Liver.. is it ok?

Well I have been feeding my puppy a little cooked liver with her mincemeat (they are fried together in frylight) at dinnertimes.

I know alot of people who give thier dogs liver, and also alot of doggy treats have a large quantity of liver in, but recently I came across an article that warned against Liver...

Quote:

Many dog treats and prepared foods contain liver so it may surprise you to find liver on the bad foods list. In small amounts liver is good for your dog, but if the liver intake is too high it can cause nutritional problems because liver has a high content of vitamin A. Consumption of this vitamin in large amounts can lead to vitamin A toxicity, or hypervitaminosis A. If your dog eats raw liver or consumes three servings of cooked liver a week it could lead to bone problems. Feeding liver to a dog taking Vitimin A supplements can lead to an overdose of Vitamin A.

Symptoms of hypervitaminosis A are deformed bones, excessive bone growth on the elbows and spine, weight loss and anorexia. If left unchecked, hypervitaminosis A has in some cases caused death.



So should I stop feeding her liver?

She loves it and im very confused as I have read other articles that claim liver is ok for a dog...

why are you cooking it?

I bake Ollies liver for treats,and he has the trimmings raw,he doesn't get a great deal of it but loves what he gets if it is in moderation can't see it will do any harm.

I wouldn't feed it all the time but mainly because it's a treat for our dog. I guess like all things - moderation is fine. For high amounts of vit A you'd probably have to be feeding liver and nothing but liver. But the warning also mentions giving it on top of vit A supplements. Plus isn't it true that cooking can kill vitamins in the food anyway - so I wouldn't think you had to stop feeding liver.

I feed Takara baked liver for ringcraft training, but I didn't know all of that, I knew it had a high protein level and dals can't have too much protein so I keep it to a minimum anyway.

I wouldn't have thought it'd be a problem but I also wouldn't feed it as a regular thing... why do you need to put the liver in? Is it just because you thought it was good for her? If she likes it so much, why not try baking it into liver cake and feed it as treats? If you search liver on the forum, there's some great recipes!

mine are fed liver raw and boiled and they get it about 2-3 times a week but in small amounts

I was told liver can upset puppies tummys and not to feed it raw untill about 6months old.

are you raw feeding her, or are you slowly bringing her onto raw??
I feed mine raw ox heart or lambs heart and they really like it, alongside it they have pet mince and chicken wings, a whole egg twice a week and vitamins. I would say if you want to feed raw liver just give her a small amount as it can upset their tummies, and the end product is er - not very nice. If you are raw feeding are you giving her pureed veg as well?
Mine have been raw fed all their lives almost, apart from a brief flirtation with dried for a couple of weeks, and everyone comments on how well they look.