Tripe is a popular component of many pet foods, loved by many dogs despite the nose wrinkling smell!
Why then don't we add it to any of our raw recipes, given that it is a much cheaper alternative to the lean meat used?
The answer, is that compared to muscle meat, tripe is much less nutritious and harder to digest, which is contrary to our goal of ensuring that every mouthful of food supplies the maximum amount of nourishment, and the greatest positive effect on health.
100g of tripe for example, supplies approximately 12g of protein (12%).
100g of lean meat on the other hand, provides twice as much at 24g (24%).
In addition to to this, the elastin in tripe (the protein which allows the stomach wall to stretch like a rubber band to accommodate food) is more difficult for the digestive system to break down compared to muscle meat.
Taken together, this means that a dog's body has to work harder to extract less nourishment from tripe than lean meat.
A dog food containing tripe therefore (kibble, tinned and raw) provides significantly less nourishment than one which uses lean meat instead. And this is far from ideal for most dogs, but particularly for those who need a nutrient dense, easy to digest diet for optimum health, such as:
- rapidly growing puppies
- older pets (aged 7 years and older when digestive efficiency often begins to decline)
- those with digestive disturbances (including recurrent colitis, acid reflux, regurgitation of bile and IBD)
