Hey, fellow pet lovers!
I hope you’ve all had a great week since my last post, last week was a really wonderful one for me as I’ve been accepted onto my university course, which is super exciting! I’ll be starting in Septemeber which means I have a good amount of time to get the site all updated and get everything on epoch.pet’s to-do list ticked off before starting my studies.
Let’s jump straight into today’s simple yet informative post!
Eggs, The Perfect Addition To Your Pets Diet!
Today’s post is all about eggs and why you should consider adding them into your canine friend’s diet. As most of you will already know all my girls are fed a raw diet, Nia, Lily and the Pooss all consume a species appropriate diet and have done since the day we got them. If you’re new to raw feeding and aren’t too sure what I’m on about then don’t worry as we have plenty of raw feeding posts and pages on the blog that will get you up to date, so head over to our Raw Feeding Section after reading today’s post to learn more about the BARF and Prey Model Raw methods.
Eggs get a lot of bad press from the media and have done for quite some time now due to claims that eggs are linked to an increase in LDL cholesterol levels. But the truth is, eggs are a great addition to yours and your pets diet, and today you’re going to find out why? Personally, I love eggs and have them almost every morning for breakfast and Nia and little Lily get a few eggs each week. However, the Pooss outright refuses to give them a go since she is so fussy but maybe one day…
It does seem that a lot of pet parents are unsure whether adding eggs into their pet’s diet is a good or bad thing? Thankfully, today’s post will answer this question by providing you with a list of the many nutritional benefits of adding eggs into your pet’s diet and dismissing the common concerns of why not to feed eggs to your companion animals. To learn more about eggs and cholesterol then head over to Healthline.com and read this interesting post Eggs and cholesterol, How Many Eggs Can You Safely Eat?
What’s So Good About Eggs?
Eggs have been consumed for millennia and that is because of their high nutritional value and convenient packaging. Below I’m going to breakdown the nutritional value of an average large raw egg, so you can see all the minerals, vitamins and goodies that are jam-packed inside each egg.
Nutritional Value Breakdown
Eggs, A Complete Food Souce!
If you haven’t guessed already one of the best things about eggs is the fact that they are natures perfect snack. An egg is a complete food source due to it containing everything a new chick requires to grow such as amino acids which are the building blocks for protein. If your pet will eat the whole egg as well as the shell then this is great, unfortunately, my girls are a bit fussy when it comes to eating the shell but I do make a big batch of powdered egg shells that I sprinkle on top of their eggs to ensure they are getting the full package.
Eggs Are Full Of Goodness
A whole egg is packed full of vitamins, minerals and essential fatty acids that will do your pet a world of good. Below is a list of the many vitamins, minerals and essential fatty acids that you’ll find.
- Vitamin A
- Riboflavin
- Folate
- Vitamin B2
- Iron
- Selenium
- Lastly, Fatty Acids.
Benefits Of Feeding Eggs To Your Pet
Adding eggs into your pet’s diet is a great idea and below I’m going to briefly list a few reasons to do so.
- Eggs are a great source of digestible protein, selenium and riboflavin.
- Good snacks for on the go as you can hard boil them.
- Very nutritious food source which is full of essential fatty acids and amino acids.
- Handy post-workout snack.
- Easy and inexpensive.
There are so many benefits of adding eggs into your pet’s diet and above are only a small handful.
Different Types Of Eggs
Now that you know what is inside an egg and the health benefits of feeding eggs to your pet, what ones are you going to opt for? We give the girls free ranged, organic chicken eggs as they are easy to source and Lily doesn’t turn her nose up at them. I remember once when we went to our favourite butchers to do our monthly meat trip, they had a box of lovely looking quail eggs on the counter so I thought it would be nice to grab a box for the girls.
Excited to get home and give Nia and Lily one each alongside their tea I was shortly disappointed, as little Lily wasn’t having any of it. Thankfully, non-fussy Nia loved them but Lily sticks with her usual weekly chicken eggs, there are plenty of egg options to choose from though.
- Chicken Eggs
- Quail Eggs
- Duck Eggs
- Pheasant Eggs
- Goose Eggs
- Turkey Eggs.
These are just a few as I’ve missed off some of the more exotic options available, check out this great blog post all about the different types of eggs listed above. As well as photos of an Emu and Ostrich egg which weighs a whopping 3 lbs, to learn more head over to Ready Store.
Why pet parents worry about feeding raw eggs?
While doing the research for today’s post it became apparent that a lot of pet owners either don’t agree with feeding our companion animals raw eggs or worry that it may have a negative effect on their pet’s health and wellbeing. My purpose with today’s post is to help pet parents see the many benefits of adding raw eggs into their pets diet and dismiss the negative claims of doing so.
Raw Eggs Contain Salmonella
I’m sure if your against feeding eggs this may well be the reason why. However, we’ve talked about this before when writing my previous post, Can dogs eat raw meat? Salmonella is already inside your canine and feline friends GI tract much of the time, regardless of what they eat studies have shown and they are highly equipped to deal with Salmonella or E-coli due to a few reasons.
Your Dog is a Domesicated Wolf!
Believe it or not, your canine companion is more than capable of killing and consuming whole prey, in fact, they were designed to do exactly that. Despite the fact that they no longer have to hunt to get their food and have a much more relaxed life with their human counterparts, their digestive system is the same as when they were hunting for their food.
Your dog is able to eat foods that may contain Salmonella for two main reasons, one, their digestive tract is fairly short which prevents the build-up of any bad bacteria. Two, their stomach acid is highly acidic, measuring at a Ph of 2 or lower, let’s bear in mind that the Ph of sulphuric acid is higher at around 2.75 and our own can be as high as 3.5.
In fact, your domesticated canine is so similar to a Wolf that Grey Wolves and our dogs share an impressive 98.8% of their genome. Also, their species are still so close, that if a dog (Canis Lupus Familiaris) and a Grey Wolf (Canis Lupus) were to breed with one another, they would produce offspring that they themselves could go on to reproduce.
This is known as being ‘interfertile’.
Egg Whites Contain Enzyme Inhibitors
While researching for today’s post I found an argument for not feeding eggs which are that egg whites contain enzyme inhibitions which can interfere with digestion in young and old pets. However, Dogs Naturally Magazine easily answered this question by simply saying this is true, but only means that eggs should not be the stable of your pet’s diet which will solve this issue.
You can cook the egg by boiling it but this destroys a lot of the nutritional value which makes it fairly pointless. By feeding whole eggs in moderation you have nothing to worry about, observe how your pet reacts to consuming eggs and progress from there.
Egg Whites Cause Biotin Deficiency
While researching for today’s post I came across this bit of information that states that egg whites cause Biotin deficiency. Biotin is a B Vitamin and is important for both humans and other organisms due to its involvement in various metabolic processes such as the utilization of fats, carbohydrates and amino acids.
However, this concern happens very rarely due to the sheer amount of egg whites that would have to be fed and it can be easily managed by ensuring you feed the whole egg, yokes and all. Egg yokes are very nutritious, tasty and full of Biotin so by feeding whole eggs in moderation you have very little to worry about. Cooking also removes this worry but it also removes a lot of the nutrients so in my eyes it’s not worth it. Check out this really short yet informative video that I found useful when writing today’s post as it talks about this concern and answers that all-important question of, Are Raw Eggs Good For Dogs?
What Eggs Should You Source?
It is super important that you feed your pet high-quality eggs, make sure you always purchase free range and if possible organic. If you live in the UK and have an Aldi supermarket close by they sell six-packs of organic eggs for a great price, or if you’re lucky enough to live close by a farmer or a fresh market purchase your eggs here. Lastly, remember to always check your eggs before feeding and never feed a crack egg to your pet.
Now that you are aware of the many nutritional benefits of adding eggs into your pets’ diet I really hope you do so. Nia and little Lily love having a raw egg, even though it makes Lily’s breath smell pretty bad!! However, I’ve decided that I want to attempt to make some fresh breath treats so if all goes to plan then next Tuesday’s post is going to be a treat recipe, so stick around for that.
I hope you liked today’s post, let me know by hitting that like button or giving it a share. Also, let me know whether you feed your canine companion raw eggs or are planning to add them into their diet after reading today’s post. Stick around for next Tuesday’s post and I hope you all have a great week!
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