# Question about Beef & Bison



## HersheyPup (May 22, 2008)

Hi everyone,

I am currently doing a food trial with one of my dogs and I am suspecting a food allergy to Beef. I was wondering if Bison would be considered too close to Cattle? I know they are different animals, but they are in the same family. Kind of like Deer and Elk...are they both considered Venison?

However, I may have just answered my own question, lol. Turkey, Chicken and Duck are all poultry, but a dog can be allergic to chicken and turkey, but not to duck, etc.

Any thoughts? Thanks!!


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## zimandtakandgrrandmimi (May 8, 2008)

bison has a far different consistency, fat content and nutrient content than beef. it also cooks very differently. 

try it. make a beef burger and a bison burger at the same time lol.


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## Enhasa (Feb 6, 2010)

in my own opinion, which may be totally wrong...

beef is prolly closer to buffalo.
bison seems pretty different to me.


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## mrslloyd09 (Jul 12, 2009)

I know in my world of not being able to eat red meat, my doctor did say I could probably get away w/ bison and/or buffalo.


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## HersheyPup (May 22, 2008)

All right, that's good to know. Thanks guys! I kind of thought Buffalo and Bison were the same animal?


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## Enhasa (Feb 6, 2010)

they look really different, and i think they live in different areas of the world.


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## CoverTune (Mar 11, 2007)

HersheyPup said:


> I kind of thought Buffalo and Bison were the same animal?


So did I.. but I just learned something new!

Bison vs Buffalo


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## HersheyPup (May 22, 2008)

Thanks for that link, CoverTune. I did know of the Water Buffalo from Africa and the Cape Buffalo from Asia. But, somehow I don't think our domestic foods that claim to be Buffalo meat are either of these species. I think the American High Plains Bison is mistakenly called Buffalo. There is a ranch where I live that tourists often look for and when they ask locals for directions they ask, "How do we get to the Buffalo's?" None of them ask to see the Bison.

That's just what I think..I could be completely wrong, and the Buffalo meat could actually be Water or Cape Buffalo.

I was mostly wondering if I could feed a dog food that contains Bison meat to a dog that has Beef allergies. I am feeding Natural Balance Sweet Potato & Bison to one of my dogs ( it's wonderful!) and I would like to feed it to my other dog, too. But, I am concerned that she won't do well on it because of how closely related Bison are to regular beef cattle.


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## Kathyy (Jun 15, 2008)

Beef and bison are closely related. There is a fertile hybrid of the two used in ranching called the beefalo. You might want to email NB and ask if it is 100% bison in the food.


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## HersheyPup (May 22, 2008)

Kathyy said:


> Beef and bison are closely related. There is a fertile hybrid of the two used in ranching called the beefalo. You might want to email NB and ask if it is 100% bison in the food.


Good idea...I'll give them a call. When my BF was a kid his Dad raised Beefalo (about 20 head). Most of them had a low percentage of Bison, except one bull named Rusty. He was 50% Bison and he was not to be trifled with! Mean and tough as nails! This was way back in the 1970's and early 80's..he said they were called Buffalo, no one referred to them as Bison.

So, now I am doubly confused! haha


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## !dogbreeds (Feb 5, 2010)

hi
i think there is no problem in feeding beef to the dogs, but i don't know about foods such as chicken or fish, few dogs have allergy to them. you can try it let us know what happens. you never know


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## Bones333 (Sep 30, 2009)

HersheyPup said:


> Hi everyone,
> 
> However, I may have just answered my own question, lol. Turkey, Chicken and Duck are all poultry, but a dog can be allergic to chicken and turkey, but not to duck, etc.
> 
> Any thoughts? Thanks!!


Is this true? Would duck be ok if there is a sensitivity to chicken?


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## HersheyPup (May 22, 2008)

A dog can have an allergy to chicken, but be able to safely eat duck. Of course, a dog can be allergic to chicken AND duck, so then both those sources of protein would be off of the safe list.


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