Green Tripe

My three cats have been on a totally raw diet for over 2 months now.  They get 2 oz twice a day. I started with Nature's Variety, which they didn't like very much, then went to Bravo Balance which they liked much better.  I have now found a good raw supplier that does monthly deliveries around the midwest area.  I'm mixing a variety of ground meat/bone/organ mixes with Alnutrin, which they like much better.   Some days they eat all of their food, and some days they just pick at it. They will always finish the rabbit (of course, it is expensive).  I picked up a 2 lb container this month of a beef "supermix" that had some green tripe in it.  They loved it, and will polish the dish anytime they get it. The tripe comes from My Pet Carnivore, and didn't really smell that bad when mixed into the other stuff.  They came running as soon as I opened the container, and drove me crazy trying to eat out of the bowl while I was packaging it.  

 I'm thinking about picking up just some ground green tripe next month, and mixing it into the mix of all their proteins at a ratio of about 1 pound tripe to 8 pounds meat/bone/organ mix.  Is that too much??  Is there a limit on how much tripe they should get?  

Tripe is classified as a muscle meat. The calciumhosphorous ratio is 1:1 (off hand not sure if that is ideal or not).  It's a little fatty.

I would only suggest you make sure you are not feeding more protein than recommended.

But if you don't mind the smell and your cats like the stuff, then I don't see a problem.

Great,,,I'm thinking I will go with it.  I opened a container of the beef/tripe mix this morning.  I had already given the cats duck.....they left it and came running to the kitchen and tried to eat the tripe out of the container.  I gave the duck to the dogs, and gave the cats the tripe mix.  They polished off every bit of it.  They haven't been eating the turkey very well, so adding a little tripe may resolve the issue.  If I mix 1 pound tripe to 7 pounds meat/bone/organ mix, it will reduce the bone percentage a bit too.  Next delivery date is March 1....so will order the tripe then.

Found this analysis on greentripe.com

I would love to hear how your cats react to you mixing the tripe with their other meats. It sounds like something Aria would enjoy as well. I hope the smell is not too bad.

 I will be sure to post a report here.  I won't be getting my next delivery until March 1st, so will be ordering the tripe then.  I fed green tripe to my dog in the past, and have seen some that was pretty smelly. (He had serious digestive issues which were resolved with mixing some tripe into his food.) The stuff from MPC really wan't bad at all.  You can smell it, and it smells like tripe, but it is not really strong and not disgusting at all.  My housemate is not shy about complaining about bad smells, and she didn't react at all.  I think the fresh frozen is far more tolerable than the canned stuff.  The cats certainly come running when I open the container though....

Since frozen food smells less than cool/cold/warm food, I'd try to mix frozen tripe with your other meats.  Assuming your arm muscles or grinder will permit that!

Interesting.

Don't know why I am nervous to feed my 7 month olds tripe.

I have 2 lbs of beef w/tripe, goat w/tripe, and my order coming next weeking llama with tripe.

I need to come to grips with the fact it is muscle and not bile.

In my head I don't see this as "sterile" meat, but the knucklehead I am, I have never seen tripe, barely knew what it was before raw feeding.

Anyways, not sure where you order from, but Hare Today has it for very cheap, 2.20 a lb ground !

If my kittens react the same way yours do, we might have a winner.

Also, randomly I bought a can of Trippete, its a tripe based canned food, also too nervous to feed to them 

So in my next order I will order the pure tripe and repot back.

This weekend I plan or cracking open either the beef blend or the goat blend, I will take a whiff, I know what Bravo Beef smells like.

I might have been nervous about it too if I hadn't done some research and fed it to my dog in the past.  Some dog people feed it straight several times a week, and say it is "the perfect food".    My Pet Carnivore sells a 2# ground beef tripe with trachea and gullet for $3.85.  They also have lamb tripe....don't really know the difference.  Anyone used lamb tripe???

I opened one of the containers this evening with beef and tripe.....the cats came flying to the kitchen counter, trying to eat it from the container. I squirted them with the water bottle several times to get them off the counter so I could finish getting the food in their dishes, but they just kept coming back in spite of getting squirted.....lol.  When I put the food out, they polished off their portions immediately.  

One of my guys has decided he doesn't want to eat turkey.....so I'm hoping adding some tripe to the mix will make a difference.  I like the fact that it provides a natural probiotic......and they sure do like it.  There is a smell....but the fresh frozen stuff from MPC isn't bad at all .I think the canned stuff smells much worse.

I'll have to check into this green tripe (wonder if it comes in a treat form?).

And for any newbies:  the tripe you find in your grocery stores is NOT the same as green tripe.  "Honeycomb" tripe is bleached of all its nutrients.

I bought it once not knowing better, and even my ferals wouldn't touch it.

Ritz...thanks for pointing out about the grocery store stuff....I should have mentioned that.  I was poking around the forum last night, reading a lot of threads, and did come across a thread talking about freeze dried green tripe treats.  Several people said they crumble them as toppers.  Search for green tripe on amazon....there are 3-4 different varieties.

For those who are interested.....here are some links to information about the benefits of green tripe.  They talk about dogs, as the raw feeding dog people have been into this stuff for a long time.  They always mention great skin & coat, clean teeth, and no digestive issues, as well as rejuvanation of sick or older dogs.

http://www.backtothebone.ca/the-benefits-of-green-tripe/

http://www.greentripe.com/noguts2.htm

One of the common things mentioned frequently in articles about green tripe is its value in getting lactating bitches or sick dogs to eat when they are "off their food".  I have to wonder about its value in getting picky cats to transition to raw much faster.  One of my guys is a bit on the picky side....he will walk away from some meats, but chows down on the same meat if there is some tripe in it.  The Siamese boy wants to graze....a few bites here and there, but eats it all if tripe is included.  

I bought some green tripe at Pet Barn, a high end pet store in Annapolis.  Although marketed for dogs, since it is 100% green tripe, I figured it would be fine for Ritz.  It comes in 4 oz patties, which is what I fed Ritz (plus appropriate amount of liver and kidney).

I'll let you know how she likes it; she isn't a picky eater.

PS:  18 ounces, cost only around $6, really cheap.

That seems very expensive to me...lol.  I get 2 pounds of frozen ground tripe for $3.75.  Local availability is a nice thing though....

I found another nice enticement today. I picked up a 3oz packet of water packed, no sodium sardines.  Put a spoonful on top of the turkey and they are eating like crazy.  I almost never feed any kind of fish, so I'm thinking a spoonful a day for 3 days or so isn't going to be that bad.  None of my guys are "fish freaks" because they have rarely seen fish in their short little lives....but they do seem to appreciate the little bit of sardine and juice.

Yeah, local availability is a good thing.

I checked and it was actually around $6 for two pounds, $3 for one pound, 75 cents per serving.

I can get fresh rabbit--for $4 a pound, at least 1/3 of which I can't use because of the amount of bone:meat (though the cats in my community cat colony love it).

Ritz, what was the brand? I think I saw it at Dogs & Company in Columbia.

I look forward to your update.  Let us know his reaction.

I like the idea of 4 oz patties.  Are they vacume sealed? I am assuming it is ground?

I am going to order some ground tripe from HT.

Its 2.20 a pound (.50 cents to ship).  I will split the chub with my brothers dog. 

Also, that  My Pet Carnivore store looks interesting.  They got some great prices. 

I would like to learn more about them.

I entered a question at feline-nutrition.org a couple of days ago regarding how much green tripe was beneficial for cats.  My question was forwarded to a vet (Dr Lyn Thompson), who replied that she does her mixes at 1/6 green tripe, and that more was fine.  I am feeling pretty comfortable now, especially if the raw feeding vet uses green tripe for her cats.  My cats are going to be really happy too...lol.

Korina,

Sorry I don't know the manufacturer--I threw away the package.  I'm guessing either Bravo or K-9; the green tripe was in the dog section.  It was in a flat package, frozen of course, eight patties @ 4 oz each, NOT individually wrapped.  It is ground.

She gets it tomorrow:  I'll let you know how she likes it:  two oz of beef tripe + two oz of very low fat chicken breast (Ritz needs to lose about a pound) (plus liver and kidney).  I don't really like ground meat--it's not as beneficial for her teeth and she eats it FAST.  But some meats I have access to (like Llama) only come ground.

I need to check out My Pet Carnivore, although I've been happy with Hare Today.

So....how did Ritz like the green tripe???

I am out of the fresh tripe until March 1st.  My guys have been turning up their noses at the turkey/chicken/duck the last several days.  Since I have a whole bunch of it packaged for the next couple of weeks, that is kind of a problem.  I stopped today and picked up some cans of Solid Gold Green Tripe.  It's kind of cooked in the canning process, and definitely doesn't "stink as good" as the fresh stuff.  I added a Tbsp to each bowl of turkey tonight.....and lo and behold....everyone ate their turkey!  The fresh green tripe is obviously better....but this is a nice backup.  If you want to try your cats out on tripe....this might be an easy way to see if they like it.

Ritz liked the green tripe (http://www.k-9kraving.com/), though she's liked other food just as well (llama) or better (rabbit).  I have almost two pounds of it and will use it up, but probably won't buy it again.

It wasn't nearly as smelly as I thought it would be.  Now I wouldn't want to wear it as perfume, and I wouldn't recommend inhaling it in close quarters, but not horribly smelling.