By steve
We continue our Dog Food Ingredients A to Z series with the letter “V”. Today’s ingredient is Venison.
What is Venison?
Venison is the meat of the game animal deer. Deer is a member of the Cervidae family.
Common names for Venison
The most common name variation is deer. Other species within the Cervidae family include elk, moose, red deer and reindeer (caribou).
Why is Venison included in dog food?
Venison is used in dog food to provide an alternative (novel) and lower fat protein source for the dog.
Is Venison a commonly used ingredient in dog food?
Venison’s popularity is increasing as the demand for novel proteins is increasing, in part due to consumer realization that feeding a dog the same food repeatedly can lead to nutritional deficiencies and allergic reactions. Currently venison is in about 3% of all dog foods.
Common benefits or risks of Venison
Venison is a relatively lean meat and lower in calories, fat, and cholesterol than most cuts of beef or pork. For example, ground venison (mixed cuts) has about 50 calories, 7 grams of protein and only 2 grams of fat per ounce. Compare to a lean (85% lean, 15% fat) hamburger which has about 70 calories and per 4 grams of fat per ounce.
Venison is a good source of B vitamins, especially Niacin and B-12 (which is not readily available in most foods) as well as the minerals zinc, phosphorous, and iron.
Miscellaneous facts about Venison
According to Wikipedia, Venison originally described meat of any game animal killed by hunting and was applied to any animal from the families Cervidae (deer), Leporidae (hares), and Suidae (wild pigs), and certain species of the genus Capra (goats and ibex). In the northern hemisphere the word’s usage is now almost entirely restricted to the flesh of various species of deer.
Deer organ meat is called “humble”. This is the supposed origin of the term “humble pie”, which quite literally means deer pie.
Slimdoggy Ingredient Comfort Level
Venison gets the Slimdoggy Happy Face due to all of its health benefits and the fact that it is a novel protein for dogs.
Sources and further reading:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deer
We’re joining the Tasty Tuesday Blog Hop sponsored by Sugar, the Golden Retriever and Kolchak from Kol’s Notes:
From: Dog Food Ingredients A to Z: Venison
