Virily Editor
Food snacks are a great way to top up the necessary vitamins and minerals that are missing from your dog’s regular diet. As humans, the word “snack” usually means an unhealthy portion of food in-between the meals, but that it is not the same with dogs.
Snacks can be any food your dog likes. From fruits and vegetables to dried meat, and even organ meat can be considered as the perfect snack food for topping up their energy and establishing the perfect nutrient balance.
Organ meat, specifically the liver, is gaining in popularity as a dog food just because of its nutrient balance. It might sound a bit strange, but dogs love organ meat and they provide them with a great source of vitamins and minerals that are essential for your dog’s health. That’s why experts encourage people to give organ food to their dogs whenever possible.
In today’s article, we will focus more on the beef liver as a snack for dogs and see how to prepare it, what the benefits are and how to give it to your dog.
Benefits of Beef Liver for Dogs
- Rich in Nutrients
As we mentioned before, beef liver is considered a superfood since it is packed with all the helpful nutrients that will ensure a healthier life for your puppy. Most importantly, beef liver is an excellent source of vitamin A, copper, zinc, iron, phosphorus, as well as vitamin B and essential fatty acids.
Beef liver is one of the best ways to boost your dog’s health and it is great if your dog is sick or injured since all the nutritional characteristics of beef liver will help in the recovery process.
- Good for their liver
Eating a liver snack is good for their liver. It is easy to remember, right? The nutrient abilities of the liver may be used in case of “blood deficiency “or “essence deficiency”. But, even if you are not an expert on medicine, all you need to know is that liver has an impressive nutritional profile which explains why it might help your dog if they are suffering from a general malaise, fatigue, or anemic.
- Energy Boost
Last but not least, liver snacks are a great source of energy since they are loaded with vitamin B12. This means that liver snacks will keep your pup energized at all times. Depending on your dog’s physical abilities during the day, it is nice to top up that used energy with a healthy liver snack.
- Source of Omega 3 and Omega 6 Fatty Acids
Fatty acids are great for improving the immune system of your dog, as well as keeping your pup’s skin healthy and coat shiny. Liver snacks are a great source of Omega 3 and Omega 6 fatty acids which can boost their immune system, help relieve allergies, and joint pain. Last but not least, it is great for their skin as it reduces itchiness and flaky skin.
How to Serve Beef Liver To Your Dog
The beef liver can be given to your dog in many different ways. So, should I give my dog raw or cooked liver? Of course, the best way to give your dog organ food is raw, just because it doesn’t lose any of its nutrients during the cooking process.
You can cut raw organ meat into smaller pieces and put it in your freezer. Then you just pop one out and give it to your dog as a cold threat which can be great during the summer.
The beef liver can also be found in processed store-bought food, which doesn’t provide as many nutrients as raw organ meat. If your dog food doesn’t contain liver then you should consider incorporating it through snacks and threats.
Many threats contain beef liver, like beef liver jerky treats. There are also dried liver treats that still keep their nutritional abilities but can be stored for a long time.
Another way to incorporate liver in your dog’s diet is by grinding the meat and giving occasional snacks or combining it in their meals.
Risks of Overfeeding Beef Liver to Your Dog
As with any other food no matter how healthy it is, overfeeding can raise some risks. Beef liver should be given in smaller amounts and mixed up their diet so they don’t get fed up with eating beef liver every day.
If you overfeed your dog with beef liver, they can get vitamin A toxicity just because beef liver contains large quantities of the vitamin. Symptoms include deformed bones, extra growth in the elbows, anorexia, and weight loss.
Too much beef liver can also result in giving your dog more iron than needed. This might result in vomiting, diarrhea, and internal bleeding.
So, choosing beef liver snacks for in-between meals is the best way to balance their diet and avoid overfeeding them with this densely packed organ meat.
