If your dog is tired of eating the same old beef and chicken meat and you’re exploring other meat options for your beloved pet, we’ve got your back! Dogs can be sensitive and allergic to plenty of food, herbs, and spices, and it is every dog parent’s duty to research each food heavily before you let your pooch eat it.
Despite being red meat, veal meat is soft, tender, and juicy, making it a great substitute for delicate white meats. And the good news is that the answer to the question ‘Can dogs eat veal?’ is a big fat delicious ‘Yes.’
Later in this post, we’ll not only discuss the benefits of feeding your dog veal meat but also see ways in which we can make veal meat enjoyable for your doggo. Let us start by understanding if veal meat is good for your pooch and in what condition you should avoid feeding them veal meat.
Is Veal Meat Good for Dogs?
Yes, veal meat is rich in protein and is, in fact, a very good meat source for dogs. Protein is a crucial nutrition component in your dog’s diet, with the recommended dose of at least 18% in adult dogs and at least 22.5% in young pups and to-be or recent mom dogs. However, if your dog has a beef allergy, it is probably safe not to feed veal meat to your dog unless you’ve been advised otherwise by a vet.
3 ounces of ground broiled veal meat consists of around 21gm protein, and this protein-rich food is better enjoyed by your pooch cooked. While veal meat isn’t notorious for hosting parasitic worms and bacteria as in pork and chicken meat, you should still opt to feed your dog only properly cooked meat unless you source the meat from a trusted supplier. The minimum safety temperature, according to USDA, is 165 degrees Farenheight for ground beef and 145 degrees Fahrenheit for whole cuts.
While veal meat is completely safe for your dogs, you should also be wary of their food allergies. If your dog is allergic to protein or beef, veal meat is probably not safe for your doggo to consume. Some symptoms of veal allergy are flatulence, diarrhea, skin itchiness, alopecia, and breathing trouble.
What Are the Benefits of Veal for Dogs?
While the protein content in beef is slightly greater than in veal, veal meat is significantly richer in vitamins such as Vitamin B3, Vitamin B6, and Vitamin B12, essential amino acids, and minerals such as Phosphorous and Zinc. Veal is also relatively much easier to digest and helps dogs maintain good health and fantastic coat. Moreover, veal has more protein content than chicken and is an excellent choice if you wish to switch your pooch’s meat from white to red.
Veal provides fewer calories to your dog compared to other red meat sources such as beef and pork while nourishing your pooch with enough nutrients at the same time. Veal is also relatively leaner than other red meat options as it contains a significantly lesser amount of fat. According to the US FSDS, 3 ounces of a cooked beef rib roast had 24g of total fat, whereas the weal rib roast had only 12gm total fat content.
Moreover, if you want to introduce red meat to your pup’s diet, but they seem to gravitate more towards soft and juicy white meat, veal meat is the perfect substitute. Unlike red meat sourced from mature animals, veal tastes delicate and tender while still providing all the benefits of red meat.
How Do You Cook Veal for Dogs?
A.Veal Meatball:
Dog food is best cooked with low seasoning and oil. As long as you keep the recipe healthy, you can experiment with several ways to surprise your dog with veal meat. However, as you can easily shape the balls depending upon serving size, let’s look at a quick recipe to make veal meatball treats for dogs.
Mix the ground veal with grated veggies of choice.
While vegetables aren’t mandatory in your dog’s diet, veggies such as zucchini, parsley, carrots, and broccoli are nutrition-rich, and your pooch will definitely benefit from them.
In case you want the treats to be protein-packed, feel free to add a cup of cooked quinoa. Especially if you have a pup, adding quinoa to enhance the nutrition profile of the veal meatballs is probably the best idea.
Add 1 or 2 whole eggs to make sure that the mixture can easily be molded into balls. While eggs are nutritious for your dog, it also prevents your pooch’s treat balls from falling apart.
Shape the veal meat and veggie mixture into appropriate-sized balls.
If your dog loves oven-baked crunchiness, preheat your oven to 365 degrees.
Bake the meatballs until golden brown; it should take you approximately 15 to 20 minutes.
Alternatively, you can also boil the meatballs until they thoroughly cook and start floating in the boiling water.
Let the treat cool down for a while before you treat your dog (or yourself!) with these yummy treats.
B.Brown/white rice and veal meat:
Brown rice is a great source of carbohydrates for your dogs that provides them with energy without spiking their insulin level as much. However, while diabetic dogs benefit from brown rice, dogs with gastrointestinal issues should be fed white rice instead. Here’s how you prepare the nutritionally balanced food combo.
- Boil veal ground meat until it turns brown, and drain the excess fatty water.
- Cook rice until the rice is soft. Boil 1-2 eggs and veggies of your choice.
- Alternatively, if your pooch enjoys raw veggies, grate or chop some veggies; carrots and parsley add more flavor to this recipe.
- Finally, mix all the ingredients in a big bowl and let your doggo go to town!
However, if you don’t have the energy to make these fantastic foods for your dog, you can always simply boil veal slices/dice or steam the pieces in a double boiler and serve it.
Conclusion
Dogs can definitely eat veal as long as the meat is properly cooked and is served in moderation. While many on the internet say that feeding dogs raw veal meat is okay, we recommend otherwise, as raw meat homes plenty of pathogens that can cause food-borne illnesses. Also, it is best to avoid oils and fats while cooking veal, as their recommended daily fat intake percentage is minimal, around 5.5%, and the meat in the first place is already rich in this nutrient. We hope you cook a yummy bowl of veal meat delicacy for your pooch!
