My dog enjoys tinned pilchards in brine.  She got the first taste of them by accident.  She can smell them through the tin and her mouth waters.  Now I'm thinking am I poisoning her?  What do you think or know?

The pilchards are fine (provided she's not a dalmatian!); the brine is not. She can have pilchards in tomato sauce or pilchards in oil, but not in brine.

>The pilchards are fine (provided she's not a dalmatian!); the brine is not. She can have pilchards in tomato sauce or pilchards in oil, but not in brine

I am not sure why you have an aversion to pilchards in brine? if its because you are worried about the salt content then actually you need to be aware that pilchards in tomato sauce have as much salt as drained pilchards in brine. Personally I would say that if a dog likes them then small quantities will not do any harm. As with everything moderation is the key :)

I always get sardines, mackerel, tuna in spring water or sunflower oil. Not sure if you can get pilchards in water.

Be careful also if your dog has kidney problems always take the bones out, pilchards are high in purine which can cause kidney stones. If I'm using a small can of tinned fish 85g drained combined with other ingredients it makes food for 2 days because the phosphorus levels are also high.

That's interesting about the salt levels

>if its because you are worried about the salt content then actually you need to be aware that pilchards in tomato sauce have as much salt as drained pilchards in brine.

Not if you read the information on the label.

> She can have pilchards in tomato sauce or pilchards in oil, but not in brine. .

I've been feeding pilchards in tomato sauce once a week for 15 years without any problem. I don't feed those in brine because of the salt content. On the rare occasions where I have picked the wrong tin off the shelf, I have drained the brine off before feeding :)

> Not if you read the information on the label

Just had a look at the product information on Tescos website - and the salt content of the tomato and the (drained) brine pilchards is the same - 1g per 100g :) I think that I'll continue with the tomato tho :)

Edited to add: It's interesting that the pilchards in tomato sauce have much less calories and fat content than those in brine ?? Do you get less fish because of the tomato sauce ??

I always give my aussie pilchards in sunflower oil.

> If I'm using a small can of tinned fish 85g drained combined with other ingredients it makes food for 2 days because the phosphorus >levels are also high.

Just depends how often you are feeding this and in what quantities. If you drink too much water it could kill you :) Like everything else - moderation :)

>Just had a look at the product information on Tescos website - and the salt content of the tomato and the (drained) brine pilchards is the same - 1g per 100g

The Princes version is 0.4g/100g in brine and 0.37g/100g in tomato sauce. That Tesco variety is much saltier!

> That Tesco variety is much saltier

It's Glenryck :) Tescos, Sainsburys and Waitrose (where I shop - Lidl don't do pilchards) only do Glenryck in the big tins, I think ? :) :) Anyway, one tin a week isn't going to make any difference to Tara as it's the only processed 'meat' she gets :)

>Not if you read the information on the label.

I did read the information on the labels. I just happen to have 2 tins of pilchards in. One of each!!! What brand are yours. Mine are Glenryk

>The Princes version is 0.4g/100g in brine and 0.37g/100g in tomato sauce. That Tesco variety is much saltier!

Oooh Yes i can see the problem!!! That 0.03 grams extra  salt in the brine version of your pilchards is going to make such a huge difference.

If I was so concerned that the brine version had an extra 3 grains of salt per 100g then I don't think I would be giving my dog either version. I certainly dont think it is worth giving dire warnings to people about the dangers of brine soaked pilchards given the TINY difference in salt content

The pilchards are fine (provided she's not a dalmatian!)

I just wondered why Dalmatians cannot have pilchards

Because oily fish is high purine and can cause kidney and bladder stones in the breed.

> If I was so concerned that the brine version had an extra 3 grains of salt per 100g then I don't think I would be giving my dog either >version. I certainly dont think it is worth giving dire warnings to people about the dangers of brine soaked pilchards given the TINY >difference in salt content .

Might help if you reread the thread .............

No-one is giving 'dire' warnings - but JG was quite correctly pointing out that the Princes pilchards had less salt than the Glenryk - less than half. The recommended daily salt intake for adult human is only 6g per day - so these 'TINY' quantities that you are talking about are even more relevant to dogs :) If you give your dog an entire 400g tin of Glenryk pilchards you are giving 4g of salt - 2/3rds the recommended quantity for an adult human.

People here on this forum are (mostly) perfectly able to make their own minds up what they feed to their dogs :)

> xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">> If I'm using a small can of tinned fish 85g drained combined with other ingredients it makes food for 2 days because the phosphorus >levels are also high.<br />

> xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><br />Just depends how often you are feeding this and in what quantities. If you drink too much water it could kill you :-) Like everything else - moderation :-)

I agree a little of everything
What I should have said is the levels of phosphorus in this would be safe to feed my dog on a daily basis without over loading his kidneys. Of course he has different protein source everyday.

>No-one is giving 'dire' warnings

Actually it seemed like a warning to me. Jean Jeanine in reply to the OP stated this

>The pilchards are fine (provided she's not a dalmatian!); the brine is not. She can have pilchards in tomato sauce or pilchards in oil, but not in brine.

She was not comparing the different brands. She specifically stated that tomato pilchards were fine  but brine pilchards were not. And yet there is only the tiniest difference in the salt levels between the two varieties. I am just pointing out that there is no more risk to serving pilchards in brine to serving pilchards in tomato sauce. The consideration has to be should pilchards be fed at all?

Mine get a tin of pilchards in Olive oil once a week. I feel that this amount is acceptable.
I would not give the tomato/brine variations.
Aileen

>She was not comparing the different brands.

She was here - which is what I was referring to

> The Princes version is 0.4g/100g in brine and 0.37g/100g in tomato sauce. That Tesco variety is much saltier

> The consideration has to be should pilchards be fed at all?

Of course - but I doubt anyone is feeding them every day which would be a different matter.

> She specifically stated that tomato pilchards were fine  but brine pilchards were not

I agree that it appears that they contain the same salt.

>I am just pointing out that there is no more risk to serving pilchards in brine to serving pilchards in tomato sauce

In fact I misread the label; the Princes' pilchards in brine contain 0.5g of salt per 100g; the tomato sauce version the 0.37g as I posted. To say they contain the same amount is untrue.

>In fact I misread the label; the Princes' pilchards in brine contain 0.5g of salt per 100g; the tomato sauce version the 0.37g as I posted. To say they contain the same amount is untrue.

It may be untrue to say that princes pilchards contain the same amount of salt. It is however true to say that according to the manufacturer the Glenryk pilchards do contain the same amount of salt.

It is also untrue to say that it is fine to serve pilchards in tomato sauce but not fine to serve pilchards in brine as you originally stated. Even with the new figures you have quoted there is still only 0.13grams difference in the salt content per 100g for the 2 different types of Princes pilchards. This is a miniscule amount and the extra salt in a serving of pilchards in brine would not render them unsuitable for dogs.

Okay, let's reword it. It's less bad to feed certain brands of pilchards in tomato sauce than it is to feed pilchards in brine. :-)

Throwing something else into the mix...........Sainsbury sardines in tomato sauce have 1.08 per 120g which works out to 0.9 per 100g.
Zuma has 1 tin a week with his tea on a Saturday ( his 'stinky-fish' treat ) so this sounds a bit high but then only once a week isn't that often???

Because oily fish is high purine and can cause kidney and bladder stones in the breed.

Many thanks, you learn something new every day.....

This is an old thread. But interesting discussion. When dogs eat more salt  they drink more water. So there is no danger for them in eating too much salt. I do not think there is any danger feeding Pilchards in brine if the dog has access to fresh water.

Processing the extra fluids and salt can exacerbate underlying and unknown kidney problems, especially in older animals, so best avoided unless blood tests have shown there are no issues.