What is the general consensus on feeding pork

I fed my dog Pork over the weekend and he was a very sick dog. He became very distressed with a teriible belly and it was awful for him.
I had to call the vet who informed me that Dogs should never be fed pork as it is too rich for them and difficult to digest........????

I've read on here that a umber of people have fed it to there dogs no problem..its very difficult for us new owners as there is so much conflicting advice sometimes I worry that Im not feeding my dog properly :(

What pork did you give him? Was it cooked or raw?

Delly and Hudson get pigs trotters every other day and have no problems at all

Hello

It was diced Pork which I fed raw....... i have been told that cooked meat is bad for there teeth...??!?!?!?!?!?!?  another misconception perhaps!

I felt awful that I made him ill :(

Yup, cooked meat isn't as good as raw. Was there a LOT of fat on the meat? It could be just that it was too rich for him, maybe try him again at some point with just a bit of pork?

Delly and Hudson get very bad wind if they have pheasant or turkey raw bones...I guess they are all different :)

turkey is the worst!!!!! wiffeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Agreed....the whole living room was awash with a green and purple fug

:D :D

when i was barfing mine had pork occassionly with no problems at all

My lot get pigs trotters and pork belly, which is quite fatty, and have not had any problems.

I have given mine pigs belly in the past and both of them trumped for England :D and moaned all night becasue of the stomach discomfort......So I now avoid pork, apart from the odd trotter. I work on the assumption that as they have a fairly varied diet anyway, them nor me, need the abdominal cramps that result from it ;)

I personally don't feed pork either. You vet is correct in the fact that pork can be difficult to digest  but it is because of the fat content.  Pork is high in fat and some animals struggle to digest such high volumes of fat which can result in upset tummies, sickness and loose stools.  Pork also has a higher risk of trichinosis than other meats so if feeding it you either have to ensure it is cooked 100% or freeze it for a couple of weeks before using it raw but most people freeze most of their meat I think if feeding raw. The Pig trotters are fine as they are more like treats in my opinion I think that lumps of pork meat. I don't know about the never feeding it part although I personally don't. It depends of the dogs but I would only suggest small volumes to those who do decide to feed it and certainly till you can ascertain the dogs ability to digest it.  The fat content also varies form pig to pig so some quantities will be higher than others.

Hi Blondiflops,

Pork is the least digestible of meats for dogs and humans ;)  While it may not cause major problems for some dogs it is ideally best avoided.  All dogs are different with some having the constitution of an ox and others' tummies upset just looking at something the wrong way    When you think about it even lower fat cuts of pork if cooked can be very tough and dense in their make up (or is that just how I cook it :D )  - just using that as an example of the texture of the meat, not recommending that you would feed cooked pork to the dog. <lol>

Regards, Teri :)

I feed pork with no problem...in fact mine adore it! I would suggest maybe feeding less of it or feeding leaner pork...or else just don't bother with it at all
Archer

Hi, i had the exact same problem. I had once fed my two dogs on raw pork. A day later one of the girls wouldn't eat and would just lay there lifeless. Rushed her to the vets and after examining her said  ' did you feed her any pork products?' .... i couldn't believe it. It never crossed my mind it could have been the pork. They took blood and stool sample and he concluded it was down to the pork chop. He said it doesnt affect all dogs (as her sister was fine) but if your dog can not tolerate pork then it could have dire consequences. She had an anti -biotic injection and a light diet for three days and was soon back to normal. I would never feed pork to any of my dogs, it's just not worth it.

hi my dog is in the vet at this moment after eating pork fat  it was a treat  lol with a pork joint  the vet seems to think its parvo  its costing me a fortune  but i know its the fat as it was perfectly ok till then  plus i have another dog the mom to the one at the vets   she has 10 pups  4 weeks old    any one similar please

Eating pork fat will not cause the symptoms of parvo.

Make sure you don't go near the bitch or puppies without thoroughly disinfecting all your clothes to avoid spreading the illness.

it has only had diaharea once so how can she summise parvo

If the dog's only had diarrhoea once, why is it at the vet's? There must be other symptoms.

Have you read Parvovirus FAQ?

because it was sick  and lathargic  after eating pork fat  so i took it to vets  she suspected liver failure then  other things he is coming home today after great expense the point is could vets rip you off

The point is that if you feel that your vet (whom you probably chose because you valued and respected his judgement and probably on the  back of recommendations from others) has breached the code of professional conduct then you may take proceedings against him/her.

Vets are not gods, and they, like doctors, see 20% of diseases/conditions 80% of the time and will try and rule out the probable before looking elsewhere based on the facts available to them.

If you do not trust your vet, perhaps you should consider changing practices?

Did the vet run blood tests, stool tests etc?

yes all normal

That's good news! :)

thankyou  but hes my baby 2 in february

i understand that vets have to test for all things but they shouldnt make you worry like that  im new to the area and its the only vet i know  and have heard bad things since i took him there 

Has he ever had things like snippets of bacon, or ham, or sausage? If so, and he wasn't ill, then it won't have simply been the ham fat that made him ill. Glad he's better now though!

ive got him home from the vets friday hes bouncing around like nothing  absolutely fine  doesnt sound like parvo does it  hes got an appetite like a pig  (never mind pig fat) lol  but not feeding him loads though  just bland food  

My two are fine with pork, though I do only give it sparingly :)

I feed pork to my lot as regularly as beef/chicken/fish etc & non of them have a prob with it & that includes a gsd rescue & 10yr plus mongrel :) I do not feed them belly pork though, to me that is fat with a little meat ;) they get pork MEAT with a little fat, most of it being trimmed off, same as I`d do with the other meats if it was too fatty :) They get trotters a couple times a wk as a treat as well.

Christine, Spain.

My dog was sick after eating a very small amount of raw pork. She is fine with it if it is cooked. I guess it depends on the individual dog.

Mine loves pork fillet ;)  I know someone who's lucky Afghans get a whole pigs head (kind butcher :D) they only leave the jaw!
Sarah

Urgh that is GROSS!

My lot get pork ribs every second day or so,never had any probs.Mine are the type with cast iron stomachs,i've always given them a huge variety of different foods the minute they stepped into my house :) now they can handle anything without it bothering them.

It may be that just as some food does not suit some individual persons it does not suit this particular dog.

I have been feeding raw pork for nearly five years with no problems at all, but that is not to say that if your dog becomes ill from it that you should.

Also bear in mind that occasionally, coincidences do happen................... ;)

if you look at the analysis of pork it is no "richer" (whatever that means) than various other meats nor any more difficult to digest (unless the individual dog has a particular problem with this meat)

Fat contents vary between animals and cuts from animals, but there is no reason to ban feeding pork per se.

We at one time managed a Pig farm, at times the mothers would lay on the piglets when this happened we would feed the carusses to the dogs, Lhasa Apso inclused, we did this for over 5 year with no problems, we had 15 dogs at that time

I always used the belly pork for fattening at the dogs.

I think as usual with all foods, what suits one will not another

Lynn

I would never feed my dog pork.  I once gave it to my cat - big mistake (I was young and stupid then!) she was sick about 5 minutes after eating it.  It came out of her mouth so fast I almost caught it mid air.....sorry if you're eating