Are Pigs Ears Low Fat??
I have looked on line and I have a read a lot of different things about pigs ears. They went from a once a week treat to a once a day treat for the dogs and I am just not sure if that is healthy or if it is low calorie so it is fine. Miranda is on a diet and she was getting 1/4 of a cup 2X a day. No change in weight but she is MUCH more active and can go for an hour on a walk without a break. But the vet said to change it now to 1/4 of a cup of low calorie food per day TOTAL. In my opinion way too little.
So I am wondering if her pig ear treats are hindering her weight loss. She now only gets cooked sweet potatos and non fat cottage cheese for breakfast and 1/4 cup fo food for dinner. Not much to go on, so the pigs ears became a guilt treat. She looks so pathetic when I eat anything, it seems like a simple thing to give her something she will spend an hour chewing on.
What do you think, many of you have had many dogs and would know better than I.
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Darlene Hennessy on
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I don't use pig ears. I used to and my corgi had a bacterial infection in his gut. The vet said it is common to get from pig ears. He had been vomiting and having diarrhea and it became bloody. What I give my corgis now is bones from the butcher. The love them and can chew on them for hours... They love to work at getting the marrow out of the bone. I don't have any idea about a caloric value for either one. Good luck whatever you choose.
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Permalink Reply by Mim on
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Pig ears, pig trotters, rawhide etc are very high in fat. Marrow bones are also very fattening.
Your dog will never lose weight if you give in to her pleading eyes. By denying her treats now, you are helping her towards a long and happy life and she can have (occasional) treats when she's healthy.
My overweight dog lost 14.5kg through diet and exercise. Diet means NO treats. I used grated sweet potato, pumpkin, carrot and zucchini to make her meal up to a decent size so she felt full, without eating too many calories. The rest of her meal was a low fat dry biscuit, fish oil, and lean meat such as chicken or kangaroo or turkey. -
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Permalink Reply by Derek on
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we were doing that but then she was bit on the face by another dog and we had to use soft foods to feed her. So the calorie issue was forgoten for a week. She can eat kibble but not her carrots. She hates green beans, pumpkin, etc. But she loves apple and sweet potato. So she is getting cooked sweet potato with a small amount of fat free cottage cheese.
She cannot chew and so it made a break in the pigs ears, and so it made me think. The vet said that pigs ears are not a big deal, but a lot of things have changed with month with the dog attack and all. -
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Permalink Reply by Beauty and the Beast on
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Pig ears are very high in fat. Try not to give it to Miranda for 2 weeks, then see how weight loss goes. 1/4 a cup a day is definitely very low, I feel bad for her, but I'm not a vet so I can't recommend anything.
We used to give them to Shiro once a week, but he'd have very soft stool after that. Not compatible with fuzzy butt. hehe
I'll try half of one once a week, maybe it will be better. -
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Permalink Reply by Carla on
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It's so hard when all they want to do is eat! Our breeder was very adamant that we don’t feed Casey Pigs Ears. She said it can be very bad for their stomach lining, are high in fat with little nutritional value, and can cause bacteria infections as Darlene pointed out.
Have you tried replacing the pig's ear with a frozen Kong or something? The Kong would give her something to do and feel like she's eating, but you could put something low-fat inside. I'll put low-fat cream cheese inside a kong for Casey (not fill it up, just ram about a teaspoon or two inside on the walls to make her work for it). You could also try mixing together ripe mashed banana's and a small amount of peanut butter, then filling the Kong and freezing it. It would take her a long time to get it out, it's still food, but it's mostly banana so you don't have to feel so bad about giving it to her. -
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Permalink Reply by Beth on
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Watch with the other add-ins, too. Sweet potatoes are high calorie for a vegetable at about 180 calories a cup. Fat-free cottage cheese can have about 140 calories a cup, but it would depend on the brand.
In contrast, baby carrots are only about 50 calories a cup and canned pumpkin only about 30. So by substituting out one orange veggie that is recommended for weight loss, and adding a different one, you are potentially adding a substantial number of calories. If she can't eat carrots, try boiling them and mashing them up. At 180 calories/ cup, the sweet potato is enough that you could substitute a slightly smaller amount of canned dog food and get more nutrition for the same calories. -
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Permalink Reply by Bax & Zigs & Rosie on
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I don't have any advice on pig ears, but if you are looking for a treat/chew idea, you might want to try antlers. I was giving Baxter a rawhide to chew on every couple of days. Then I saw some people talking about antlers on here and decided to order one. Not only has it lasted a loooooong time, he loves to chew on it. I'm not sure if it's good for weight loss though.
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Permalink Reply by Karen & Bailey on
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Ewww. stay away from those things! Bailey got the WORSE tummy ache from it... eek!!! i think it was the fat content, since bailey gets stomach ache from any sort of pork/pig, and well... they are mostly fat!
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yes, for lowfat chews i reccommend bully sticks or deer antler . bully sticks are easier to chew thus last not too long, but deer antler last... months.. and harder to chew -so your dog might be dis-interested at first, but bailey came around once he discovered there was yummy marrow inside.
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