# How important is it to feed green tripe?



## Gia (May 29, 2009)

Hi,

I've fed fresh, previously frozen, green tripe from grass fed cattle for the first time...and I'm pretty horrified by the smell. :yuck: If a cow could vomit, this is what it would smell like. 

For those of you that feed it, how much and how often do you feed it? Is green tripe a necessary component to a balanced raw diet? 

Of course, my dog LOVED it, lol!


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## Jgk2383 (Oct 27, 2010)

The responses you will get will vary. Some will say its a super food and you should feed it as often as you can. Others will say occasionally is fine and someone else will say that its not important at all. I personally feed it as much as I can because of the digestive enzymes it has because my dogs, german shepherds, are prone to all kinds of digestive disorders and the extra enzymes are supposed to help. Does it help? I have no idea, but my dogs love it and it makes me feel better to feed it even if I almost vomit everytime I open the bag. :wacko:


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## Gia (May 29, 2009)

Hey thanks for the speedy reply...

I fed it to my German Shepherd, too. I couldn't feed it to my other dog, because of a beef allergy, she really wanted some and I felt bad not letting her have any, but she absolutely cannot have any beef or beef products...I won't even let her lick my other dogs bowl after she's eaten beef out of it, lol!

I've been researching tripe and it does seem be a very good food, especially for dogs with kidney problems, due to the low phosphorous content. My GSD doesn't have an extremely sensitive gut, but I'm sure that the digestive enzymes would help with properly digesting all the RMB's.

Anyway, thanks again for your input! 

(I live in ranch country and have worked on farms which included mucking stalls that housed dairy cows and milking cows by hand....tripe smells worse than anything you can find in a barnyard!!)


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## BrownieM (Aug 30, 2010)

I have heard the same thing about the low phosphorus count being good for dogs with certain medical conditions, so that is definitely a plus! As far as digestive enzymes, everything I have read has indicated that because the tripe comes from the stomach of an herbivore, the enzymes really are of no use to our dogs. That being said, in my opinion, if it provides variety and the low phosphorus content your dog needs, why not feed it?


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## sassymaxmom (Dec 7, 2008)

I feed green tripe maybe every other week for a couple days. It is part of the animal and I am trying to model prey so it fits with the diet. I don't make a huge deal about it or anything although I sure would like to get some chunks rather than ground stuff. Max doesn't care but I like him to have fun chewing on stuff.

Believe it or not you get used to the smell. I started out with canned tripe and opened the can, fed it and closed the can up outside and did the same with greentripe.com brand raw tripe. Now I use my bare hands to portion it into smaller bags and Max often eats it in the house.


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## whiteleo (Sep 7, 2008)

I love feeding tripe to the dogs, they go crazy for it and its good for them IMO.

The smell never really bothered me and you do get used to it, just ask my husband! Lol:ainkiller:

I feed the ground on a regular basis mixed with trachea as it is a good way to get chondroiton.


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## Gia (May 29, 2009)

Thanks for all the input, everyone! Brownie made a point about the digestive enzymes (possibly) being species specific to the cow and therefore not useful to a dog. I didn't know that, but was looking for some back-up information about that. Brownie, I'm just a fact checker, I'm not calling you out or anything ridiculous like that. :smile: You are super nice and your poodles are gorgeous!

I did find that the nutritional analysis proved that green tripe had a high level of the same beneficial bacteria that is in yogurt, Lactobacillus Acidophilus. Which I didn't know. 

Well, I still have half of a 1 lb. package of ground green tripe left over from last night and well see if I can handle the smell this morning! LOL I am not convinced that I will someday be dolling it out with my hands while humming "It's a Beautiful Morning...." but I'm hopeful! hahahah :biggrin:


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## BrownieM (Aug 30, 2010)

Thanks, Gia! My poodles got some green tripe this morning :smile: I see it as just another type of muscle meat. I think it is a good thing to feed for variety but I don't buy the "miracle enzymes" argument. I have some ground tripe with added spleen and I also have some big chunks that I bought from My Pet Carnivore. My dogs seem to love it! Nice and stinky...:hungry:


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

i feed a ground tripe with trachea.....the dogs love it and i see it as yet another animal part in keeping with the prey model.

do i think it is a super food? i think it definitely has something to offer...since i noticed a difference (subtle) in my dogs....seems like it was the finishing touch...and my dogs are fed a considerable variety, although not as much as some...


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## RawFedDogs (Jun 16, 2008)

Gia said:


> I did find that the nutritional analysis proved that green tripe had a high level of the same beneficial bacteria that is in yogurt, Lactobacillus Acidophilus. Which I didn't know.


Unless your dog has some serious digestive problems, it has all the acidophilus it needs already. Adding more accomplishes nothing.


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## Caty M (Aug 13, 2010)

I also don't believe it has super healing powers, but I do feed it because it's by far my dog's favourite food, and it IS still a part of the animal, lol. I used to feed canned tripe which stunk so bad! But now I feed ground which kind of just smells like a farm :tongue:


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## Jgk2383 (Oct 27, 2010)

Gia is that your dog in your avatar? Gorgeous!! Is he a DDR??


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## 3Musketeers (Nov 4, 2010)

Don't mean to hijack, but where do you guys buy the green tripe? Markets seem to sell only the useless bleached type -_-.
Tripe may not be necessary, but makes for some nice (not so nice-smelling?) variety.


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## whiteleo (Sep 7, 2008)

I buy cases through my co-op who orders through greentripe.com, which is quite expensive, but when we have people who order 2 pallets worth we get a good deal! It is by far the one database that is the most popular, they have it every 2-3 months and one for WA and one for OR.


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## rawdogs (Jan 29, 2011)

I feed green tripe at least 4 times a week,hard to believe i know ,but you do get used to the smell,i also break it up with bare hands now:biggrin1:


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## Gia (May 29, 2009)

Jgk2383 said:


> Gia is that your dog in your avatar? Gorgeous!! Is he a DDR??



Yes, thank you! That is my GSD, she is actually 100% Czech. But, I think the differences between DDR and Czech are few. She is high drive and can be a handful, but I like that about her! :biggrin:


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## Gia (May 29, 2009)

3Musketeers said:


> Don't mean to hijack, but where do you guys buy the green tripe? Markets seem to sell only the useless bleached type -_-.
> Tripe may not be necessary, but makes for some nice (not so nice-smelling?) variety.


I bought the fresh frozen green tripe (and it is really GREEN, like fresh cut grass!) from Darwin's pet food, but also bought a couple of cans, which I haven't opened yet, one from Solid Gold and one from Merrick's Before Grain. The cans are not 100% tripe and are cooked, but the frozen kind is raw and 100% tripe.


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## Gia (May 29, 2009)

rawdogs said:


> I feed green tripe at least 4 times a week,hard to believe i know ,but you do get used to the smell,i also break it up with bare hands now:biggrin1:


I see you have a Giant Schnauzer! My other dog is a black Standard Schnauzer! Aren't they a hoot? They have such a great sense of humor for dog....mine is full of the dickens!


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## rawdogs (Jan 29, 2011)

Hi GIA,
Agree with you,at nearly 5 she has calmed down a bit now ,at least in the house,but outside playing with other dogs shes a complete loon,when she was going through the teenage stage there were times i could have strangled her,but i love her to bits and can,t imagine not having her around, if you are interested there is a good schnauzer forum i visit ,i could pm you the details.


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## Caty M (Aug 13, 2010)

I used to feed the Merrick canned tripe to my cat before they changed the formula - it used to be just tripe, now it's a 'complete' food. The brand I feed to them now is Tripett I think. No added anything, and apparently it tastes good.. *shudder*. They don't like the fresh stuff.


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## isabellak (Oct 26, 2010)

I can get Trippet. Is the canned tripe as good as fresh/frozen from a distributor?


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## Jgk2383 (Oct 27, 2010)

Gia said:


> Yes, thank you! That is my GSD, she is actually 100% Czech. But, I think the differences between DDR and Czech are few. She is high drive and can be a handful, but I like that about her! :biggrin:



I have 3 czech dogs! LOVE THEM. I thought DDR because to me in the avatar picture her head looks blocky but now in the new one its not as blocky. Gorgeous. Can I ask her pedigree??


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## Gia (May 29, 2009)

isabellak said:


> I can get Trippet. Is the canned tripe as good as fresh/frozen from a distributor?



I expect it is like any canned vs fresh food....the canned is good, but the fresh is better!


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## Gia (May 29, 2009)

Jgk2383 said:


> I have 3 czech dogs! LOVE THEM. I thought DDR because to me in the avatar picture her head looks blocky but now in the new one its not as blocky. Gorgeous. Can I ask her pedigree??


How cool! Three of them? Wow! My dogs mother just had 10 puppies right after Christmas! Different sire than my girl, but still Czech. The pups are stunning, solid blacks and super dark black sable, darker than mine. 


Here are some of her relatives...another generation back, her sire's parents have so many titles and ratings it looks like alphabet soup! The titles are longer than the names!

V Galant z Pohranicni Straze Grandfather 

5CKIS/45 Quanda Policia Grandmother

VYBORNY 5Y1/P Hobby Pisecna boure Grandfather

DOBRY Axa Naspo Grandmother 



I'd love to see pictures of yours!! :smile:


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## Jgk2383 (Oct 27, 2010)

my Girl is a VD 5QX5/55 Saturn Eqidius 5JV5/5,5 P 1.TR. Nike Egidius Kinte vom Sickinger Moorwerk on the sires side and VD3 Hagi Barnero Orna Ben-Ju G Efa Stastena on the dam

one of my boys is a Dyk Mania Bohemia, SG Zoran Ben Ju, SG Grim z Pohranicni straze CS on top and Danni tobani kaj od policie on the bottom. I left out the titles they are too long lol

my second boy is from eurosport k9 and is a Frankie Anrebri and Hanibal egidius grandson. LOVE THE CZECH DOGs! I will post some pictures tomorrow its 11 now i have to get to bed!


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## Foxy (Jan 21, 2010)

Gia said:


> Hey thanks for the speedy reply...
> 
> I fed it to my German Shepherd, too. I couldn't feed it to my other dog, because of a beef allergy, she really wanted some and I felt bad not letting her have any, but she absolutely cannot have any beef or beef products...I won't even let her lick my other dogs bowl after she's eaten beef out of it, lol!
> 
> ...


How about Green Lamb tripe or Green Venison tripe for your beef sensitive dog?
Tripett sells those canned Tripett


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## Caty M (Aug 13, 2010)

Oh my gosh that's one gorgeous dog. I love GSDs. I was only allowed small dogs though where I live so I got a sheltie. :biggrin:


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## Adam76 (Dec 24, 2010)

Is tripe a rich food like organs, and how do you much do you feed at a time?


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## Northwoods10 (Nov 22, 2010)

isabellak said:


> I can get Trippet. Is the canned tripe as good as fresh/frozen from a distributor?


Canned tripe is cooked so it has little nutritional value. But, its better than no tripe!




Adam76 said:


> Is tripe a rich food like organs, and how do you much do you feed at a time?



Tripe is very rich.....I usually only feed a few tablespoons per meal.

We feed tripe about 3 times a week........and I just include it as a "topper" on some of their meals. I have not been successful with a whole tripe meal yet. Infact, they get the runs if they even get a half tripe meal, so we only feed a bit at a time. But they love it.

I got my last order of tripe from a LARGE distributor for .75/lb. If you bought 100# or more, you got it for .50/lb.


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## Gia (May 29, 2009)

Foxy said:


> How about Green Lamb tripe or Green Venison tripe for your beef sensitive dog?
> Tripett sells those canned Tripett



Yes! I am looking into the venison tripe for her...I can only find it canned though!


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## Gia (May 29, 2009)

bishopthesheltie said:


> Oh my gosh that's one gorgeous dog. I love GSDs. I was only allowed small dogs though where I live so I got a sheltie. :biggrin:



Thank you! I am biased of course, I also think she is gorgeous, but I've seen equally gorgeous shelties! I once saw one that was black and white, not tri-color. He had perfect classic markings...white blaze, chest and four white stockings. I couldn't stop staring at him, lol! He was so beautiful, the owners prolly thought I was a creeper...hehehe!


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## lmgakg (Jan 1, 2011)

I'm confused. I was at the meat market and they had tripe, however it was like a whiteish yellowish color (cream), I asked about "green tripe" and he told me, "don't eat tripe if it's green." I told him it was for my dogs and that they were raw fed, he said, "don't eat it if it's green." So, is green tripe different from tripe???? Is is actually green?


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

lmgakg said:


> I'm confused. I was at the meat market and they had tripe, however it was like a whiteish yellowish color (cream), I asked about "green tripe" and he told me, "don't eat tripe if it's green." I told him it was for my dogs and that they were raw fed, he said, "don't eat it if it's green." So, is green tripe different from tripe???? Is is actually green?


green tripe is the stomach lining plus whatever adheres to said lining. it's usually brown and stinky.

if you see it at the store and it's white, it's because it's been bleached...and therefore of no value to dogs.

there are those who do not feed green tripe ( i suppose it's called green because cows eat grass and grass is green and passes through the stomach) and there are those who do....

we do at this house..but we buy ours from greentripe.com and it comes in a grind. we get ours mixed with beef trachea and beef gullet and we believe it is beneficial....and another variety....

the person at the store either didn't understand that you were talking about dogs...or didn't understand what you were talking about period. : ) but he's right. don't eat green tripe. feed it to your dogs.


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## Northwoods10 (Nov 22, 2010)

lmgakg said:


> I'm confused. I was at the meat market and they had tripe, however it was like a whiteish yellowish color (cream), I asked about "green tripe" and he told me, "don't eat tripe if it's green." I told him it was for my dogs and that they were raw fed, he said, "don't eat it if it's green." So, is green tripe different from tripe???? Is is actually green?


Green Tripe is best for dogs if you can find it. If you can't find green tripe it is bleached or cooked which doesn't offer much nutritional value, but could still be fed. 

"green" tripe is usually brownish/green and not White/yellow like you mentioned.


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## CorgiPaws (Mar 31, 2009)

Tripe is quite the controversy. 

I don't for a minute think that it is a super food, like many do. I bought into all of that at one point, and spent a fortune on it when I very first started raw feeding. When I ran out, I didn't buy more, and saw zero difference. 

That being said... COULD it offer benefits? Maybe. Is it likely? In my mind, no, but it certainly can't hurt. I no longer spring for greentripe.com as I felt it did not add anything to my dog's health, and therefore couldn't justify the cost, not the hassle of ordering online. 

I always have a case of Tripett on hand. It stinks to high Heavens. My girls love it, though my GSD never would touch the stuff. The only time they get it is if I find myself in a bind, with nothing thawed out, or don't have time to wait for Annie to eat, as it takes her at LEAST 45 minutes. I split a can of tripe between them, and give them each a can of salmon,sardines, and a couple eggs and that's my easy go-to in-a-bind quick meal. They probably get it two or three times a month. 

I see no benefit. I see no improvement. I see no point, other than it's easy, they like it, it will do no harm... so why the heck not


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## bumblegoat (May 12, 2010)

I keep seeing people mentioning that green tripe is expensive, so how much do you guys pay for it? 

Ground green tripe here is among the cheapest beef I can get. Either that or other ground beef. Yes, it's cheaper than beef heart. It can also be bought in pretty any local pet store, or well, I couldn't get it in my town until recently, but that is a pretty rare situation over here. Plus, if I had a car I could have easy gotten it anyway, but now I can walk to a pet store to buy it. 

I like feeding tripe because my dog absolutely loves it, and it's perfect for mixing with stuff he doesn't like, like fish. I don't think it's something you have to feed though!


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

bumblegoat said:


> I keep seeing people mentioning that green tripe is expensive, so how much do you guys pay for it?
> 
> Ground green tripe here is among the cheapest beef I can get. Either that or other ground beef. Yes, it's cheaper than beef heart. It can also be bought in pretty any local pet store, or well, I couldn't get it in my town until recently, but that is a pretty rare situation over here. Plus, if I had a car I could have easy gotten it anyway, but now I can walk to a pet store to buy it.
> 
> I like feeding tripe because my dog absolutely loves it, and it's perfect for mixing with stuff he doesn't like, like fish. I don't think it's something you have to feed though!


that being said, i like tripe....the one that i buy has beef trachea and gullet in it, which are excellent sources of chondroitin for joints.....the tripe itself is another variety of food ....so therefore necessary, since i feed a prey model and try to feed as many sources as possible.

i want to say i paid over 3.00 a pound, but i can't remember if it's five pound chubs, eight to a case.....or what it was..i'm pretty sure that's what it was.

as to it being a wonder food? i think all of the varieties of raw have benefits...some more obvious and some more subtle.

i do see a difference when my dogs are fed tripe....but that's me.

i know there have been many ahem discussions about tripe....for me, i give my dogs that which i can objectively measure in benefit and i don't give them that which i cannot measure objectively. : )


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