Rules on meat handling

LILYLARUE · #1 01-09-2009, 08:23 AM

I have been on raw 2 months now and it seems the more I get into it, the more confused I get. LOL Which doesn't take much during tax season!

Ok, I need to get confirmation of how to handle the meats. Me being a vegitarian, I don't know much about handling meat for people, let alone dogs.

~ How should the meat be handled BEFORE feeding it to the dogs? What meats should be frozen first? Just game or all meats? I'm getting conflicting info and need to assure myself. I get meat at the grocers and feed it right away. Is this bad? Should it be frozen first? I know game should be frozen for 2 weeks, true or not?

I just saw on the news we have an extreme breakout of salmonilla here in PA. They go through the list of precautions of handling meat for prevention, but is that the same as dogs?

~ Also, I have let meat thaw out over night on the counter. Is this wrong too? I read that if the meat sits for 1/2 hour, you should pitch it out. Ok, my dogs dont always eat right away and the meat may sit in their bowls for an hour or two. Now I'm nervous I'm just feeding them a bowl of bacteria.

~ I have 4 qtrs of deer. It was killed 1 week ago. It's been on ice since. I plan to cut it up tonight, but now worried it may be spoiled. Is it still worth cutting or have I waited too long?

I get to thinking about this stuff, and think dogs eat dead things all the time, no matter how long its been dead or what temp it was kept. Please explain all this to me. Too many rules for this simple girl and kibble starts to look good again.

**Jan** · #2 01-09-2009, 09:12 AM

I am sure that the deer meat would be fine. Ideally you should thaw meat in the fridge, but I do it on the counter all the time and it is fine.

Dogs are rarely bothered by salmonella as their digestive tract is short and the meat gets digested very quickly.

Kaybie's Mom · #3 01-09-2009, 09:40 AM

Man, I think my dogs would be dead by now if I followed all those rules LOL

I've fed meats straight from the grocery store way too many times to count......no one keeled over and died

I've fed meats that smell "questionable" and the dogs seem to enjoy those even more. I know people who's dogs eat outside in the yard and their dogs will bury meat and then dig it up later to eat.........they're animals.....it's what they do.

Most of the meat we get is already frozen because I get it all from craigslist for free. Basically our routine is this: put free meat in freezer....take out a couple days worth of meat and put in the sink to thaw.....sometimes that meat is fed the next day, other days it gets put in the fridge for a few days.....most of the time by the time I remember there is meat in the basement sink thawing, it's not even cold anymore.......again, no one has died or gotten sick from this. That is our regular routine.......and it's worked for over a year now. Take a deep breath and try not to stress yourself out. I was paranoid about everything when I first started feeding raw and that has slowly faded away. Don't forget to remind yourself that dogs are animals, not humans, and their body is MEANT to eat this way. Don't go back to kibble.......your dog will do so much better on raw

LILYLARUE · #4 01-09-2009, 10:08 AM

Thanks y'all! I think sometimes you can read too much!

Gonna chop the deer meat. Freeze for two weeks and then feed.

I appreciate the knowledge here more so than what books specifically say. Experience is so much more worthy. It's more "real time" than what the "general" rules are.

Oh, and now I gotta dig threw the trash and get that 2 lbs. of venison burger that I pitched last night cause I was too dang paranoid!

Kibble is NOT AN OPTION NOW! I figured rotting meat was just as good to a dog. I would think instinct would kick in if it wasn't edible for them. They would just know wouldn't they?

Kaybie's Mom · #5 01-09-2009, 10:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LILYLARUE

I would think instinct would kick in if it wasn't edible for them. They would just know wouldn't they?

In my experience, YES, they do seem to know when it's just not good to eat. I had both Kaybie and Atreyu turn down some chicken one time and I thought they were just being picky so they missed their meal and I tried at the next meal.....when they refused it again, I realized something must be not right about it. I gave them something else and they gobbled it down.

BetsyB · #6 01-09-2009, 03:00 PM

I have fed fresh killed deer, I'm talking 2 hours here, with no ill effects. I've also fed very stinky meat, and chicken that has greenish hue... Just fed Catfish fillets that expired in 2007, again, all is well. Don't be too paranoid, and if you question whether it's okay to feed, send it to me and I'll feed it to my dogs and let you know if it was still good

Caney Creek · #7 01-09-2009, 03:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kaybie's Mom

Man, I think my dogs would be dead by now if I followed all those rules LOL

I've fed meats straight from the grocery store way too many times to count......no one keeled over and died

I've fed meats that smell "questionable" and the dogs seem to enjoy those even more. I know people who's dogs eat outside in the yard and their dogs will bury meat and then dig it up later to eat.........they're animals.....it's what they do.

Same here, LOL

Just today I finally decided to "investigate" that odor that's been coming from the fridge in the garage for a few days now... some chicken quarters I forgot I had

They'll have that for dinner. heehee (It's really not THAT bad... they've probably had worse, actually.)

We also had a deer recently that sat around in ice packed coolers for a week... and then we started feeding it to the dogs. No stomach upsets whatsoever. Oh, and since I was the one who requested that the organs be salvaged from anything the boys killed, it was MY job to process/package those items, and boy did it make me gag.

But the puppies loved it.

LILYLARUE · #8 01-09-2009, 04:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BetsyB

I have fed fresh killed deer, I'm talking 2 hours here, with no ill effects. I've also fed very stinky meat, and chicken that has greenish hue... Just fed Catfish fillets that expired in 2007, again, all is well. Don't be too paranoid, and if you question whether it's okay to feed, send it to me and I'll feed it to my dogs and let you know if it was still good

You're a trip!

I passed two roadkill cats on the way to work...........hmmm..........naw, then they may want to eat the two I have at home!

**Jan** · #9 01-10-2009, 08:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LILYLARUE

I passed two roadkill cats on the way to work...........hmmm..........naw, then they may want to eat the two I have at home!

I am sure you're not really serious, but one thing you don't feed is another carnivore. Herbivores only.

LILYLARUE · #10 01-12-2009, 08:40 AM

Yeah, just kiddin'. A guy at work here said he thought of me this morning as he passed a dead cow along the road. He would have grabbed it but it was all puffed up like a overstuffed toy animal.

I said "thanks" of course ( for not getting it!) LOL

I still have not cut the qtrs of deer up yet. I hope it is still ok. It's been on ice, outside in 25-38 degrees. Ice in chest still has not melted.

How will I know if it isn't good to feed now?