# Pork ribs vs. pork neck bones? Also questions on variety



## Mokapi (Apr 7, 2011)

Does it matter if Chip gets ribs vs. necks? Is one more nutritious? Only Meijer has affordable ribs ("affordable" at 14$ only because it would last me almost three months), but I found cheap neck bones at WalMart AFTER I bought the ribs (-.-) and bought those as well. The ribs are enhanced with a 12% salt solution, but I bought them anyway. 

Would the pork necks be alright as his only source of pork?

Is tilapia the same, nutrient-wise, as salmon? What about cod? 

Is calf or cow liver better? Is it okay if it's deveined? 

Would chicken hearts be considered an organ (unlike beef hearts)?

Is lamb shank okay for him in a few months? 

And, finally, does turkey HAVE to be in the mix? I really can't stand the smell at all. If so, would turkey drumsticks be alright instead of turkey necks?

Thanks for any replies, as usual


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## Grandiose (Apr 2, 2011)

I had to LOL at the visual of the little dog in your avatar picture chowing down on a turkey drumstick! Of course, the ones currently in my freezer are about 3 lbs each and a full meal for my big boys!!

Chicken hearts are muscle meat (I just started feeding them this weekend...)

The rest I will let others answer...


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## Mokapi (Apr 7, 2011)

Grandiose said:


> I had to LOL at the visual of the little dog in your avatar picture chowing down on a turkey drumstick! Of course, the ones currently in my freezer are about 3 lbs each and a full meal for my big boys!!
> 
> Chicken hearts are muscle meat (I just started feeding them this weekend...)
> 
> The rest I will let others answer...


LOL, I'd have to cut the drumsticks down into itty bitty pieces...I need to seriously invest in a butcher knife!


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## SilverBeat (Jan 16, 2011)

Pork neck bones are a bit more dense and nutritious than ribs. I wouldn't feed them if they weren't really meaty though. Wallaby powers through him [though at first it took him upwards of 20 mins to get through one... now it's more like one minute] and so far they've been his only source of pork. 

I don't think turkey is essential. Just so long as you're providing a good variety otherwise. I hardly feed turkey.


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

Pork ribs are far better than neck bones, they have more meat than bone compared to neck bones. Plus neck bones are oddly shaped cut pieces of bone that can be dangerous.

Deep cold water fish like salmon and cod are more nutrious than tilapia. Tilapia isn't a "high quality" fish. 

Calf liver is better simply because its from a baby animal. The younger the animal the healthier the organs are to feed. Obviously the less processed the liver is the better. 

Heart isn't considered organ no matter the source. It's still a necessary component to the diet in my opinion. It should be treated the same as an organ meat, added in slowly but in time it could become a staple meat source unlike organ meat. We feed beef heart not only as our source of beef but also because its heart muscle meat.

Lamb shank is wonderful to feed :wink:

Turkey doesn't have to be in the rotation but I don't suggest feeding turkey drumsticks because the bones are not digestible for smaller dogs simply because they are so dense that it's hard for them to crunch through them. You could certainly buy them and trim the meat from the bone and then feed it.


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## Mokapi (Apr 7, 2011)

DaneMama said:


> Pork ribs are far better than neck bones, they have more meat than bone compared to neck bones. Plus neck bones are oddly shaped cut pieces of bone that can be dangerous.


Even if these ribs are enhanced with salt, will they still be better? Just asking again because I'm about to go chop up Chip's dinner now and wanted to make sure. Should I soak it like I soak canned salmon?

OH, can sardines take the place of a fish meal alright? I bought some tonight but wanted to be sure.


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

Soaking meat that is enhanced can help draw out the salutes. They're still better IMO than pork neck bones. Even if I were offered neck bones for free I wouldnt feed them.

Sardines are great to feed since they're a fatty fish with lots of good oils. Make sure they aren't packed in salt.


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## KC23 (Nov 17, 2010)

With having such a small dog, you could always just buy ground turkey if you want to add it to your dog's diet. I buy it for my dogs.


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## Caty M (Aug 13, 2010)

Just wanted to let people know that some small dogs can eat turkey drumsticks! I did trim the meat off and then gave the bone as a rec bone since I figured he couldn't eat it.. nope. I came back a couple mins later and 80% of the bone was gone.. my dog weighs 15lb.


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

bishopthesheltie said:


> Just wanted to let people know that some small dogs can eat turkey drumsticks! I did trim the meat off and then gave the bone as a rec bone since I figured he couldn't eat it.. nope. I came back a couple mins later and 80% of the bone was gone.. my dog weighs 15lb.


This may be true! But I still don't recommend "weight" bearing bones from turkeys as a good place to start with introducing turkey to the diet. The only bone in turkey meal I believe is ideal to start with is turkey necks or backs (if you can find them)


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## Caty M (Aug 13, 2010)

With turkey (and chicken) I buy whole.. cut the breast and thigh off for me and my boyfriend, and butcher up the rest for the pup. Then he gets a variety of everything!


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## Mokapi (Apr 7, 2011)

So far we've had chicken drummies, turkey necks, canned mackerel, and canned salmon. I gave him pork rib tonight off the advice here and it took him a bit, but he liked it just fine. I think I may just cut the meat off the necks and bag it as treats. 

Unfortunately, I'm still having a very hard time finding beef heart AND organs...not much longer left to look for them :| 

My main issue with turkey necks is that Chip has an extremely hard time crunching through them and the smell makes me very nauseous (extremely sensitive nose)...plus they are extremely messy to chop up. I am constantly thinking that the necks I have now are spoiled, and they actually might be...I'm not sure if I'll order them again. They were extremely nice and accommodating, but I noticed the smell getting bad about two days after I got them.


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## CavePaws (Jan 25, 2011)

Can you cut them up and then put them in the freezer then defrost as needed? If they sat in the fridge for a bit they could get a wee bit smelly.


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## bumblegoat (May 12, 2010)

Salmon and other fatty fish are way better than fish like cod or tilapia. Fatty fish has high levels of omega 3, other fish generally don't, some even have very high levels of omega 6 (which is a bad thing). A lot of people feed fish for the omega 3, and cod and tilapia is pretty much useless in that sense.

No, you do not need to include turkey. I used to feed my dog turkey drumsticks (my dog is 18lb) but I'm not buying those anymore. He can eat the whole thing, but he tends to have a bad reaction to them and throw up really sharp pieces of bone. Plus, turkey is pretty expensive here anyway, so I don't think it's worth it. I feed plenty of chicken, and that is enough poultry for my dog.


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## sozzle (May 18, 2011)

Useful info for a newbie like me too - thanks! Turkeys here are seasonal, you can generally only get them at Christmas but in saying that I did see some frozen at a butcher yesterday but they are really expensive and I've never bought one for Christmas, overrated and overpriced in my opinion.


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## Mokapi (Apr 7, 2011)

CavePaws said:


> Can you cut them up and then put them in the freezer then defrost as needed? If they sat in the fridge for a bit they could get a wee bit smelly.


That's probably my best bet, but because of my lack of a decent butcher knife it takes about 15 minutes to hack off a single piece, LOL. I did cut all of the pork rib up last night, so I may set out all the turkey necks I have out at lunch and let them thaw out and then cut up the individual pieces. 

@Bumble- I won't bother with the cod and tilapia then, I just noticed a huge price difference (a 15$ price difference LOL) in the two types of fish.


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## Mokapi (Apr 7, 2011)

Another question- what about pork feet as a rec chew? Saw those last night and of course felt sick knowing it was little piggy feet but then realized HEY Chip might like chewing on those because they're probably stinky.


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

I'm not the biggest fan of pork feet. They aren't very nutritional and can be fatty. They just gave my dogs horrendous gas once and I haven't purchased them since. There are better things to spend your money on.


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