This post is going to be start with information about what NOT to do. Hang with me, though. I’ll get to what you should do, but want to give some context about why you should do it that way.
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Some people come in the office and they assume I’m gonna tell them they have to feed their dog or cat a raw diet. I tell them “No.” I don’t need you to feed a RAW diet. I need you to feed a REAL diet! It can be raw or cooked. You can make it or you can buy it. My job is to help you figure out what’s gonna be best for the health of your pet, be affordable both from a money perspective and a time perspective. And then help you get there.
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So for the group of people who want to cook at home. Or maybe you want to cook at home sometimes. Or maybe you just want to share your food. Let’s talk about cooking meat.
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What’s the purpose of cooking meat? Basically there are two reasons. As humans, we need a little bit of help with digestion, which is what cooking does. (Some dogs also find cooked is a little bit easier to digest than raw.)
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We also cook food to kill bacteria and parasites. But there’s a magic temperature to which food needs to be cooked, so that bacteria are destroyed without destroying the food. That temperature is absolutely not WELL DONE. Most of you have probably seen the articles in the press that well done meat is damaging and may even lead to cancer. Please don’t cook your pets food to that well done temperature.
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Medium rare is perfect. Or, essentially 165°F (about 74° Celsius) in the middle of the meat. That’s the temperature that kills bacteria. Essentially, we just barely want to get the pink out if you are stir frying ground meat.
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You do not want to boil nasty, dry, bland, chicken breast to death. Nobody likes eating bland rubber. Some dogs eat it because they have no choice. No one eats it voluntarily.
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And what do we do with everything that comes off of the meat? The fat. The juices. The water if you’re boiling it. What do we do with all that? We absolutely do NOT Pour it down the drain! All the nutrients are now in the juice. So why would you pour all the nutrition down the drain?
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I have an idea why you’re pouring it away. I think you’ve been told that fat is dangerous. Fat might cause pancreatitis.
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I am not gonna rewrite the pancreatitis blog here, but our bodies need fat! And in a healthy, functioning intestinal system, fat is a great source of energy, plus it’s how our body makes hormones. Besides, the brain is 50% fat. So we need it. Don’t pour it off.
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And what else do you need to know about cooking meat?
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You need to know that spices are good. Seasonings are great. There’s nothing wrong with salt. We absolutely need salt. In fact, I wrote a whole post or two about salt because people keep thinking that they have to avoid salt. That’s because they’ve been told that salt is bad. Who is telling us that? Ultimately it’s coming from the pharmaceutical industry.
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I’m OK if you make roast beef for dinner tonight. You don’t have to scrape the rosemary off the top. You can share a normal size portion of the meat with your pet, dog or cat. Don’t give them a giant bone. Don’t give them a amount of meat that it’s bigger than their whole head. Give them a normal size portion. And they can have tuna. And Salmon. And chicken. Chicken thighs have 10 times more nutrition than chicken breast. I hate chicken breast! It’s so bland. Chicken thighs are juicy, yummy for a reason. Turkey is good. Pork is great. I know, you’ve been told terrible things about pork. It’s because 3000 years ago when the Torah was written, pigs were eating their worms, and getting human sick. We have much better parasite control these days. USDA inspected meat does not have trichinosis. Pork is a beautiful novel protein for those animals who may have allergies, and we’re trying to figure out what’s going on. Oh and eggs are great too. They are another great source of protein. And yes you can (and should) season them.
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Still seeing patients in Tampa, Clearwater, and virtually.