Is tripe hype?

ohrats9 · 07-02-2008, 06:52 PM

I am hearing about people that feed their dog green tripe. That's it. Just green tripe. Does anyone else do this? How has it affected their dogs?

Thanks.

melgrj7 · 07-02-2008, 06:58 PM

I've heard of it being used to supplement a dogs diet, but not as the total diet. I haven't used it myself. I've thought about it, and probably will try giving them some at some point in the future.

Dog5 · 07-02-2008, 07:51 PM

I asked about tripe in a post a few weeks ago...a lot of people said it's a good thing to feed, as a supplement, not alone. I mix something wet with my dogs' kibble, and sometimes its beef tripe. Man oh man does it STINK!!!! But they love it!!

RawFedDogs · 07-02-2008, 09:47 PM

Yes, tripe is hype. Tripe is a stomach with traces of grass in it. Some people think its some kind of miracle food because it has some enzymes in it. What is has is traces of digestive enzymes to aid in the digestion of grass. Very valuable ot a cow. Not valuable to a dog.

Shalva · 07-03-2008, 08:30 AM

My dogs love tripe
it stinks to high heaven but they love it.....

cshellenberger · 07-03-2008, 03:09 PM

Tripe is a supplementary feeding only, good for the dogs digestion and dogs love it becasue it tastes good and is stinky! Other than the digestive enzymes it really doesn't have a lot of nutritional value.

Also, if you're looking into raw feeding, I believe it's suggeted to rotate protien sources.

rosemaryninja · 07-04-2008, 07:31 AM

I have never heard of a dog being fed on nothing but tripe, and I can't imagine it would be very good for the poor animal.

I don't feed it, because I can't get my hands on any. Dogs love it, but it's not particularly nutritious or anything.

heidiann · 07-04-2008, 08:18 AM

I feed it as an addition to the main meal...like to supplement.

It's so stinky, but the dogs love it.

Alpha · 07-04-2008, 12:22 PM

I'm with you on this Shalva!!

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it stinks to high heaven but they love it.....

I ordered some freeze dried green tripe a few weeks ago, and it came in neat convenient cubes, but it STINKS! The dog's do absolutely love it though. It says on the bag of course, that it's a "natural body booster". I know quite a few raw feeders that feed it and sing it's praises, so no, I wouldn't say "tripe is hype".

RawFedDogs · 07-04-2008, 03:02 PM

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Originally Posted by Alpha

The dog's do absolutely love it though.

Hehe, I love cake and ice cream but they are not "body boosters".

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It says on the bag of course, that it's a "natural body booster".

Of course and if you go to the web pages of the places that sell it, they will make it sound like a wonder food ... it's not. It is no more nutritious than any other animal part and not as nutritous as some.

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I know quite a few raw feeders that feed it and sing it's praises,

Because they have been taken in by the hype. Thats what hype does. By definition hype makes you think something is what it isn't. The thing that it has that some people think makes it special is traces of enzymes for digesting grass. That is NOT nutritious for a dog. If you fed those enzymes to a cow, they might be useful.

dusty&lulusmom · 07-06-2008, 07:03 PM

I have given it to my dogs more as a treat...I agree they do love it but it is so smelly. One time I opened a can and in an instant there was a fly that must have been in the house on it so fast. Gross...Anyway for those that are interested I have found it in a can by the company "solid gold". I buy it at my pet food store.

wyx · 07-08-2008, 12:37 PM

We feed ours green tripe - maybe 10%-15% of their total diet - for the same reason we feed them organ meat, raw meaty bones and muscle meat. Not because of hype but because its part of their natural diet and they love it. There's a lot of beneficial stuff besides enzymes in it: short and medium chain fatty acids, minerals, protein and, as with most whole unprocessed foods, probably stuff we don't know about.

RawFedDogs · 07-09-2008, 01:55 PM

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Originally Posted by wyx

We feed ours green tripe - maybe 10%-15% of their total diet - for the same reason we feed them organ meat, raw meaty bones and muscle meat. Not because of hype but because its part of their natural diet and they love it.

It is a natural part of a dog's diet but there is nothing natural about 10%-15% of the diet being tripe. Tripe is an organ just like all the other organs. 10%-15% of the diet in nature would be organs. That would include, liver, kidneys, lungs, pancreas, brain, trachea, AND tripe. That would make tripe about 2% or less of the diet in nature. Heart and tongue are also organs biologically but nutritionally they are muscles. Some say that tripe should be classified as muscle also.

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There's a lot of beneficial stuff besides enzymes in it: short and medium chain fatty acids, minerals, protein and, as with most whole unprocessed foods, probably stuff we don't know about.

Yes, you are correct but all those other things are in muscles, fat, and bones also. There is no more in the stomach than any other part of the body.

wyx · 07-09-2008, 05:07 PM

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Originally Posted by RawFedDogs

It is a natural part of a dog's diet but there is nothing natural about 10%-15% of the diet being tripe.

What makes you believe that?

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Heart and tongue are also organs biologically but nutritionally they are muscles. Some say that tripe should be classified as muscle also.

Tripe is primarily epithelium, a completely different class of tissue from muscle.

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Yes, you are correct but all those other things are in muscles, fat, and bones also. There is no more in the stomach than any other part of the body.

The benefits of green tripe are not just in the tissue but also in the chyme, which is quite different in chemical composition from animal tissue, being composed of fermented vegetable matter and bacteria.

kelliope · 07-09-2008, 05:29 PM

RawFedDogs, I love you - you know I do...but this cake and ice cream thing - I don't feel things that are naturally occuring in a dog's diet (berries included) can be counted in the cake and ice cream area.

Cake and ice cream for dogs would be things like processed treats like Pupperoni or Milk Bones. Not naturally occuring things like tripe or berries or even grass.

RawFedDogs · 07-09-2008, 11:35 PM

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Originally Posted by wyx

What makes you believe that?

Because the stomach of a cow is not nearly 10% -15% of her body mass. It is closer to 2%.

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Tripe is primarily epithelium, a completely different class of tissue from muscle.

Actually the inside of the stomach is lined with epithelium but it's not the primary tissue.

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The benefits of green tripe are not just in the tissue but also in the chyme, which is quite different in chemical composition from animal tissue, being composed of fermented vegetable matter and bacteria.

Most of the chyme has been washed out of green tripe and chyme has never been shown to be of any nutritional value to a dog. The bacteria in chyme if any happens to be on the green tripe you feed, will die almost instantly upon reaching the dog's stomach. If you happen to feed canned tripe, there won't be any bacteria in it. What possible use could fermented vegetable matter be to a carnivore?

When my dogs eat stomachs from whole prey, they will sissor open the stomach and shake out the chyme before eating the stomach. Wild wolves do the same.

Too often people want to believe the promotional material on green tripe on the web pages of companies that sell it. Thats like believing the words of a used care salesman. Green tripe is thrown away by the slaughter houses. Some industrious people go by the slaughter house and get some for free or very very cheap, package it, and sell it at exorbatent prices. It's a profitable item to sell.

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Originally Posted by kelliope

RawFedDogs, I love you - you know I do...but this cake and ice cream thing - I don't feel things that are naturally occuring in a dog's diet (berries included) can be counted in the cake and ice cream area.

Hehe, I love you too!!! If it comes from a plant, it is of no nutritional value to a canine the same way cake and ice cream has no nutritional value to us. Actually cake and ice cream probably have more nutritional value to us than plant stuffs to a canine.

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Cake and ice cream for dogs would be things like processed treats like Pupperoni or Milk Bones. Not naturally occuring things like tripe or berries or even grass.

Tripe has nutritional value. Just no more so than any other part of a cow or whatever animal it comes from. As part of an animal, it has nutritional value. It's not the wonder food it's sometimes touted to be. Berries and grass = cake and ice cream nutritionally.

poodleholic · 07-10-2008, 01:41 AM

My dogs and cats get green tripe once a week, and none of them give a rat's behind if it's nutritional or not! LOL They love it!

Criosphynx · 07-10-2008, 04:37 AM

Rawfeddogs....

You have an answer for everything! People may not agree but you always seem to have an argument that seems intelligent....

how did you learn all this stuff?? You have a background in this? Or is this just TONS of research you've memorized?

BoxMeIn21 · 07-10-2008, 06:12 AM

I feed tripe about twice a week. There are folks who say it's the perfect food and I know of a few dogs fed nothing BUT tripe their entire lives.

RawFedDogs · 07-10-2008, 09:43 AM

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Originally Posted by Criosphynx

Rawfeddogs....

how did you learn all this stuff?? You have a background in this? Or is this just TONS of research you've memorized?

I began researching a raw diet about 8 years ago when after I saw a discussion about it. I researched for a couple of years deciding it was as close to the perfect diet you could feed your dog. Once I began feeding raw, I just continued my research, sometimes changing my thnking, because I still had questions and have just never stopped looking.

I have talken a couple of college continuing education cources, have attended some raw feeding seminars and have attended a wolf seminar which focused on the behavior and diet of wild wolves. I even attended a seminar on canine denistery.

I am good at looking at a situation and cutting through the BS and coming to a logical and reasonable conclusion. Like if a=2 and b=3 then a+b=5.

I try to analize data and not be taken in by BS and hype. I look at everything that I can find about a given subject then arrive at my own logical and reasonable conclusion which may or may not be different than the accepted norm.

I also spend time talking to and communicating with recognized experts in the field. For example, if an expert says something that I don't understand, I talk directly to him and ask him how he came to such a conclusion and what facts does he have that I don't have.

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Originally Posted by BoxMeIn21

I feed tripe about twice a week. There are folks who say it's the perfect food and I know of a few dogs fed nothing BUT tripe their entire lives.

That doesn't make it a particularly nutritous food. After all look at the number of people who feed notihng but kibble. How nutritious is that? It is a tribute to our dogs that they can survive on such a small amount of nutrition.

Here is a quote directly from Dr. Tom Lonsdale, ""When I ran a busy veterinary practice, many of my clients fed almost exclusively chicken backs and frames -- whether to adult dogs or litters of puppies -- and their animals showed excellent health."

If dogs can show excellent health on chicken backs and frames, I see no reason why they can't be healthy on nothing but green tripe. Does that make it ideal? NO. Does it make it the healthiest diet? No. Does it make it a balanced diet? No