Salmonella Infection Through Raw Chicken?

[Guest grashopper]

Hello,

From what I have been reading on this forum a lot of you feed raw chicken bones to their dogs. A friend of mine has been through a Salmonella infection with her dog and that's something I wouldn't want to experience. What do you consider the chance of the dogs actually catching the infection? I have seen the chicken frames being sold at the local Woolworths but I am hesitant to buy them.

Thanks for your help.

Cheers,

Ines

[blacklabrador]

I dunno - a lot of us feed raw chicken to our dogs with no problems!

[Guest waygre]

Hi grashopper, I have fed my girls raw chicken all their life... my eldest is 17 and never had a problem. I will say however that I make sure the meat or bones are fresh. If i wont eat it I dont give it to my dogs.

(Hmmmm by the way I dont eat bones but the girls do)

[Nadia]

Of course it is possible for dogs to contract Salmonella, however it doesn't happen as often as some scaremongers make out.

Just take normal hygeine precautions.

Use seperate chopping boards etc for cooked food and raw, wash everything in very hot soapy water( I bleach my boards and leave them in the sun every week),

especially cloths etc that you use for wiping surfaces etc.

If you feed your dogs out of bowls, wash them up daily with hot soapy water.

I have fed raw chicken to my animals for many years, we have had no problems.

If it is handled properly as you would your own food, you shouldn't have any problems.

[Christina77]

Chicken that is going 'off' has a sour smell , it should smell fresh and the bones should be pink

where the knuckles / joints are , the marrow in there should be pink not going brown, then the chicken is fresh

having had some off chicken from Woolworths up here several times, and having complaint several times , they still sell chicken on tuesdays as "specials"

you can bet it's on the way out

Just be carefull with any meat especially in this hot weather , but you have to wonder how come dogs can bury a bone for 4 days, dig it up and enjoy it with no problems

[Guest grashopper]

Hi Christina,

I not worried about the bones going off that much, mine prefer them rather rotten too, it's just the salmonella I am worried about. If the chooks have had it, it's in the meat, no matter how careful you handle it.

Thanks for all your posts,

Cheers,

Ines

[aatainc]

Quote:

"if the chooks have had it, it's in the meat, no matter how careful you handle it".

Actually, that's inaccurate. Salmonella is picked up from the environment - it's a bacteria - you don't store bacteria in your flesh - neither do chickens - yes, it can be in their gut - but it doesn't cross over into their meat. It's a bit like saying if the chicken had cancer then you'll get cancer.

MOST salmonella poisonings result from chicken faeces - not the actual flesh. So the problems occur when the chicken is not handled carefully at the processing point - if faeces or other gut contents contaminate the meat at that point that's when you can have trouble. So it's very important to buy your chicken from a human food source where it's handled well. Older meat has had longer to be exposed to the bacteria in the environment so that also has increased risk of problems.

You shoudl still take good hygeine precautions because you could have bacteria in your environment which you don't want getting into food. wash all bowls and preparation equipment very thoroughly. Don't use wooden chopping boards - use plastic instead as it's easier to disinfect.

Freezing the meat before defrosting adn using it can help.

If you use a human food source, buy fresh meat and take reasonable precautions the chances of your dog catching salmonella is MINISCULE. If your dog or family member was immunocompromised (ie, had AIDS or leukaemia) then I probably wouldn't do it but otherwise the risk is barely worth mentioning.

[Christina77]

MOST salmonella poisonings result from chicken faeces - not the actual flesh.

Thanks aatainc

That must be why eggs with broken shells can be so dangerous when used uncooked , a while ago one of the restaurants in Cairns had a major outbreak of salmonella poisonings due to a desert made with raw eggs, which were seconds and had cracks , now restaurants I "believe" can no longer purchased eggs classed as seconds

don't quote me on the complete accuracy of the above, but I do remember reading about it.

[holly]

We feed raw chicken mince everyday to our adults and older puppies, have never had a problem, but I did have problems with little puppies, so I no longer feed them chicken mince, in fact I avoid raw meat all together with young puppies, only commercial biscuits these days to be on the safe side.

The intestine of the dog is shorter than that of the human, that is how they can eat foods that are off and not get ill, whereas we will be cronically sick, under the right conditions.

[Steve]

Its pretty rare for a dog to get this as they have a shorter digestive tract however if you're worried about it just wash the chicken in apple cidar vinegar before you feed it and that kills off any bacteria.

[WhiteLight]

Well I am the one who ended up with the infection and they picked it up the most unusual way from a urine sample.

Even the department of health remarked on that. I never realised the cross question you went through where have you eaten out in the last month what did you have.

Do you handle raw chicken, how do you prepare it.

It turns out Sushi is now one of the main culprits.

All I was worried about was if my dogs could catch if from me

[aatainc]

what the? What do you mean you got it from a urine sample? Are you a nurse? Sorry - I'm confused!

edit:

oh, I get it - they found the infection because of the urine sample. Get it now.

Are you really sick? Salmonella usually makes you violently ill. I hope that doesn't happen!!

Edited December 29, 2004 by aatainc

[WhiteLight]

Was I sick.

Death would have been more appealing at that time. They took a urine sample as they had tried blood samples, ultrasounds etc. It a great weight loss diet I can tell you.

Two weeks on antibotics the size of horse tablets which also give you similar sympthons so life is very "interesting" at present.

Edited December 30, 2004 by L.B.

[aatainc]

oh LB, with your bank problems and now this - you must be feeling awful! Hope you get better soon!

[Mystiqview]

Vet told me as I sometimes have the problem with my dogs and chicken bones. It goes through them like a dose of epsom saults causing what looks like concrete coloured and consistancy poos.

The bacteria is found naturally in their gut. What they have found is that if during the cleaning and processing of the carcus, the stomach contents get in contact with other parts of the chicken (through poor handling etc), then it is possible to cause the reaction when eating.

Have had it a number of times when I have bought frozen chicken necks from a number of the pet food places mainly. Chicken is one of those meats which you have to be very careful about salmanella poisoning as it is very easy to get. Even for the human grade stiff. Poor hygiene and handling of chicken can cause a dose of the nasties.

[Rappie]

I have a figure in my notes somewhere that suggests well over 50% of chicken sold commercially to consumers (including butchers, supermarkets etc) is contaminated with Salmonella at the time it is for sale. Meat processing plants do a lot of quality control before meat leaves their plant but it will only get worse once it leaves......

So certainly a "real" problem, however probably also requires a dose of immunosuppression to cause a problem in an otherwise healthy dog. Of course, too much of anything can cause problems so if you're eating / feeding chicken that's been lying about and causing an ideal environment for bacterial growth there are few other factors involved. Food hygiene is VERY important.......

[gemibabe]

I noticed this thread on here some weeks ago and after tonight I am glad it is here!

I arrived home this afternoon, put my girl out the back, unpacked the car, started to prepare dinner and go to call Shelby in when I notice she is eating something.

On closer examination I realise it was a chicken carcass. Now I haven't given her chicken carcass' for close to 4 weeks. :D Being a bit worried about the effects it would have on her, I didn't allow her to finish eating it, but am unsure on how much she did eat.. if she buried it whole all that time ago or was it half eaten? It was deffinately half eaten tonight. :rolleyes:

Would the micororganism's in the dirt NOT allow bacteria to grow? I certainly do hope so!