Is too much tripe bad for a dog

Bleached Tripe vs Green Tripe for Dogs: Whats Best And Why?

My dog often gets raw, green tripe in her diet. I recently saw some white tripe in the supermarket and wondered, whats the difference between green tripe and white tripe, and which tripe is best for my dog? Heres the answer: green tripe is FANTASTIC for dogs, and much better than the white stuff.

Whatever colour tripe you come across, one thing is certain: this stuff STINKS. I mean, its seriously smelly. Dont let that put you off though, green tripe is incredibly nutritious and good for dogs more on that in a bit.

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WHAT IS TRIPE?

Tripe is largely muscle and comes from the stomach lining of a ruminant (animals like cows, sheep, goats, bison). Ruminants have 4 compartments in their stomachs, working like a fermentation vat to digest food.

Green tripe is untreated, and still has lots of digestive enzymes, probiotics (healthy bacteria) and nutrients in it.

Most commercial tripe comes from cows (beef tripe). It can be either fresh, frozen or dried and comes in 2 colours, white or greenish-brown. This colour variation depends on how it has been treated for consumption.

It has a tough, chewy texture.

WHICH IS BEST FOR A DOG, GREEN OR WHITE, BLEACHED TRIPE?

So, given the choice, should you give your dog the more palatable-looking, white bleached tripe prepared for human consumption, or green tripe?

Hands down, go for green. (In fact, its more brown in colour, but its called green because it is unprocessed.)

Let me tell you how the white tripe got to be that colour: in many cases its dipped in chlorine. After bleaching, it is usually cleaned and cooked, then wrapped up in nice little trays and sent off to butchers and supermarkets. If youve ever bought any, apart from the honking tripe smell, you might have noticed the smell of bleach too. Now you know why.

In other processing plants, its steamed or boiled. Some cleaning processes involve hydrogen peroxide. Either way, it ends up white, with many of the nutrients stripped out, so the raw, green stuff is WAAAAY better for your dog.

If youre planning on cooking tripe for yourself (yep, there are still people who eat tripe, although it certainly isnt the most fashionable meat to put on your plate!), you could share some with your dog, sure. Theres very little nutritional value to it though.

THE BENEFITS OF GREEN TRIPE FOR DOGS

Sometimes we get so caught up in doing right by our dogs that we forget something really simple, but important: variety and taste.

So the first benefit of green tripe is this: most dogs love it, its honky smell, its revolting flavour. Yep, this is doggy heaven. Giving your dog a variety of food and flavours is important. Imagine how youd feel if you could only eat the same thing every day. Yawn.

So if you see some nice, fresh green tripe at the butchers, be brave. Go forth where more timid pet parents would shy away. Make your dog happy.

OK, on to the stuff you might have been looking for the nutritional benefits of green tripe for your dog.

• Tripe is lower in calories than meat
• It is a good source of calcium
• Green tripe contains 7 major amino acids
• It is a great source of well-balanced Omega-3 : Omega-6 essential fatty acids
• Its a great protein source
• It has linoleic and linolenic fatty acids
• Its got plenty of the probiotic (good bacteria) lactobacillus acidophilus
• Its super nutritious, offering a great source of vitamins and minerals including vitamins A, C, D and E, B complex vitamins, copper, iron, magnesium, zinc, manganese, potassium and selenium
• Its good for teeth
• Its easily digested

Oh, and did I mention? Dogs love to eat it.

GREEN TRIPE TASTE TEST (MY DOG, NOT ME)

I did a few taste tests with my picky princess. I offered her some of her regular raw food (80-10-10 ready made minces) or pure tripe. After quickly smelling her regular food she dives right in to the tripe and wolfs it all down. Heres a quick video from one of the taste tests.

NUTRITIONAL ANALYSIS OF RAW TRIPE

Heres the nutritional analysis of raw green tripe taken from one of the packs of minced frozen green tripe that I bought:

• Moisture 74%
• Crude Fat 10.60%
• Protein 13.9%
• Phosphorous 0.2%
• Calcium 0.5%

Another nutritional analysis lists the following additional information:

• Calories 756.35 cal/lb.
• pH 6.12
• Lactic Acid Bacteria 12, 000 CFU/G
• Linoleic Acid (EFA) 2.72%
• Linolenic Acid (EFA) 0.37%

Ref: Woodson-Tenent Laboratories, Inc., Gainesville, Georgia, sample # G97-16346.

WHAT DOES GREEN TRIPE DO FOR DOGS?

So tripe is very nutritious. So what? What does that mean for your dogs health?

• In general, tripes almost 1:1 calcium:phosphorous ratio is a tad low on the calcium side, but its pretty damn close to the ideal balance needed for healthy growth and development. source
• Lactobacillus acidophilus, the probiotic bacteria found in tripe, can help with digestion. This helpful bacteria competes with harmful bacteriasuch ase-coli,listeria, andsalmonella, stopping them from overtaking your dogs digestive system
• The digestive enzymes in tripe also act as a further digestion aid, helping to break food down and access nutrients more efficiently. Its good for soothing sensitive stomachs!
• Its slightly acidicpH means its easier for dogs to digest it also helping sensitive stomachs!
• Because dogs find tripe so tasty, it can help with picky eaters and help increase weight in underweight dogs
• Conversely, as its a low calorie meat, it can also assist in a weight loss diets for overweight dogs
• Because its so nutritious, it is great for general health improvement. The 7 amino acids in the protein assist in a variety of essential body functions, including building muscle, strengthening immune system, repairing tissue and improving urinary tract health
• If you feed it whole, rather than ground / minced, it is good for cleaning your dogs teeth. Whole tripe has a tough and rubbery texture that scrubs away at the teeth when its being chewed
• it is less likely to cause an allergic reaction in dogs with food allergies and food sensitivities

FEED TRIPE TO STOP YOUR DOG EATING DOG POOP (COPROPHAGIA)

Theres one other reason for feeding your dog tripe that Ive come across: it helps prevent dogs eating dog poop. (In case you wanted a nice, nondescript term for it, poop eating is called coprophagia).

Ive been blessed with dogs that dont eat dog poop. Indeed, my picky princess of a dobermann would rather cross the road than walk by another dogs poop sometimes.

All the labradors in my childhood were avid poop eaters though, and I know some of you have dogs that think a pile of poop is as inviting as a packet of potato chips would be to us.

Heres why tripe might help with this problem. Coprophagia can be caused by different things, but if your dogs diet is hard for him to digest, or if your dog has a medical condition that means hes not getting all the nutrients from his food, he may be more likely to eat poop.

If a dog eats poop because of the digestive enzymes it contains, giving your dog raw green tripe which is full of digestive enzymes, should help resolve the problem. Try it and see. Apart from putting up with the awful stink of tripe in your house, what have you got to lose?

FEED TRIPE TO STOP YOUR DOG EATING GRASS

I came across another supposed tripe-based solution too, that feeding green tripe can stop your dog from eating grass. This is one argument that I have to poo-poo: my dog gets tripe in her diet most days, and she still loves to chomp on the long grass that I leave uncut at the bottom of the garden.

It might work for your dog though, give it a try.

HOW MUCH GREEN TRIPE SHOULD I FEED MY DOG?

If you already feed your dog a raw diet, you may already include tripe. If, like me, you feed a 80-10-10 ready made raw mince, it will very likely already have tripe in it.

If you feed kibble, or canned, but want to supplement your dogs diet with something super healthy, add tripe in gradually to avoid a bout of diarrhoea. Start with a teaspoon size for a toy dog or a tablespoon size for a larger dog.

If you buy whole green tripe, and want to cut it into chunks, use a very sharp knife tripes rubbery texture makes it difficult to cut otherwise. Like most meat, its easier to slice up if its slightly frozen.

If you have whole tripe, feed your dog a slice of it to chew on rather than chopping it up into tiny pieces to put in his bowl.

CAN I FEED MY DOG JUST GREEN TRIPE?

Some raw feeders give their dogs green tripe as a complete meal. Its perfect calcium : phosphorus and Omega-3 : Omega-6 fatty acid ratios mean you dont have to concern yourself with feeding bone or balancing different proteins.

I personally wouldnt do this long term. As I said earlier, how would you feel if you only ever got to eat one thing every day? Even if you adore pizza, say, youd soon get sick of it day in, day out. However, feeding an entire meal with only tripe is a viable option.

CAN A DOG HAVE TOO MUCH TRIPE?

If your dog isnt used to eating raw tripe, then giving him a big bowl of it might lead to some rather unwelcome side effects at the other end (if you think the tripe smells bad, thats nothing compared to some dogs gas). Start with a small amount in his food to avoid diarhhea.

IS RAW TRIPE SAFE FOR DOGS?

Yes, yes, yes.

Even the bleached, white stuff is safe, its just not a nutritional powerhouse like raw green tripe is.

HOW TO FEED A DOG TRIPE

Unless you just jumped straight to this heading, youll already have read that raw, green tripe in whole chunks is the best. That way its good for your dogs health, and teeth too.

However, its not always easy to find whole, raw green tripe to buy. Here are some other options:

• frozen
• dried / dehydrated tripe (buy it here)
• canned this wont have all the nutrients, good bacteria or enzymes found in raw green tripe, but it will still smell and taste good for your dog. If you have a picky eater or underweight dog, adding some canned tripe in to the dinner bowl should help.

At my local raw dog food supplier, here are a few of the many pure tripe products on sale.

There are many more 80-10-10 ready-prepared minces that include tripe in them too.

WHERE TO BUY GREEN TRIPE

Fresh. Your best bet is your local butcher. Supermarkets only sell the bleached white variety.

If youre lucky, a local farm shop that sells grass fed beef might sell fresh green tripe too. Grass fed tripe is much better than beef tripe from feedlot-raised cattle.

Frozen. The internet (what cant you get online these days?) or your local pet supplies store that stocks raw food. There are so many online dog food companies offering frozen raw food, including tripe. It might not be whole tripe though it might be ground / minced. Still super nutritious, it just wont clean your dogs teeth for you.

Dried / dehydrated. Again, the internet or your local pet supplies store that stocks good quality dog treats.

Canned. You might be lucky and find it at your supermarket. If not, online.

If youre looking for other excellent treats for your dog, here are some suggestions.

DEHYDRATED TRIPE FOR DOGS

My very picky dog absolutely adores these tripe sticks. Its all I could do to get her to wait patiently while I took a picture

GET DRIED TRIPE STICKS

CONCLUSION

Dogs love the taste of tripe, but their human parents are often dissuaded by its bad smell. If youve been worried about feeding your dog this healthy and nutritious food, dont be!

Green tripe has a variety of health benefits and if you feed raw green tripe to your pup its an easy way to ensure they get all the nutrients they need in one sitting.

So what do you say? Time to hold your nose and make your dog happy?