feb 29, 2012)

kathylcsw said:


> BearMurphy your description makes me dread having to deal with spleen. I HATE messing with liver because it is so icky. Kidney may stink but it is a nice firm texture.


I'm all about the poultry shears lately. I use it for anything that's a pain to cut with a knife. I've also heard some people say they cut spleen semi-frozen.


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## kady05 (Jul 29, 2011)

kathylcsw said:


> BearMurphy your description makes me dread having to deal with spleen. I HATE messing with liver because it is so icky. Kidney may stink but it is a nice firm texture.


Oh if you hate liver, you're going to loathe spleen LOL. I actually just cut up 10+ lbs. of it (beef spleen) this morning. It's so freaking nasty.. it doesn't smell (to me), but it's so.. bloody and.. it just..sticks everywhere. It's just gross.

But, my dogs have no issues with it, and eat it just fine!


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## naturalfeddogs (Jan 6, 2011)

Your dogs can't imagine why you would think It's so bad!


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## Elliehanna (Jan 16, 2012)

so note to self...when I finally find the frozen spleen in my freezer cut it semi frozen to not get the entire counter covered in blood


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## kathylcsw (Jul 31, 2011)

kady05 said:


> Oh if you hate liver, you're going to loathe spleen LOL. I actually just cut up 10+ lbs. of it (beef spleen) this morning. It's so freaking nasty.. it doesn't smell (to me), but it's so.. bloody and.. it just..sticks everywhere. It's just gross.
> 
> But, my dogs have no issues with it, and eat it just fine!


You guys are scaring me! Sometimes I am convinced that I have lost my mind especially when I am elbow deep in blood and organs. They better like it! How big is a pork spleen?


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## GoingPostal (Sep 5, 2011)

I don't even know what a spleen looks like lol. I assume I must have gotten the deer and goat spleen because I got all the stuff but intestines. I often think these days I should have paid more attention in science dissections.


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## kathylcsw (Jul 31, 2011)

I dissected a fetal pig in high school and college biology but I don't remember much about it.


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## wolfsnaps88 (Jan 2, 2012)

This is the only picture I have of a spleen. This is from a cow and I already sliced it up. It is the pile in the middle (the left is cut up trachea and the right is cut up tripe). I am sure a quick google search would turn up better pics. This spleen came attached to tripe I got from the slaughterhouse. It was kind of a bonus. I can't remember how big it was, maybe 10-12 inches long?? The most interesting thing is how flat it is. It looks the same on a deer only smaller. I believe it sits close to the stomach. If you see something flat, its probably the spleen. 












Special thanks to Neeko for reminding me that this is a spleen. LOL


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## whiteleo (Sep 7, 2008)

The lamb spleen is nice and small like little packages of presents.....


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## shellbell (Sep 24, 2011)

I think spleen is the most messy organ to deal with. But if you cut it while it is still mostly frozen, then it is a lot less messy.


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## kady05 (Jul 29, 2011)

The beef spleen I got was HUGE, like, long. It's thin though. Next time I'll cut it while it's still partially frozen, hopefully that'll help with the blood part. And I thought liver was bloody.. ha!


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## Felix (Oct 9, 2012)

kady05 said:


> The beef spleen I got was HUGE, like, long. It's thin though. Next time I'll cut it while it's still partially frozen, hopefully that'll help with the blood part. And I thought liver was bloody.. ha!


Yeah, the spleen is nothing BUT blood pretty much. A super bloody organ


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## Fundog (Oct 25, 2012)

The spleen from the goat I harvested wasn't so bad.... yeah, my cutting board was already bloody from everything else though...

but here's a trick you can do that your dogs will think is absolutely de-lish, and makes cleanup just a tad easier: take some ordinary chunks of some sort of ordinary meat (I used beef trim) and use those bits to sop up the blood (for me, it was goat's blood)-- the way you might use French bread to sop up olive oil-- and plop those bits in a baggy to use either as a meal or as treats.... oh, what a delicacy your doggies will think that is!

I also let my doggies lick the cutting board when I'm through butchering. But... it's a dedicated dog food cutting board, and it's HUGE.


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