dogs and raw fish

nala2012

My sister works in the fisheries so I got some fish last night. It came straight from the boat so very fresh.

There's hake and prawns. So far I've only fed Nala tinned fish so my question is how much should I feed and are the prawns ok for her?

She gets 400 grms of meat rice and veg morning and evening. It was late last night when I got them so I froze the prawns in 200g portions and the fish in 400g portions.

pokertalk

emmmm cant ya adopt me??? lucky dawg:D

kylith

Tbh I wouldn't waste the prawns on the dog; she won't appreciate them like you would. I sometimes feed my girls frozen raw cod, so I'd say the hake would be grand.

mymo

Well can't advise on the weight, but my fella stole and ate 1 1/2 lbs of sea bass out of my shopping bag one day.
He loves his fish, also taken box or bag of donegal catch two or three times, ate boxes an all.

I would be inclined to replace about a quarter or half of the normal food with the fish, if its hot out give it frozen, mine love to naw on frozen meat or fish in summer.

iCosmopolis

Would the worms that are in most raw fish affect dogs or cats?

nala2012

iCosmopolis wrote: »

Would the worms that are in most raw fish affect dogs or cats?

Freezing for 24hours kills the worms

cambridge

Tbh I'd be worried about bones as well.

I wouldn't give any one or anything raw shell fish.

Prawns can be cooked in minutes (once you clean and de-shell them).

I'd say bake the hake for 20 mins

kylith

Pinbone and freeze it, then give it as a fishcicle.

Cherry Blossom

How do you go about de-boning fish? My two would both go mental for a nice raw sea-food platter, I almost bought a bag of seafood 'cocktail' the other day but the shellfish did put me off I have to say. What about squid? Anyone know if that's safe to feed raw?

mymo

I have never boned fish for doggies, got a few cheap bits in Tesco and Dunnes etc in the clearence section.
Just bung it in freezer and give it, the nawing action should break any bones, I'd imagine squid would be fine, it would freeze great.

Apart from the stolen fish, mine have eaten the head and remains of an otters dinner a couple of times before I could catch them, haven't seen any ill effects. (apart from the stink)

kylith

adrenalinjunkie wrote: »

How do you go about de-boning fish? My two would both go mental for a nice raw sea-food platter, I almost bought a bag of seafood 'cocktail' the other day but the shellfish did put me off I have to say. What about squid? Anyone know if that's safe to feed raw?

To pinbone you feel the fish with your fingers and pull out any bones with tweezers.

I don't know about the squid. I'd bet the farm that my two would eat it, anyway. If I were feeding it I'd definitely remove the beak (mouthparts).

adamski8

nala2012 wrote: »

Freezing for 24hours kills the worms

depends on temp, normal freezer i dont think does the job on the majority of parasites

TooManyDogs

adamski8 wrote: »

nala2012 wrote: »

Freezing for 24hours kills the worms

depends on temp, normal freezer i dont think does the job on the majority of parasites

I was talking to my fishmongers about this cos I get fish heads for my lot free. He said that there ate practically no parasites in fish caught in Irish waters in winter, that it's just too cold for them, that they only begin to see them coming into summer, most are located near the brain so headless fish should be fine to feed raw. He recommended freezing heads for 1 week to kill parasites

DBB

TooManyDogs wrote: »

adamski8 wrote: »

nala2012 wrote: »

Freezing for 24hours kills the worms

depends on temp, normal freezer i dont think does the job on the majority of parasites

I was talking to my fishmongers about this cos I get fish heads for my lot free. He said that there ate practically no parasites in fish caught in Irish waters in winter, that it's just too cold for them, that they only begin to see them coming into summer, most are located near the brain so headless fish should be fine to feed raw. He recommended freezing heads for 1 week to kill parasites

Ooh. I'd be very careful about his take on this TMD... He may not see the worms that are only large enough to be seen during the warmer months, but I can guarantee you that there are plenty of them in egg form, and as encysted larvae, and as very small adults, that he just doesn't see, at all times of the year. Other than perhaps the frozen seas at the poles, various parasites are well able to survive in all seas at all times of the year... They are superbly adapted to survive very harsh conditions, and indeed there are some nematodes that live exclusively in arctic ice! Don't think they're parasitic nematodes though. Various parasites can be found in all parts of the fish body, especially in encysted form.
Knowing what I know about fish and their parasites, I wouldn't feed fish to dogs without freezing for a few weeks, and I certainly will never eat sushi! :-o

mymo

DBB, do you know if these parasites can infect dogs?
As I said mine have eaten raw fish many times, now you have me worried

nala2012

I gave Nala one of the prawns yesterday and after carrying it around for a while she just left it there! She normally eats everything including stuff she's not supposed to so I was suprised she didn't like them.

Re the bones she's eaten fish carcasses from the beach before and didn't have any trouble so I'm not worried about that its more the nutrional value of the fish?

boomerang

I wouldn't feed too much raw fish. Some raw fish like herring contains an enzyme that destroys vitamin B1. I'm sure it's fine to give occasionally though.

DBB

mymo wrote: »

DBB, do you know if these parasites can infect dogs?
As I said mine have eaten raw fish many times, now you have me worried

Sorry for the delay in replying Mymo... Mad busy weekend!
Yes, fish carry parasites that can infest dogs, though the problem is bigger in other countries than in Ireland for some. However, tapeworm is one common example esp in freshwater fish and salmon, as are two species of roundworm (nematode) in sea fish in Irish waters. I think some wrigglies from fish can affect kidneys and urinary tract in dogs. I'll try to find out a bit more for you as I need to refresh my fishy brain in such matters!

mymo

Ah, so I assume regular worming would sort this?
I worm every 3 months and even have a reminder on my phone (little dog likes rabbit poo for a snack:eek:)

Bobby Baccala

Fish will be no problem for the dogs, my 2 had the bones from a wing of ray each the other day, they eat any fish heads or carcasses from any fish we fillet, and it's all very very high in protein. Excellent addition to their diet. Prawns shouldnt be a problem either, also very high in protein, their shells are softer than crab or lobster shells and i've seen my dogs eating crab shells.

And so far they've never had any health problems, 2 very very healthy dogs