Dogs cant digest beef????

Kerriebaby

erm mine have beef about 4 times per week in various shapes and forms, no problems here. Some dogs may not be able to tolerate it, and I wouldnt give Beef bones for too long ( cause teeth to break )

Pork = gas here!

DevilGoesDown2Bristol

Minor pedantic point. Dogs are intolerant rather than allergic to beef. Although people use the two terms interchangeably, they're rather different things. An allergic response - which usually happens more-or-less immediately - is potentially life-threatening in extreme cases (anaphylactic shock) and could induce any of: nausea, vomiting, high temperature, running eyes and sneezing (elevated histamine levels) or skin rashes.

Food intolerance, although the immune system is involved, is a longer-term thing and the results aren't always obvious or readily diagnosable, particularly in pets. Intolerance is down to the absence of enzymes required to fully break down a particular food, and drastic symptoms may not show up for years; which is why pets or people can suddenly appear to "become" intolerant to a food they could previously eat with no noticeable ill effects. In reality, they were intolerant all along but their bodies were coping and masking the symptoms. If your dog or cat periodically exhibits some or all of; abdominal discomfort for some time after eating, excessive flatulence or loose stools, bloating, or unaccountably low energy levels, they may be intolerant to something in their diet. If there's no other obvious cause such as infection, it's worth checking out. They can also develop bizarre eating behaviours in an attempt to relieve abdominal cramps.

Helpful hint: if your vet prescribes antibiotics for symptoms such as the above (and rightly so - there are several dangerous bacterial illnesses that affect the gut and appear symptomatically the same), the manifestations may go away for a time as flora and fauna in the gut are killed off. If intolerance was to blame, it's not the bugs that are causing the problem, they're just acting on the undigested proteins to produce excessive gas. So, if that scenario occurs, i.e. antibiotics appear to do the job for a while and then the symptoms come back after the course has finished (assuming you administered the antibiotics faithfully as directed) it's definitely worth investigating potential food intolerances in your pet... ever and always in consultation with your vet.

Long-term, intolerances can become pretty serious. The undigested protein particles can damage the lining of the gut (just as with coeliac disease sufferers and gluten). This in turn can introduce foreign proteins to the bloodstream which can cause allergies to develop. Other long-term manifestations are general loss of condition, dry skin or fur falling out, low bodyweight, susceptibility to infection... and even, if exposure to the offending food is continued, osteoporosis, anaemia or thyroidal disruption.

Er... this post ended up rather longer than I intended, sorry! Pedantry over

elsien

My dog has had beef, pork and broccoli (scraps from the table) on odd occasions for the last 10 years. I can't see that a few bits here and there will make that much difference.
(Just found out that my mother has been giving the dog its tablets in grapes for the last 10 years as well, and muttley is still going strong. I've put my foot down about that now, so dog and mother are both now sulking and calling me cruel.)

charliefarlie1307

I have never heard this rubbish before. My dogs eat it and seem to do pretty well digesting it. Most dog food has it in to.:rotfl:

Raksha

I think this just goes to show a) how easy it is to misunderstand advice given on a dog training programme and b) put several dog trainers in a room and the only thing they will agree on is that all the others are wrong.......

Maybe what the trainer was trying to say was that to feed a dog exclusively on such a diet would shorten its life - dogs need a balanced diet, wether than comes from feeding raw/barf or from a carefully chose commercial diet is immaterial.

RooBee

Kerriebaby wrote: »

erm mine have beef about 4 times per week in various shapes and forms, no problems here. Some dogs may not be able to tolerate it, and I wouldnt give Beef bones for too long ( cause teeth to break )

Pork = gas here!

Likewise...my dogs have raw beef mince as a staple of their diet and have no problems digesting it. They also have pork on a regular basis, again with no problems.

As I understand it, dogs fed continuously on the same protein source are more likely to develop intolerances than those that regularly get a variety. Mine get lamb, beef, pork, fish, offal and anything else I can lay my hands on cheaply...neither dog has ever had a dicky tummy.

It should be borne in mind that Mic Martin is a dog trainer, not a nutritionist, and from what I've seen of Dog Borstal, he advocates the feeding of quality complete kibble. I wouldn't expect him to know a whole lot about feeding dogs on a natural diet.

pulliptears

Raksha wrote: »

I think this just goes to show a) how easy it is to misunderstand advice given on a dog training programme and b) put several dog trainers in a room and the only thing they will agree on is that all the others are wrong.......

Maybe what the trainer was trying to say was that to feed a dog exclusively on such a diet would shorten its life - dogs need a balanced diet, wether than comes from feeding raw/barf or from a carefully chose commercial diet is immaterial.

Nope, I have sky+ so went back and listened again, that is exactly what he said, "Dogs cannot digest Beef, Pork or Broccoli".

MrsTinks

I haven't seen the episode but I am GUESSING the owner fed a cooked meal including beef and broccoli... not what I'd say is more likely to be healthy for a dog like a BARF diet where it's served raw. It's a rare day when Kira gets cooked meat (unless it's chicken and usually for training purposes...) but she does get offcuts from our steaks and raw bones. So far no problems from those...

And let's face it... most of the dog owners that they use at dog Borstal are hardly likely to be clued up - I remember one episode where the owners would feed the dog junkfood because it was "all it will eat! I can't let it starve!"... And wondered why it was the size of a small house!

adandem

My dog is fed BARF so has raw beef regularly. He is fit and healthy, no nasty niffs etc. I had to feed him some dried food whilst on holiday last year, the smell of his number 2's was incredible and just went to show how much c**p is in processed food and this was a 'good' brand.

As far as the prgramme goes, I take most of what they do/say with a pinch of salt. I think even their ability as trainers is sometimes questionable, far less their ability to advise on diet.

Barneysmom

My dogs eat meat scraps, no chocolate though. They love carrots the best, and a tiny bit of cheese.
But if I'm preparing fish like a mackeral, they're crazy things! They love fish, it's like they're cats. I get the salmon trimmings for them now and again, so we can have our fish in piece