Raw bear meat for mans best friend?

[Matty_ola]

Does anyone feed raw bear meat to their dogs? What are the chances of bears around BC having trich and the dogs getting it from eating? I feed my dog a BARF diet which consists of 30% vegys 15% Organ meat and 55% Ground wild game (moose, Deer, elk). All raw of course. My question I guess is, should I risk feeding raw bear to the dog? or maybe there is somewhere I can get the bear tested for trich just to be safe? Or just turn it all into sausage and roasts and hord it to myself:mrgreen:

Any help is always appreciated:)

Cheers, Matt

[Fisher-Dude]

Do NOT feed your dog raw bear.

[dutchie]

Steeleco feeds their rottie raw bear bones... I have never tried it with my dog

Dutchie

[Matty_ola]

Dutchie, Always there when I have a qustion that I need answered.. You must have this forum directed to your I-Phone;)

Now I can appreciate just not feeding the pup to be safe but the dog eats more of my other game meat than my friends do:(

It would be nice to use the ground bear meat as well as the moose and deer so i`m not stuck eating just bear meat till sept.

I`ve also heard of a few people feeding their dog raw bear bones but am still uncertain. Does anyone know if there is a place around the interior that tests bear meat for disease. Maybe a university or college.

[dana]

I feed bear meat to my dogs. Have never had a problem.

[bigwhiteys]

I just ground up a bear, boiled the meat in water to temp, mixed with rice and veggies than bagged it up and put it all in the freezer.

My dog has food for months right now and she freakin' loves it!

I'll post up in more detail when I have some more time... This bear DID have trich, or at least plenty of 2-8" long worms.

Carl

[Everett]

Dogs can't get trichnosis they can get other parasites from bears but if you deworm at least once a year you should have no problems.

[Fisher-Dude]

Dogs can't get trichnosis they can get other parasites from bears but if you deworm at least once a year you should have no problems.

You might want to check out what biologists say:

Where does trichinosis occur?

Trichinosis occurs in bears (black, grizzly and polar bears), wolves, foxes (arctic and red), wolverine, lynx, walruses, seals, and ground squirrels.

In the NWT and Nunavut, trichinosis is common in many species and locations.

Humans and dogs can also get trichinosis by eating infected meat.

http://www.enr.gov.nt.ca/_live/pages/wpPages/Trichinosis.aspx

http://www.wildlife.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=disease.muscle2


My dog loves bear meat, but it's always cooked well first. :wink:

[BlacktailStalker]

If you want to take precautions I would boil it. You can add a spice or something to the water, some dogs won't eat it, this may help.
My dogs get a slab of meat under the tree off any bear or cat we decide to harvest, no problems.

[bigwhiteys]

If you want to take precautions I would boil it. You can add a spice or something to the water, some dogs won't eat it, this may help.
My dogs get a slab of meat under the tree off any bear or cat we decide to harvest, no problems.

I boiled the meat in a big pot... (my wifes canning pot shhhhh!!! lol..) and then poured all the water from boiling the veggies into the brew as well.

My dog asks for seconds.

Carl

[Everett]

You might want to check out what biologists say:

Where does trichinosis occur?

Trichinosis occurs in bears (black, grizzly and polar bears), wolves, foxes (arctic and red), wolverine, lynx, walruses, seals, and ground squirrels.

In the NWT and Nunavut, trichinosis is common in many species and locations.

Humans and dogs can also get trichinosis by eating infected meat.

http://www.enr.gov.nt.ca/_live/pages/wpPages/Trichinosis.aspx

http://www.wildlife.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=disease.muscle2


My dog loves bear meat, but it's always cooked well first. :wink:

I am afraid the vet I checked with disagrees with you because I asked before I fed them bear and since she used to work for ag canada I assume she knows what she is talking about.

[ve7iuq]

I am afraid the vet I checked with disagrees with you because I asked before I fed them bear and since she used to work for ag canada I assume she knows what she is talking about.

Please tell us what your vet said about it.

[open-sights]

I try to stick to Koala bear meat and Dolphins for my dogs

[Everett]

Please tell us what your vet said about it.

This was several years ago when I was still on the Island.
To paraphrase the vet go right ahead and feed them bear meat domestic dogs don't get trichnosis but you should give them regular dewormings as they can pick up other parasites from bear meat. I have since fed them multiple bears with no problems.

[Everett]

I just checked my disease you can get from wildlife phamphlet. It says trichnosis is present in Cougar and Bear but not in canine. But says it is not safe for pets if raw.
So not sure what to believe now one one hand vet who I assumed knew what she was talking about plus 6 years of feeding raw bear to my dogs.
Or a goverment put out info phamphlet

[Everett]

Well I just did a little reading it turns on average only 12 people a year get trichinellosis in the USA. One Canadian goverment site said the last recorded transfer from swine to humans was in 1996.
There is also 8 different species according to wikipedia.
Most of the different info sites on the web seem to disagree on wether freezing kills it. The version in polar bears is resistant to freezing.

One canadian site said 5 days at -20 kills it. A US site said 20 days at -22

Well personaly I will continue to feed raw bear to my dogs but will make sure it has been frozen for a week beforehand.

Hear is the wikipedia link
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trichinosis

[Fisher-Dude]

I don't get the whole "raw diet" thing for dogs. Why not cook stuff for them? The percentage of healthy dogs on cooked is not, from what I've seen, any different from those on raw.

This raw diet craze is as goofy as believing a naturopath who tells you to carry salt in your pocket to cure your cancer.

[Everett]

Some more reading for you
http://journal.cpha.ca/index.php/cjph/article/viewFile/256/256

The one thing that jumped out at me is 1.5% percent Black Bears are infected in BC except the kootenay region which is 12% of black bears.
The other thing was that the version in northen Canada and parts of BC is not effected by freezing.
I am starting to get the feeling that my vet did not know what she was talking about.

[Everett]

I don't get the whole "raw diet" thing for dogs. Why not cook stuff for them? The percentage of healthy dogs on cooked is not, from what I've seen, any different from those on raw.

This raw diet craze is as goofy as believing a naturopath who tells you to carry salt in your pocket to cure your cancer.

Personaly I am just lazy cooking it is a pain and cheap as feeding them scraps from our kills saves money they also like it better than Dog food.

[Fisher-Dude]

Personaly I am just lazy cooking it is a pain and cheap as feeding them scraps from our kills saves money they also like it better than Dog food.

Microwave it. 1 1/2 lbs of ground meat flattened on a plate covered by Saran, 9 minutes. Done.

[Everett]

Microwave it. 1 1/2 lbs of ground meat flattened on a plate covered by Saran, 9 minutes. Done.

Microwave will not get meat hot enough to kill Trichinellois according to several of these goverment sites I have been reading.

[Gunner]

Some more reading for you
http://journal.cpha.ca/index.php/cjph/article/viewFile/256/256

The one thing that jumped out at me is 1.5% percent Black Bears are infected in BC except the kootenay region which is 12% of black bears.
The other thing was that the version in northen Canada and parts of BC is not effected by freezing.
I am starting to get the feeling that my vet did not know what she was talking about.Wouldn't be the first vet that didn't know what they were talking about,I've dealt with several.Cook the meat,if you're not sure why risk your dog. Gunner

[Iron Glove]

Our healthy Toller has been a BARFer from birth.
We were advised at the time not to feed raw bear to her as bears and canines are close on the family tree and share many diseases and common parasites.
Who really knows but I'd rather not take the risk.

[dutchie]

I don't get the whole "raw diet" thing for dogs. Why not cook stuff for them? The percentage of healthy dogs on cooked is not, from what I've seen, any different from those on raw.

This raw diet craze is as goofy as believing a naturopath who tells you to carry salt in your pocket to cure your cancer.

Interesting. My dog is on raw and he is lean and healthy with no issues...

The reason I use raw food is because it is easier for them to digest, they get the nutrients faster and and they poop way less, not to mention it keeps them trim and very healthy.

Just because you don't like it, it does not mean it is a Craze. We are doing what we think is best for our dogs just like yourself...

You keep cooking the meat, I will keep feeding my dog raw food!

Dutchie