# Officially my least favorite meat to cut and bag...



## xxshaelxx (Mar 8, 2010)

Beef Spleen. EEEEEEEEWWWWWWW!!!

First of all, it smells something rank, which isn't so bad, because doing it outside makes my nose run in the cold, and eventually I can't smell a thing, coupled with the fact that I don't have to breathe through my nose, thus allowing me to not smell it...but the texture. Oh my dog...the texture! It is disgusting! Not only is it slimy and gushy, but it's SLIMY AND GUSHY!!!! And it looks just...eeeewwwww. And I had to do SIXTY pounds of it! My back is killing me. haha.

Anyways, what meat is the worst meat you've ever had to cut and bag? Why?


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## Sunyoung (Feb 18, 2011)

Hahaha... that sounds so gross. 


I haven't actually cut and bag any meat that throws me off - granted, I haven't been feeding raw for very long. I do love cutting up chicken though - it's fun to play with and look at the different muscles and joints.


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## BrownieM (Aug 30, 2010)

Chicken grosses me out. It is so slimy and smells so nasty. I actually can't eat chicken anymore because of it...

I think that red meat looks DELISH when it is raw, ha ha. I actually eat more red meat now!


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## Sapphire-Light (Aug 8, 2010)

Eww sounds gross.

I haven't experimented too mush but gizzards are tedious to cut in pieces the texture is like chewing gum, you see my dog is a toy poodle and have very small teeth, so I have to cut them in pieces since the first time I gave a gizzard he had a very hard time chewing it .

The meat that gross me the most is the beef stomash (raw or cooked) , just to see it it makes me want to puke. :yuck:


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## 3Musketeers (Nov 4, 2010)

Really grossed out by Beef Liver here, Beef kidney not so much, but it smells like cow-piss. uke:


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## xxshaelxx (Mar 8, 2010)

Sunyoung said:


> Hahaha... that sounds so gross.
> 
> 
> I haven't actually cut and bag any meat that throws me off - granted, I haven't been feeding raw for very long. I do love cutting up chicken though - it's fun to play with and look at the different muscles and joints.


Wait until you cut up some pork picnic roast. haha. There's only one big bone in there, but I loooooove getting down to the ball joint at the end, because it's so interesting seeing how it works and trying to cut it just right to slice it off. XP



BrownieM said:


> Chicken grosses me out. It is so slimy and smells so nasty. I actually can't eat chicken anymore because of it...
> 
> I think that red meat looks DELISH when it is raw, ha ha. I actually eat more red meat now!


haha. I usually have no problem cutting up red meat, because I love, love, LOVE my steaks cooked to mooing. But the spleens...eeewww...the texture was just sooooo flipping GROSS!

I'm not a big fan of cutting up chicken, either, because it's really slimy, and yes...it stinks. haha. Luckily I've never been much of a chicken person.



Sapphire-Light said:


> Eww sounds gross.
> 
> I haven't experimented too mush but gizzards are tedious to cut in pieces the texture is like chewing gum, you see my dog is a toy poodle and have very small teeth, so I have to cut them in pieces since the first time I gave a gizzard he had a very hard time chewing it .
> 
> The meat that gross me the most is the beef stomash (raw or cooked) , just to see it it makes me want to puke. :yuck:


Gizzards are a pain. haha. Luckily they're small enough to where my dogs won't choke on them if they swallow them whole, and it's an easy meat to bring back up if they need to. I still always keep an eye on them. I have to cut the gizzards up for my cats, though, and THAT is a pain!!! Dulls the knife really quickly. haha.


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## xxshaelxx (Mar 8, 2010)

3Musketeers said:


> Really grossed out by Beef Liver here, Beef kidney not so much, but it smells like cow-piss. uke:


Never had to deal with beef liver or kidney. But if it smells like cow piss..... uke:


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## bumblegoat (May 12, 2010)

Lamb testicles, definately. The texture was really disgusting. At least it didn't smell! Smell wise, the worst are probably pork kidney and liver... I think they smell much worse than the beef kinds! I even think pork kidney and liver are worse than tripe. I really don't mind the smell of tripe.


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## sassymaxmom (Dec 7, 2008)

Some yucky meats your dogs get!

I am so not a fan of cleaning chicken gizzards. You slice until you feel the grating of the knife against the grit inside, turn them inside out and scrape clean. I try to stay far away and once I picked up a chicken head and tried to clean it. Chicken heads don't slice open very easily. Yes, he could do it himself but that is a lot of grit.

Tripe is pretty horiible but ground sardines with rabbit guts is even nastier. It contains the furry head and feet so there is hair in it. It is brown like poop and smells horrible. Naturally Max adores the stuff.


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

Lamb lung (sorry Liz). They're a nasty combination of rubbery, mushy, and foam-like. BUt Ania loooves them, so I sacrifice.

Also, chicken feet. I am deathly afraid of all things bird. So watching my beloved baby gnaw on chicken feet totally skeeves me out. They actually move like real fingers!!! 

I make my chicken noodle soup from scratch and start with a whole chicken (not like ethnic-market-whole, just regular ol' American-grocery-store-whole. I'm not Re!). Before I fed raw, I would always make my husband clean all the guts out because I would literally cause myself to puke. But now chicken is my favorite thing to butcher because it makes me feel like a surgeon. So maybe with more time, the lamb lung won't bother me. 

But the chicken feet? I'll never get over those.


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## Northwoods10 (Nov 22, 2010)

Beef kidney has to be the worst so far. The smell is what gets me. Even when its mostly frozen. PUKE!


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## Liz (Sep 27, 2010)

Kidney gets me but lung is a close second it is just not quite as slimy. EEEWWW


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## BrownieM (Aug 30, 2010)

Rabbit is right there with chicken in its nasty smell. I really don't mind the smell of tripe at all (weird, huh?). The organs don't bother me too much, they are just a bit "sweet" smelling which kind of grosses me out. But not as much as chicken and rabbit slimey smellyness...


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## stajbs (Jun 5, 2010)

Apologies for lurking in the raw feeding forum but I have always been interested and am trying to get myself educated in preparation for the big step one day. It's no secret we cook for our dogs, use the 95% canned foods, and the dreaded kibble, usually with no grain, but at present Go Naturals Salmon and oatmeal. I still can't come up with a concise rational reason for not switching to raw but I seem to have myself convinced that the time is not right. However I have to admit that some of my hang ups include some of what has been mentioned in this thread. I definitely enjoy eating meat, so meat in itself is not a problem. I have to admit that I have always been heebed out by organ meats of any kind except chicken hearts. I've struggled with the smell of all organ meats over the years. When hubby pulls the organs out of a turkey at Thanksgiving I head for another room. lol I have eaten chicken hearts, and living in PA Dutch country have had my encounteers with Pig Stomach(ugh) and Rocky Mountain Oysters which I won't even allow myself to dwell on or I will puke. Then I read the reply about chicken feet and go into a tailspin. I am deathly afraid of birds of any type...chickens, ducks, geese(geez they can be nasty), turkeys etc. etc. I have a phobia about being clawed to death I think. Then there is their beaks...we won't go there. 

So, I feel I have dedicated myself to our dogs for many years,to the point where some have called us crazy and hermits, but when I read about the benefits of raw I feel guilty for depriving the dogs of a more natural diet. I'm old enough to not care what people think of how dedicated I will always be to our dogs, they are my life and a huge part of what is good in our lives. So I either see a psychiatrist or get past these hang ups through knowledge. 

I'll put my flame suit on, but if anyone has any constuctive wisdom to share about how one gets past these hang ups I would appreciate the input.

Thanks!!


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

stajbs said:


> Then I read the reply about chicken feet and go into a tailspin. I am deathly afraid of birds of any type...chickens, ducks, geese(geez they can be nasty), turkeys etc. etc. I have a phobia about being clawed to death I think. Then there is their beaks...we won't go there.


:redface: My bad! I didn't mean to scare you away. 

I think my point was that I am pretty much willing to ignore my personal fears and discomforts in order to provide well for my dog. And I believe that you share that sentiment at least in part from what you are saying.

I think that most parents (of furkids and skinkids) are willing to do almost anything for the health and wellbeing of their babies. Even confront our deepest fears.

And I will continue to feed chicken feet. THey aren't totally necessary to the diet, but they are a great source of glucosamine and condroitin. And Ania is a large breed working dog.

Be honest. It's mostly the beady little eyes, isn't it?


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## xxshaelxx (Mar 8, 2010)

stajbs said:


> Apologies for lurking in the raw feeding forum but I have always been interested and am trying to get myself educated in preparation for the big step one day. It's no secret we cook for our dogs, use the 95% canned foods, and the dreaded kibble, usually with no grain, but at present Go Naturals Salmon and oatmeal. I still can't come up with a concise rational reason for not switching to raw but I seem to have myself convinced that the time is not right. However I have to admit that some of my hang ups include some of what has been mentioned in this thread. I definitely enjoy eating meat, so meat in itself is not a problem. I have to admit that I have always been heebed out by organ meats of any kind except chicken hearts. I've struggled with the smell of all organ meats over the years. When hubby pulls the organs out of a turkey at Thanksgiving I head for another room. lol I have eaten chicken hearts, and living in PA Dutch country have had my encounteers with Pig Stomach(ugh) and Rocky Mountain Oysters which I won't even allow myself to dwell on or I will puke. Then I read the reply about chicken feet and go into a tailspin. I am deathly afraid of birds of any type...chickens, ducks, geese(geez they can be nasty), turkeys etc. etc. I have a phobia about being clawed to death I think. Then there is their beaks...we won't go there.
> 
> So, I feel I have dedicated myself to our dogs for many years,to the point where some have called us crazy and hermits, but when I read about the benefits of raw I feel guilty for depriving the dogs of a more natural diet. I'm old enough to not care what people think of how dedicated I will always be to our dogs, they are my life and a huge part of what is good in our lives. So I either see a psychiatrist or get past these hang ups through knowledge.
> 
> ...


You know, I don't blame people like you for not feeding raw, just because you have problems with handling CERTAIN meats. What bothers ME is when people are, like, "it's unsanitary!" yet they cook all kinds of meat for themselves. YOU'RE STILL HANDLING RAW MEAT!!! It's JUST as unsanitary! Or the people with bs notions about it, like dogs will choke, or dogs will get perforated stomachs, or salmonella, or this, or that. I'm glad that you RECOGNIZE that raw is the BEST option for a dog, but as we all say, raw isn't for everyone. There are just some obstacles that some people CAN'T get over, and we don't want to make it too much hassle for YOU so your dogs can live that much more comfortably. You're at least interested in giving what is best for them, and that's what counts the most.

So don't let us pressure you into it until you're ready.


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## sassymaxmom (Dec 7, 2008)

Watch the dog eating, don't look at the icky stuff. When Max was eating those llama heads I didn't mind so much as you could see it was what he was meant to eat - if I just didn't look at the thing. I made liver cookies for years and cleaning out the blender was horrible but after decades of dealing I sort of like the smell if there is some garlic involved now as the dogs' response was always so positive. And outside is a good thing. The hose can clean up any lingering ickies, smell is diluted and you can be further from the dog and the goody. When I am dealing with weird bits cold keeps the smell down and I do the work in the sink so clean up is super easy. I give Max the bin to clean up for me and it helps, his positive response to the nasty work I just did helps a great deal.


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## JayJayisme (Aug 2, 2009)

I've found beef and pork kidneys to be the worst smelling. Pork and beef melts (spleen) are a close second but I think kidneys are worse. Partially freezing organ meat (or freezing and partially defrosting) is a great way to make them easier to slice and it also keeps the smell under control to some degree.


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## Nani (Apr 14, 2010)

For me tripe is the nastiest!!! Granted I've never fed spleen or pork kidneys but I can't imagine anything else smelling worse than tripe. None of the other meat or organs have ever bothered me. I do a lot of cooking and have handled and cut up all sorts of meat for us humans so raw meat just doesn't faze me. When I am packaging the tripe I try to breathe through my mouth.


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

Ania's Mommy said:


> Lamb lung (sorry Liz). They're a nasty combination of rubbery, mushy, and foam-like. BUt Ania loooves them, so I sacrifice.
> 
> Also, chicken feet. I am deathly afraid of all things bird. So watching my beloved baby gnaw on chicken feet totally skeeves me out. They actually move like real fingers!!!
> 
> ...


...i use a whole chicken, but first i use chicken feet....nothing better than bones to make a broth LOL

i didn't know lungs grossed you out. i kind of like them.

but my dogs will never never never ever again get pork liver......blech...i can't take the smell...and i'm pretty good about smells....when you've autopsied a floater...oooohhhh...sorry ...wrong discussion LOL


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## luvMyBRT (Mar 8, 2010)

I think the worst I've had to mess with so far is beef liver....and that wasn't really that bad. I am hoping to get my hands on some tripe...I'm excited for that experience. :nod:


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## stajbs (Jun 5, 2010)

Thanks for not shooting me with flame throwers guys. lol I guess it will be a matter of just getting past the hang-ups, and some of the methods you mention sound logical and quite viable to me. Annia's Mommy was it you that talked about the chicken feet, I forget, but I knew if my dogs were going to get glucosamine it would need to come from that source. You didn't scare me away, in fact it's nice to know I'm not the only one who has a problem with chickens/birds. The hang up I have with birds is their talons and their darned beaks. It probably truly is a dumb phobia. Again, thanks for the input, I will continue to lurk and learn from the masters here on DFC and maybe one day I will get there. If not with my special needs seniors maybe with a new dog one day.

PS You're right the beady eyes are a bit freaky too, lol, but I'm used to staring into blue eyes that can look oh so soft, or oh so direct and almost evil, the beady eyes...hmmmI'll add thatt o my list of phobias. lol


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## mischiefgrrl (Oct 28, 2010)

You are all a lot braver than I am. The most effort I put into it is; open package, grab meat, stuff in bag, stuff in freezer. I'll slice smaller portions off of a kidney or liver for Tiffa and cut ribs in meal portions and that's it. I see whole lamb heads at the market where I get meat for the dogs and there is just no way I could watch my dogs eat that! I don't do the chicken feet either.


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

stajbs said:


> Annia's Mommy was it you that talked about the chicken feet, I forget, but I knew if my dogs were going to get glucosamine it would need to come from that source.


It was me. Sorry! 

Chicken feet are definitely not the only thing with naturally occurring glucosamine and condroitin. It is present in lots of body parts. Trachea, gullets, tripe, as well as any joint connective tissue. Anything containing cartilage will have glu/con. Chicken feet are just the easiest for me to come by and have an abundance of each, since they're mostly all cartilage.

I look at chicken feet as a vitamin, and not a meal. And you certainly don't have to feed them at all. In fact, the effectiveness of glu/con for joint health is not really proven. I just feed it as more of a precaution. I wouldn't want to not feed it and have it turn out to be a miracle cure-all (which is also why I feed tripe, but that's another thread). And it's certainly not harmful to include it. Plus, Ania loves them.


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## martye (Mar 9, 2011)

okay, I gotta ask this, the talons on the chicken feet, do they present a problem for
the dogs? 
and FWIW my grandmother always added chicken feet to her chicken soup.

Marty


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## xxshaelxx (Mar 8, 2010)

stajbs said:


> Thanks for not shooting me with flame throwers guys. lol I guess it will be a matter of just getting past the hang-ups, and some of the methods you mention sound logical and quite viable to me. Annia's Mommy was it you that talked about the chicken feet, I forget, but I knew if my dogs were going to get glucosamine it would need to come from that source. You didn't scare me away, in fact it's nice to know I'm not the only one who has a problem with chickens/birds. The hang up I have with birds is their talons and their darned beaks. It probably truly is a dumb phobia. Again, thanks for the input, I will continue to lurk and learn from the masters here on DFC and maybe one day I will get there. If not with my special needs seniors maybe with a new dog one day.


lol. I really don't get why people think that we're gonna jump out with flame throwers every time someone says they won't feed raw for "this" reason, unless they're saying it in a derogatory fashion. We're just normal people, like everyone else, just very passionate about feeding our animals raw.  We don't want to chase people away by jumping out with flame throwers. We want to educate!


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## stajbs (Jun 5, 2010)

Ania's Mommy, thanks for clarifying for me that there are other sources. You have no idea how relieved that makes me. lol No need to apologize either I was literally relieved to know I wasn't the only one with an issue with birds. Shoot for years as a child and as an adult I have always been the one who pulled the meat off the bones and then cooked it too to get a base for soups. I know it's not proven to be effective, yet after having seven sibes and working them albeit recreationally primarily, and never having one suffer with stiffness/arthritis I tend to swear by it. Just my personal experience. Okay that's one hang up I can toss out the window. Thanks!! 

xxshaelxx, In reality I knew you guys would not shoot me with flames, lol I was just hesitant to post in this forum. However like I said I do lurk here in order to learn. So as you said, I appreciate the opportunity to get educated. Sheez, you know I need education after all I'm the one on FB who thought that pregnant white sibe was a chubby male. I think in my heart I saw a white sibe and just thought of our white boy. Call me Idiot with a capital I!!!! BTW I appreciate the passion you folks have for feeding raw, we all have our passions about our furkids.

Thanks again everyone.


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## Sunyoung (Feb 18, 2011)

stajbs, just to add to what Ania's Mommy said, trachea and gullet (and tripe) can be bought ground up so you don't have to look at it and think, "Ewwwwwwwwww.."

You might have the stomach for trachea and gullet, but it grosses me out in a whole form.


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## schtuffy (May 17, 2010)

For all the funky things I've seen visiting Asia while growing up, the thing I hate cutting up the most at this moment is, strangely,....turkey drumsticks -____- I think I find certain muscle meats more gross than organs and all those other weird things. There is just something about the way a turkey leg smells that makes me absolutely gag...the color of the meat, the tendons, blechhh! I haven't cut up kidney yet, but I've heard the pee stories. There's just something about weird things like liver and other organs that are so funky to the point where it just becomes intriguing if you know what I mean. As a kid (actually...still do this day!) I liked to go through the meat sections in ethnic markets and 'gross myself out' with all the weird things I find there. It's just so....strangely interesting to me! :shocked: Gross, but intriguing...I just have this gross fascination I guess. I also cut my organs up while they are still semi-frozen, maybe that lessens the gross factor.


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## Angelwing (Feb 20, 2011)

sassymaxmom said:


> I am so not a fan of cleaning chicken gizzards. You slice until you feel the grating of the knife against the grit inside, turn them inside out and scrape clean. I try to stay far away and once I picked up a chicken head and tried to clean it.


Gizzards need to be cleaned? I haven't fed yet and they came frozen but I didn't know they should be cleaned. Thanks for the tip!


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## bumblegoat (May 12, 2010)

Angelwing said:


> Gizzards need to be cleaned? I haven't fed yet and they came frozen but I didn't know they should be cleaned. Thanks for the tip!


Depends, the gizzards I see at the stores are already cleaned. If they are opened then they are usually cleaned.


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## Nani (Apr 14, 2010)

Angelwing said:


> Gizzards need to be cleaned? I haven't fed yet and they came frozen but I didn't know they should be cleaned. Thanks for the tip!


I didn't know they needed to be cleaned either. I've fed them a lot and never once cleaned them. Should I be cleaning them?


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