Quick help needed...tripe!

[Ronda]

Ok so I went to a local slaughterhouse today and bought a cow stomach for 10 bucks. Do I just cut up into pieces and freeze individually? How much do you feed a 50lb 6 month old puppy? This stuff is so seriously gross smelling, I hope its worth it. I'm wondering if I should have just bought the canned stuff or the already ground up frozen kind.

Thanks
Ronda

[onyx'girl]

Was the cow grain or grass fed?
I'll only feed tripe from grass fed cattle. You can cut it into strips, it is very rubbery, hard to cut through in parts.
If you can grind it that would be best, though you still will have to cut it to fit into the grinder!
Canned tripe loses nutrition and the digestive enzymes during the canning process, I'd much rather feed ground frozen.
Good luck with your dirty job!

[lhczth]

Have fun. I have never used fresh tripe, only ground frozen. Maybe 1/2# pieces.

[Ronda]

This was so not a great idea.

First off, although I am a total carnivore, I buy my meat from the grocery store already cut up and packaged nicely. However, if I ever go to another slaughterhouse or have to smell what I smelled today again, I will never be able to stomach meat again.


Here's what happened...

Can't buy tripe from the front of the place you have to go around the back and pay cash since I guess its not supposed to be sold. Um around back is where they are slaughtering the various animals! I almost threw up then and there. I am most definitely squeamesh about blood, guts, and adorable animals. I like anonymous meat, not meat with faces.

After talking to the man wearing a leather apron that was covered in blood and holding a ginormous knife (no joke, for reals) we came to a deal regarding the tripe. I could have a cow stomach for $10. He brought it out in a hefty bag, showed me my fine piece of cow, and away I went.

The smell in the car was god-awful. I had put the bag in Saphira's vari kennel because I did not want any of this stuff leaking out. Even with the windows down, I thought I was going to hurl. That and the last glimpse of the adorable black lamb that was waiting in a crate for its turn was more than I thought my stomach could handle. But I'm tough like that and I made it home.

Got my biggest knives out and some freezer bags. Realized I had no idea how to cut it up and how big the pieces should be so quickly posted here. Decided to try it myself anyways but that I should probably cut it up outside.

Opened the bag, gingerly touched the cow tummy with my gloved hands, and promptly puked in the grass.

Steeled myself, breathed thru my mouth, and tried again to pick it up and cut a piece. Puked again.

Called my best friend forever and tearfully begged for help. She came right on over with her own gloves and her iron stomach. I love this girl. She grabbed the cleaver and started slicing off chunks. Victory!

I picked up a piece to bag and puked again. I do not handle smells very well, did I mention that?

So my bff cut up about half the stomach into various sizes and bagged them in quart size bags for me. Since I do not have a dedicated dog freezer, I had her double bag them. I hope this works.

Took the other half of the stomach to a field near my house where coyotes are abundant and left it for them. They will have a delicious treat tonite when they find it.

I am currently freezing the tripe and am hoping that will help reduce the smell and that I can feed it frozen outside when its time to try and feed it.

@ Jane, I do not know if the cow was grass fed or grain fed, here in So Calif we do not have a lot of pasture so I guess grain, altho this is a small slaughterhouse that people bring their own raised animals to so I guess its possible it could have lived on a few acres in someone's backyard.

Will it hurt Saphira to feed her grain fed cow tripe?

@ Lisa...its cut into various sizes...I feed her dry primarily but was trying to incorporate more fresh, natural food so I was thinking it would be more of an additive than a whole meal or should I give her a chunk instead of a meal?

If for some reason none of its a good idea, I can always take my pieces to the coyote field...10 bucks is not a lot to lose if need be on an experiment.

If if do end up feeding it to her the only way I could ever do this again is to have my bff go and get it, cut it up, and then bring it over. I don't think my stomach could handle it. It smelled so bad and the texture/sight was pretty gross too.

Ronda

[mkinttrim]

Great Story, if you had video you could of entered that into Americas funniest video. At least you found some, I've been looking all over for the stuff. I'm sure your dog will love it and it will be good for him as well.

[ChancetheGSD]

I loved your story. I'm sorry I laughed at your pain. I think it's the sick twisted part of me that enjoys freaking people out with things like that. I grew up with hunters so I'm used to smelly insides, especially stomachs!!!!

Tripe can be fed as a whole meal if the chunks are big enough. I'd feed it outside for sure though. Frozen it will smell a lot less stinky, so go for that if that's how you want to feed it. The chewing of the whole stomach (vs. ground) makes for a great jaw and neck work out and is good for cleaning teeth.

Though for the future, nothing wrong with feeding it pre-ground and frozen if you can find it. Might make for a less...eventful day! And help keep down your own food! :P

[onyx'girl]

Ronda you are very brave! The BARF diet's new meaning!

[Ronda]

Haha...its funny now looking back at yesterday but man when it was going on, all I wanted to do was go hug my bag of solid gold wolf cub.

Experiment #1 with tripe was today's lunch feeding. Took a chunk about the size of a man's fist out into the backyard.

Saphira was instantly interested because it was in a bag and therefore must be something extra special. She immediately sat in front of me and when I opened the bag...the real excitement set in.

I could harldy smell the god-awful odor thank goodness but she got a whiff and went nuts!

Barking, spinning, jumping up in joy and all I had done was open the bag! I slid the chunk out onto the ground and she grabbed it and ran off a few feet. She starting licking it (it was frozen solid) at first and then she laid down put it between her front paws and used her molars to start shearing off chunks. Saphira did that for a bit and as soon as she could she swallowed the rest of it whole! Is that ok?

She then went around to wherever it had touched the ground and licked the concrete clean. So its safe to assume the taste of this must be out of the world to dogs.

I gave her the chunk for lunch with no kibble. I will now moniter for signs that it didn't agree like diarrhea or vomiting (which hopefully won't happen because I don't think I could handle second hand tripe ).

To think that I used to think her knuckle bones sliding around my house were gross and now I'm feeding freaking cow stomach....maybe I won't be buying adult dog food in a few months, maybe I'll be buying a chest freezer and assorted animal parts.

Ronda

[Lauri & The Gang]

Originally Posted by Ronda

To think that I used to think her knuckle bones sliding around my house were gross and now I'm feeding freaking cow stomach....maybe I won't be buying adult dog food in a few months, maybe I'll be buying a chest freezer and assorted animal parts.

Ronda

Isn't it amazing what we do for our animals??

[Ronda]

Tripe Experiment Day 2

So Saphira had her first tripe meal on Saturday and loved it! I didn't give her any on Sunday so I could make sure she did ok with it before I fed her more. No diarrhea and her breath, thankfully, did not smell like tripe.

I decided that we could safely try another tripe meal today. Outside and frozen of course. Once again, she was nutso over it and after chewing some chunks off of it, she swallowed the rest of it in one gulp!

Unfortunately for my delicate olfactory system and my reluctance to return to the slaughterhouse, it seems like chunks of tripe are a hit and will be included in our future menus. I can't believe I'll be sneaking around the back again to buy more of this stuff but Saphira is wild about it and what the puppy loves, the puppy gets. Had to draw the line today though, she grabbed her knucklebone and hopped up on my couch to enjoy her bone in comfort! That's just too far...she got kicked off to the floor.

Ronda