Raw meat for dogs?

Question

My 3 year old miniature dachshund, Izabelle, was given a ham bone by my dummy of a maid. She wasn't acting herself so I brought her to the vet. As well as finding the lodged pieces of ham bone in her colon, they found that she had lymes disease and another tick born disease. She now has to take a pill every day for thirty days. Izabelle is a VERY picky eater, so I've been using raw hamburger meat to hide the pill in and it works great. I'm wondering if this could be harmful to her though. I've heard yes's and no's from different people. Does anyone know for sure or at least have an educated guess? Thanks a bunch!

Answer 1

Raw hamburger meat is absolutely fine. It's meat deemed as fit for human consumption, which is considerably higher quality than meat found in dog food. With it being raw there's a slight risk of her contracting a tapeworm, but as hamburger meat is minced any eggs will probably have been destroyed in the mincing process.

EDIT: Dogs are designed to cope with raw meat. Wolves, dingoes etc - all wild dogs in other words - eat nothing but raw meat and the occasional bit of grass. Admittedly through domestication and in-breeding the immune system can be weakened but it's usually down to the individual dog. If she has a sensitive gut, she may react badly to it. Use your intution and keep an eye on her bowel movements. A tiny bit to give her a pill in should be fine.

Answer 2

Raw meat is perfectly fine to feed a dog. It is a perfcetly normal, natural food for them.

Raw meat will NOT make your dog sick, it will NOT cause worms and it most certainly will NOT make a dog aggressive nor will it increase it's sex drive... I can't believe that there are actually still people out there that believe this complete and utter nonsense.

Answer 3

Yeah it's bad for her. Not only can she pick up parasites from the raw meat, but meat ... even meat for people, is full of antibiotics, hormones and all sorts of crap. The only way to get the majority of this out of the meat is to cook it.
You would be better off to give her little pieces of cheese with the pill, or something else along that line.
Cheese in small amounts is good for them. The cheese neutralizes the acids in the mouth and slows down the decaying of the teeth, and the building up of plaque.

Edit: Dogs that eat raw meat, do NOT start to attack people for their blood.. How would dogs become domesticated anyhow? They would have been eating raw meat before they met us, and rather than chosing to hang out with us, they would have eaten every person they met.. Raw meat making dogs mean is the most ridiculous thing I have heard.. Ok not the most, but up there!

Dog's ancestors did used to eat raw meat, and other stuff.. But given that we have been breeding them, and changing them to fit our needs and desires, we have also changed their dietary needs, and their ability to digest things. They are a shell of what they used to be, what their ancestors are..

Answer 4

Dogs, and their wild ancestors, have survived eons by eating raw meat. Because they have survived by eating raw meat (sometimes rotting, dead things) it clearly shows that nature has adapted dogs to deal with the bacteria found on their food. People, however, may be at some risk when handling raw meat. Just like you would do when preparing food for yourself, be sure to thoroughly clean your hands, counters, and any utensils that come in contact with raw meat.

Dogs have a shorter digestive track that is actually designed to process raw meat. Your dog will be fine just as long as it is fresh meat.

Salmonella is the most common concern when feeding raw meat to your pet. Salmonella infection is usually acquired by ingestion of food contaminated by Salmonella-laden feces. So, in order for your animal to get sick is if it is exposed to hamburger that is laced with the stuff. And, even if it is exposed to it, healthy dogs can handle it. Might give her a good case of the scoots at best. Salmonella only causes problems in dogs when the immune system is stressed. But the typical result, again, is diahrrea.

Answer 5

If is totally fine

Greyhound on the track get a mix of raw hamburger, kibble and veggies and fruit every day, it helps to turn them into nice healthy muscular dogs. I have adopted/fostered and helped bring in many into rescue, I have personally handled about 200 of them and I have yet to see an aggressive greyhound

Satin balls is a recipe that is made from raw hamburger and is often used in rescue if they get in dogs that have been starved or malnourished, or those who have been ill for a longtime and have lost a lot of weight to get them better again before starting them on kibble again(as kibble they will not be able to hold down they usually just throw it up again and is a complete diet on its own, , it has be checked by labratories and vets and deemed a safe diet for even sick and weakened dogs

http://www.shihtzuandfurbabyrescue.com/forms/satinballs.html

so if they can eat raw hamburger and it is safe for them a bit of raw will not harm your dog.

Another option for giving pills is to coat the pill with peanut butter, most dogs enjoy the taste of peanut butter and because it sticks on the roof of their mouth it makes the pill hard to spit out

Dogs are known to bury meat and go back dig it up a week later and eat it without getting ill, the reason they can eat it and we can't is because their digestive tract is much shorter than ours

Answer 6

It isnt just tapeworm that you have to worry about. there are other parasites and bacteria that can still be found in raw meat of any sort. (just because it is human grade dosnt mean that it is fit for human consumption in it's raw form.) that is why there is always instructions on the packadge that says cook meat thouroughly. I would at least cook it to eliminate any chance of your dog catching any other diseases or parasites on top of the ones she already has.

raw meat, in my mind, is too risky. I would go with at least cooked meat.

Answer 7

My dogs also eat nothing but raw meat and bones (NEVER cooked bones), and I wouldn't think twice about giving them raw hamburger. The only note is that kibble-fed dogs do have weaker digestive systems so keeping it to a small amount is probably a good idea.

Answer 8

i would never give my dogs raw meat. try to hide the pill in a piece of hot dog, cheese or peanut butter. i have had great luck with peanut butter. i feel raw meet is too risky. would you eat raw meat?

Answer 9

My dog is on a raw food diet. He eats raw chicken, turkey, goat, sheep, and sometimes beef, so I can't see it as being a problem for Izabelle.

Answer 10

120 Raw Food Recipes : http://RawFoodHappys.com/24X7