Border Collies are known to eat pretty much any meat. However, just like kids, you have to prepare a healthy diet to keep them from getting sick or having allergies. You should know what types of meat Border Collies can eat?
Border Collies are omnivores, which means that they eat both plants and animals. Still, these dogs should avoid a few things.
Are there some types of food that they can’t eat?
Let’s look at the wide variety of meat that Border Collies can eat and some special considerations.
Border Collies and Raw Meat. Is it safe to feed raw meat to Border Collies?
Can you feed your Border Collie raw meat? — Of course, you can. They are omnivores and descendants of wolves. The ongoing debate on whether or not you can feed him raw meat is rather pointless.
The mother helps the puppies switch from milk to solid food. She regurgitates some of the food she eats, and the pups, whose eyes have opened, eat it.
If you have taken a Border Collie puppy from a breeder, ask him about his current diet. Try changing his diet gradually so that he adapts to the changes.
Start feeding your puppy raw meat in chunks that have been scraped off the bones. Observe your pet. If he develops diarrhea, stop feeding him raw meat.
If the next attempt to change his diet to raw meat fails, you should stop doing that.
The actual reason some Border Collies are unable to adapt to raw meat is because of their breeding history. If their previous generation has been fed only cooked meat, kept as a decorative dog, or are not purebred, they can sometimes not switch to a raw meat-based diet.
If everything is okay with the puppy’s digestion, give him a large bone that he cannot swallow. He will play, get used to raw meat, gnaw cartilage from the surfaces of the articular joints, which are necessary for the formation of his ligaments and tendons.
Border Collies And Cooked Meat. Can I Feed My Border Collie Cooked Meat?
Uncooked meat is without a doubt more nutritious than cooked meat, but it may have microorganisms, parasites, or carry the danger of helminthiasis.
Cooked or heat-processed meat doesn’t have these issues. If you are thinking about vitamins or minerals, they can be quickly replenished with cereals and vegetables.
But there are some restrictions in feeding cooked meat. If you ignore them, it can be a problem for your Border Collie.
When Is Cooked Meat Bad For Your Border Collie?
Feeding your Collie cooked meat doesn’t mean providing him off your table scraps. Their digestive system is different than ours, and it can’t digest seasonings, spices, herbs, and few more things that we humans can.
Few common ingredients such as Onion and Garlic are very harmful to dogs; harmful to every dog, not just Border Collies in specific.
Onions, whether cooked, boiled, chopped, or minced, have a toxin called N-propyl Disulfide. This toxin damages RBC (red blood cells) and leads to anemia in dogs.
Also, poultry meat has tubular bones, which, when cooked, become brittle and might tear a splinter in your border collie’s mouth.
Poultry bones, when treated to high temperatures, form gluten. When swallowed, it forms a clot in the stomach and causes constipation or pain.
How To Feed Your Border Collie Cooked Meat
You can always feed your Border Collie cooked meat if you consider a few things before doing so.
1) Do not add any seasonings, spices, or herbs to the cooked meat
2) If you are feeding your dog poultry meat, make sure to remove bones.
In other words, feed your dog only boiled meat as even oils are harmful to dogs.
Raw Meat Or Cooked Meat — Which Is Better For My BC?
When cooked, the water-soluble proteins are transferred to the broth. The remaining proteins are denatured, the quaternary structure of the macromolecule is destroyed. The product becomes more accessible to human digestive enzymes but not to dogs.
The dog will eat cooked meat with a greater appetite than raw meat, but protein digestibility will significantly decrease.
You may ask the question: what about the preprocessed food? They use meat in them. That’s right; they use it. But a particular method of short-term drying is used, in which proteins are not denatured.
The exception is boiled pork ears. They are recommended for growing puppies. The product contains cartilage and collagens, which are essential for the formation of bone and connective tissue. These are defective proteins, the digestibility of which increases during cooking.
How To Disinfect Meat Before Feeding Your Border Collie
Assumptions that meat should be disinfected with boiling water before feeding is unfounded. For the microbes to die, the product needs to be cooked for 2 hours.
Stomach hydrochloric acid will deal with contagions better than boiling.
Deep freezing meat for three or more days is an effective way for disinfection. The water in the bodies of the parasites crystallizes, the ice needles tear the tissues, the larvae of the helminths die.
Divide the meat into portions before freezing. Prepare the product the next day. Move it from the freezer to the refrigerator to thaw gradually.
What meat should you feed your BC?
When deciding what meat to feed your dog for nutrition, there are many things to consider, from the source of the meat to how it was raised.
Meat is an essential part of a Border Collie’s diet, but with so many different meats out there, which meat is best for your dog?
Beef
Beef is the most harmless animal-based diet you can feed your Border Collies. If you don’t want to put an extra burden on your pet’s liver, choose frozen beef shear – trimmings that can often be found in markets or supermarkets.
The advantage of beef is its low-fat content. The product does not raise cholesterol and does not burden the pet’s liver.
After deep freezing, all bacteria and microorganisms potentially harmful to the body die.
From beef, the dog will not become infected with worms – this is a big plus.
Mutton
Lamb is an excellent alternative to beef. Lamb contains B vitamins, which are essential for strengthening muscle tissue.
Lamb is also rich in potassium and magnesium, which have a positive effect on the activity of the cardiovascular system. Lamb fat contains twice less cholesterol than the same beef.
Turkey
Turkey meat is rich in vitamins A and E, calcium, potassium, magnesium, and iron.
The sodium content of turkey meat is higher than that of beef. Sodium normalizes the metabolic process in the body. Turkey meat is low in calories and contains little fat, which is easily absorbed by the body.
It would be best if you kept in mind that Turkey meat has tubular bones and should be removed before feeding your dog.
Can a Plant-Based Diet Work For Border Collies?
Bramble – The vegan Border Collie dog holds the Guinness Book of World Record for the world’s oldest dog. His vegan parents fed him organic vegetables, lentils, and rice. He also used to do a lot of exercise.
Now you must be wondering, is a vegan diet better than a meat-based diet for Border Collies?
Research done by University of Winchester’s study and Tufts University concluded that most dogs can live on a well balanced vegan diet.
Risks Of A Plant-Based Vegan Diet
American Veterinary Medical Association concluded that approximately 25% of vegan diets for dogs did not have necessary nutrients in it.
Various studies conducted on vegan dogs show that they are nutrient-deficient. Vets say that it’s not easy to create a vegan diet plan for dogs.
Healthiest Diet For Border Collie
No matter how healthy your dog is on its diet you should make sure that its diet is balanced and provides it with everything it needs.
Every dog needs protein, carbohydrates, fats and vitamins to survive. Only meat can’t provide it all. You should also add plant-based foods in his diet.
You might have a question; What about wolves? Don’t they live on a 100% meat diet in the wilderness?
You may be surprised to know that even wolves eat plant-based out of their prey’s intestine that’s already digested.
Since your Border Collie doesn’t hunt, you should add plant-based food to his diet. Plant based food have fibres in them that helps with the digestive system.
The healthiest diet for a Border Collie is raw meat and plant-based food.
Summary
Choose only lean, fresh meat. Buy the product in places where it undergoes veterinary control. You can’t be 100% sure it’s safe, which means it’s best not to give your dog fresh meat immediately after purchase. Freeze food in portions and use as needed.
Whether raw meat can be given to dogs is up to the owners to decide. Choose a diet based on the possibilities, but do not forget that the main thing is the health of your pet.