# Is feeding raw eggs safe?



## siberian husky lover12

Hi, I was just wondering if feeding raw eggs is safe for dogs. Becasue my mom made a coment when we were eating eggs this moring that raw eggs were good for a dogs coat. Any advice?


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## Cassie Nova

Yes, it is good for their coat. Just don't mix them with kibble- give it an hour later or an hour before, or even as a meal.


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## Elijah

There was a guy I knew in high school who was a real health nut and would make a milk shake and put a raw egg in it...I nearly barfed watching him. With all the problems of salmonella poisoning these days, I wouldn't try that myself and I'm not sure I'd want to give it to the dog either. It may be just fine but, you know how things stick in your head.


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## sillylilykitty

My older sister is going to school to learn to be an even bigger health nut than she already is! She said if you wash the outside of the egg before you crack it open it wont have salmonella. I dont know where she heard that from though. O and why is it bad to mix it with dry kibble?


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## Captbob

I heard a Vet on a talk show state that raw eggs are dangerous due to the antibiotic resistent salmonella they frequently contain. He recommended scrambling or soft boiling the eggs first, which is what I do..


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## blackie505

I tried to ask my vet she said if you want but turns out my dog was alligerk and she died don't give raw eggs to your dog


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## PureBred1

*Raw Eggs*

Every Sunday when I make myself a nice brunch, I give my dogs two raw eggs each in thier kibble. I asked my vet about this before I started and he said that you should only give them one of two a week. He also said that there was no problem mixing it with thier kibble and that it will be hard for them to digest it without having it with a meal. It does in fact give thier coats a certain shine. 

Blackie, If you are not going to help, then don't post. That was innapropriate to say. If you are in fact being serious, I'm sorry for your loss and I'm sure your dog had a serious allgery. Dogs though, unless they are seriously sick, have no allgery to eggs.


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## luv4gsds

I give raw eggs (shell and all) to my pack. 

Nutrient Breakdown
http://www.aeb.org/LearnMore/NutrientBreakdown.htm


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## Elijah

A quote from the K9 Insider...

Raw eggs should not be given to a dog because of the risk of salmonella poisoning.

http://www.k9insider.com/content/view/47/26/

PureBred, I don't know where you got the information that dog's don't have allergies to eggs, but it's not so. They have allergies to wheat, wheat gluten, and a host of other foods as well. Who are you to beat up on someone making their first post about their dog dying from this? I think they would know better than you what killed their dog.


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## squirt1968

Why do you feed them the shell? I am assuming there is a health benefit? It seems the shell could cut the inside of the dog


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## Elijah

I think if I were looking for something to make their coats look better, I'd opt for the Missing Link. There's too many discrepancies about uncooked eggs to sooth a questionable mind on this for me. The outer shell is suppose to be good for the calcium.

http://www.petcareperfect.com/missing-link-dog-food-supplement.html


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## iamsammy

Avidin in egg white will decrease the absorption of biotin...so not recommend..


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## siberian husky lover12

Well yes there is a risk of salmonelia in it, but cant you do something to the egg, besideds cook it, to make it helthier? We do feed them scrambled though....


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## luv4gsds

Dogs have a very short digestive track then humans. It is hard for a dog to get Salmonella poisoning. A dog would have to eat 50-60 eggs a day every day for something like that to happen. And if I'm not mistaken the FDA has stated that Salmonella is not harmful to dogs.



> Why do you feed them the shell?


Egg shells is good source of calcium and also acts as a phosphorus binder. I grind the egg shells up before I give them to the dogs. I give one egg every two weeks.


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## Cassie Nova

luv4gsds said:


> Dogs have a very short digestive track then humans. It is hard for a dog to get Salmonella poisoning. A dog would have to eat 50-60 eggs a day every day for something like that to happen. And if I'm not mistaken the FDA has stated that Salmonella is not harmful to dogs.


Exactly.

Also, feeding it over their kibble isn't supposed to be good due to something with mixing a raw diet and a kibble diet. Too much change in the digestive system, I guess.


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## siberian husky lover12

So, can i give it to um or not, without kibble or with? This is getting confusing.


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## luv4gsds

> So, can i give it to um or not, without kibble or with?


Well I would not add it to a kibble diet. Salmonella is everywhere. Just think for a minute if dogs can get Salmonella don't you think they would get it when they clean their own private parts or better yet when they eat poop.


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## siberian husky lover12

Yeah thats true, but mine just rolls in it....


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## Captbob

PureBred1 said:


> Every Sunday when I make myself a nice brunch, I give my dogs two raw eggs each in thier kibble. I asked my vet about this before I started and he said that you should only give them one of two a week. He also said that there was no problem mixing it with thier kibble and that it will be hard for them to digest it without having it with a meal. It does in fact give thier coats a certain shine.
> 
> Blackie, If you are not going to help, then don't post. That was innapropriate to say. If you are in fact being serious, I'm sorry for your loss and I'm sure your dog had a serious allgery. Dogs though, unless they are seriously sick, have no allgery to eggs.


That's a pretty cruel remark about someone's post...



siberian husky lover12 said:


> Well yes there is a risk of salmonelia in it, but cant you do something to the egg, besideds cook it, to make it helthier? We do feed them scrambled though....


What is so difficult about cooking the egg for a minute or two  ?


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## siberian husky lover12

Nothing, we feed them leftover scrambled from ours.


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## Captbob

siberian husky lover12 said:


> Well yes there is a risk of salmonelia in it, but cant you do something to the egg, besideds cook it, to make it helthier? We do feed them scrambled though....


Should I eat my eggs raw?. I like healthier foods too..


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## frogguruami

Paisley gets a raw egg every other day. Dogs have an extremely low risk of salmonella poisoning. Their digestive tracts are designed to handle those kinds of things. We don't feed kibble so I can't with the with kibble or not question. My bet would be not though since kibble is digested much slower than real food.


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## Dog Mom

NO! Never give them raw eggs!

I make scrambled eggs for my girls.


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## Ginny01OT

There are eggs in the raw food product I use and they also must be raw (Nature's Variety Prairie raw patties) chicken eggs, pheasant eggs, quail eggs and duck eggs but I don't know how much of each (could be a teaspoon for all I know)----that is not to say you should feed your dog raw eggs---you need to research it and make an educated decision.


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## MagicToller

> NO! Never give them raw eggs!


...

Raw eggs are perfectly fine.


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## 3212

Wow, if you google 'raw eggs for dogs' it's a complete mix of what to do/not to do. Some say NEVER give them raw eggs because they contain biotin, but they are very good for your dogs cooked...and some say they are really better for the dog if you feed them raw....

???


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## MagicToller

> Some say NEVER give them raw eggs because they contain biotin


The Avidin in the egg white binds with the biotin - and unless you're feeding morbid amounts of raw eggs and removing the egg white, you're fine.


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## 3212

MagicToller said:


> The Avidin in the egg white binds with the biotin - and unless you're feeding morbid amounts of raw eggs and removing the egg white, you're fine.


Ah that makes sense...I read that on another site too and it seemed more likely to be true. Most of them just said to give raw eggs sparingly and you'd be fine. 

I actually have a friend who is working to become a chef and in one of her classes at culinary school they learned that most times the salmonella (if any) is actually on the shell and not the inside of the egg! So if you wash the egg before cracking it, it dramatically reduces the chance of containing salmonella. Also organic eggs have a less chance of carrying it.


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## MagicToller

> I actually have a friend who is working to become a chef and in one of her classes at culinary school they learned that most times the salmonella (if any) is actually on the shell and not the inside of the egg! So if you wash the egg before cracking it, it dramatically reduces the chance of containing salmonella. Also organic eggs have a less chance of carrying it.


Maybe so for people, but dogs are almost impervious to salmonella.. incidences are so low, and ironically - the recorded cases of salmonella are from kibble.


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## 3212

MagicToller said:


> ironically - the recorded cases of salmonella are from kibble.


I can believe that!


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## wigglebutts

Hi, New Kid on the block I wondered the same thing My Husband said it was a good thing for their coats .. We have chickens so it would be easy to just the pups an egg .. but after searching I found it wasn't a great idea so now I boil the eggs...

You can give a raw ORGANIC egg OCCASIONALLY. But continual use of raw eggs will cause the coat to become worse because it leads to a biotin deficiency. Raw egg whites contain avidin, an enzyme which ties up biotin (makes it unavailable for absorption into the body). Symptoms of biotin deficiency include dermatitis (inflammation of the skin), loss of hair, and poor growth.

Cheryl


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## BoxMeIn21

That's why it's only recommended to give your dog 1-2 eggs a week.  My two get a couple of raw eggs a week...with their raw food.

WOW. This thread is old!


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## wigglebutts

Yeppers its an old thread but Im new here so its all new to me and after reading it I didn't see anywhere that it told the reson why it was not a great idea to give dogs raw eggs ....

So I did ... Hope ya don't mine me bring up old posts .....
Cheryl


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## BoxMeIn21

wigglebutts said:


> Yeppers its an old thread but Im new here so its all new to me and after reading it I didn't see anywhere that it told the reson why it was not a great idea to give dogs raw eggs ....
> 
> So I did ... Hope ya don't mine me bring up old posts .....
> Cheryl


Of course not! Welcome to DF! I am sure you'll find lots of opinions on why you should or shouldn't give a dog a raw egg.


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## briteday

This topic comes up monthly...

so one more time...

"Many clinical nutrition books discuss biotin in egg yolks (one of the water soluble vitamin B complex) as being an essential nutrient which can be bound by avidin, which is found in raw egg white. This binding prevents it's absorption from the gastrointestinal tract. Fortunately cooking deactivates this effect of avidin, and egg yolk is so high in biotin content that biotin deficiency does not occur when whole raw eggs are fed. So, whilst biotin deficiency is a potential problem - in reality it is unlikely to be seen in domesticated animals unless they are fed an extremely imbalanced ration that is predominantly egg white."

I'll make it a sticky in the food forum.


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## BoxMeIn21

briteday said:


> This topic comes up monthly...
> 
> so one more time...
> 
> "Many clinical nutrition books discuss biotin in egg yolks (one of the water soluble vitamin B complex) as being an essential nutrient which can be bound by avidin, which is found in raw egg white. This binding prevents it's absorption from the gastrointestinal tract. Fortunately cooking deactivates this effect of avidin, and egg yolk is so high in biotin content that biotin deficiency does not occur when whole raw eggs are fed. So, whilst biotin deficiency is a potential problem - in reality it is unlikely to be seen in domesticated animals unless they are fed an extremely imbalanced ration that is predominantly egg white."
> 
> I'll make it a sticky in the food forum.


Thanks, Brite!


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## Chuckncha

The white of an egg is almost indigestible when raw. More important, raw egg whites combine with an essential vitamin, Biotin, and make it unavailable to the dog.

In fact, scientists who want to artificially produce a Biotin deficiency in a dog feed it raw egg whites. One of the signs of Biotin deficiency is an unhealthy condition of the skin and hair, NOT a shiny coat.


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## HerdersForMe

MagicToller said:


> ironically - the recorded cases of salmonella are from kibble.


Probably because there are 100 people in the world feeding kibble to each person feeding raw. Well those aren't exact numbers but you get the point. It's hard to compare two things when one is fairly rare in the real world and one is incredibly common. It's the same as saying more dogs choke on kibble than on raw bones. Well there are WAY more dogs eating kibble each day than there are consuming raw bones. 

On that note, I wouldn't feed dogs raw eggs. Why? It's not because they can't handle it, dogs are perfectly fine at digesting a raw egg shell and all. It's because the chickens who lay eggs for human consumption are not the same as a wild chicken. Our eggs and chickens carry such high risk of salmonella because of the way we raise our chickens. Same reason I would not feed a dog a prey diet completely on grocery store bought meats. The meat that comes out of the "meat factories" do not contain the same nutritional value as an animal in the wild. 

Dogs are not immune to food borne parasites, they just have a lower risk of getting them. Food borne illness is not prevalent in wild game. It's created from our livestock living in feces.


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## TEXAS MADE

briteday said:


> This topic comes up monthly...
> 
> so one more time...
> 
> "Many clinical nutrition books discuss biotin in egg yolks (one of the water soluble vitamin B complex) as being an essential nutrient which can be bound by avidin, which is found in raw egg white. This binding prevents it's absorption from the gastrointestinal tract. Fortunately cooking deactivates this effect of avidin, and egg yolk is so high in biotin content that biotin deficiency does not occur when whole raw eggs are fed. So, whilst biotin deficiency is a potential problem - in reality it is unlikely to be seen in domesticated animals unless they are fed an extremely imbalanced ration that is predominantly egg white."
> 
> I'll make it a sticky in the food forum.


So after reading all of the posts, I have concluded that it would be best to either boil or scramble the eggs before giving it to my dog. Will a boiled egg still have a positive effect on her coat?


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## katielou

TEXAS MADE said:


> So after reading all of the posts, I have concluded that it would be best to either boil or scramble the eggs before giving it to my dog. Will a boiled egg still have a positive effect on her coat?


If your that worried about the egg why don't you just scrap it all together and feed a good food and some fish oil if you have to.

My dogs get plenty of whole raw eggs every week. Always have done, always will.


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## TEXAS MADE

katielou said:


> If your that worried about the egg why don't you just scrap it all together and feed a good food and some fish oil if you have to.
> 
> My dogs get plenty of whole raw eggs every week. Always have done, always will.


Lol. I'm not THAT worried. Today is actually the first day I have ever considered giving my dog raw eggs. Decided to come to the forums and see if raw eggs had been discussed on here. Turns out it has been. From what I read, I concluded cooking it was the best option. That's why I asked the question. If a cooked egg does not have the same effect as a raw egg, then I plan to just simply give her a raw egg. 

So do you have an answer to my original question?


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## juwels

Yes, it is ok to give a dog a raw egg. It doesn't hurt them. Most people who feed a raw diet feed at least one raw egg a week complete with shell. If giving a raw egg grosses you out then boil it, scramble it,poach it before feeding.
Just make sure you dog is not allergic to an egg. My frenchy got a rash after few raw egg trials.


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## katielou

In my experience and opinion not much cooked is going to be better than raw.


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## Kathyy

Feed it cooked if you like. It will have all the fat and protein that is good for the dog with no scary biotin destroying stuff but be lacking the nebulous benefits of raw. Start with a little egg and add more a little at a time to avoid tummy upset. Scramble one up and feed over a couple days in other words.


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## NicoleIsStoked

Sorry to bump such an old thread, but i'd like to start feeding my dog some raw eggs. calorie wise, it seems like 1 whole egg would be a whole meal for Levi. How much raw egg would you recommend feeding a 15 lbs dog? he's currently 1 month into a raw diet.


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## Kathyy

14 pound Ginger gets an egg a meal. She prefers and occasionally gets the egg cooked rather than raw though. Spoiled dog! I'd start out by letting your dog lick out a bowl that had had egg in it and then take a spoonful from the eggs you are preparing for other uses before feeding a whole egg to a small dog just in case. I did give her up to an egg a day for several weeks back when we got ranch eggs and she did just fine but as a rule one or two a week is plenty.


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## NicoleIsStoked

Kathyy said:


> 14 pound Ginger gets an egg a meal. She prefers and occasionally gets the egg cooked rather than raw though. Spoiled dog! I'd start out by letting your dog lick out a bowl that had had egg in it and then take a spoonful from the eggs you are preparing for other uses before feeding a whole egg to a small dog just in case. I did give her up to an egg a day for several weeks back when we got ranch eggs and she did just fine but as a rule one or two a week is plenty.


Sorry, can you clarify. Do you mean she gets an egg with every meal, or an egg AS a meal?
Thanks!


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## Kathyy

These ranch eggs varied in size and many were quite small. Ginger gets 4 ounces a day so if the egg weighs 2 ounces that is the meal. 

I sure didn't start out giving a whole egg to her daily though and I only did it because I had a bonanza on my hands, I wouldn't feed egg+bone+organ+meat for long periods of time. I was just interested to note that the rich egg didn't cause trouble even fed as close to 50% of the diet.


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## Beta Man

Elijah said:


> There was a guy I knew in high school who was a real health nut and would make a milk shake and put a raw egg in it...I nearly barfed watching him.


I do this all the time, and I'm not a "health nut". The local gastro-pub, and many other places will serve this also, but no chains (that I know of) will


My reason for quoting this 7-8 year post, is to show how far we have come with the misconceptions of raw diets for dogs.


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## Willowy

What's the point of raw eggs for people? Ugh, the thought makes me gag, lol. Although I guess if were mixed in real well it wouldn't be too bad, only if the sliminess were still there. I can't even eat cooked eggs with runny yolks.

I was giving my dogs raw eggs pretty often but I haven't been lately :/. I need to get back to that.


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## Beta Man

Willowy said:


> What's the point of raw eggs for people?.


For me, it's the taste..... Egg-shakes are delicious. I made two non-believers I work with see the light one evening after work, but I digress.


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## Alla

I feed a raw egg (no shell) every 2 days or so. It has done wonders to Porsche's coat. So much softer and silkier than when she first came home, to the point where we call her "soft dog" now as a pet name.  I got the advice from my friend who has consistently fed all her dogs (for 40+ years) raw eggs at around the same rate. She typically owns 2-3 dogs at a time, and feeds kibble with some addition of raw. Her GSD and husky mixes (only dog breeds she's owned) have typically lived to 14-16 years, so I feel comfortable taking advice on feeding from her.

Eggs are actually the only raw things I've tried that Porsche does well on. I feed them over her kibble.


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## 2Dogfarm

I feed a raw egg almost daily. I have my own hens so the eggs are very fresh and very low risk of salmonella.


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## TGKvr

This is timely... I've some reason to believe that my girl doesn't process fish oil very well (pretty sure that is what caused her diarrhea lately) but she's shedding like crazy so I was looking into options to improve her skin and coat that aren't fish oil. I have given her raw eggs occasionally - not on a regular basis by any means, though I'm considering now making it a regular thing if I can't give her the salmon oil. When she has gotten raw egg, it has been shell and all and she gobbles it up. Also, I get eggs from a local lady that I work with and fresh is always best!

One thing that I feel like I should point out - raw eggs don't inherently contain salmonella. The chicken has to actually be infected/carrying the disease for it to also get into the egg.


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## BennySimpson

Feeding raw eggs is basically pointless. Yes the fat is good but the protein is not digestible in raw form.

Lighting scramble the eggs to maximize the digestibility of the protein.

If you are just after additional fat content olive oil is probably the safest and most convenient to use.


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## Jen2010

I've considered giving my dogs raw eggs, but have never tried it because of the potential risk. 

Also - doesn't the shell cut the inside of their mouths? It's pretty sharp!


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## NicoleIsStoked

I gave Levi half a raw egg with his breakfast this morning. He really liked it but refused to eat the shell. I'm going to give him the other half soon with his dinner and try mashing the shell up into his ground raw chicken.


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## Kathyy

I'd rather the dog not eat the shell. A single eggshell contains over 1000mg calcium which is enough for Ginger for 2 full days and a 30 pound dog for a whole day. The membrane just inside the shell is reportedly high in hyaluronic acid which is a good joint supplement though.


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## 2Dogfarm

BennySimpson said:


> Feeding raw eggs is basically pointless. Yes the fat is good but the protein is not digestible in raw form.
> 
> Lighting scramble the eggs to maximize the digestibility of the protein.


Source, please.


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## pandification

Can any egg be used? I rarely buy eggs, because I can't make them where I live. 

Usually I would just buy a dozen of the cheapest brand. Would that work, or do I have to buy organic?

Also, we're using kibble right now. Would that effect anything?


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## Damon'sMom

I toss an egg into the boys bowls 3 times a week.
I also use it when making Kongs sometimes.


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## Willowy

2Dogfarm said:


> Source, please.


 There actually are a lot of studies (in humans and dogs) showing that cooked egg is about 91% digestible and raw egg whites are only about 50% digestible. I was kind of surprised. Google "digestibility of raw egg". So feeding raw egg isn't pointless but it's not as digestible as cooked egg either.


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## DGerry

Willowy said:


> There actually are a lot of studies (in humans and dogs) showing that cooked egg is about 91% digestible and raw egg whites are only about 50% digestible. I was kind of surprised. Google "digestibility of raw egg". So feeding raw egg isn't pointless but it's not as digestible as cooked egg either.


http://jn.nutrition.org/content/128/10/1716.full

This shows about those numbers.

Here's one for dogs:

http://www.jbc.org/content/26/1/263.full.pdf

Numbers like 88.5-91% utilization for cooked, 51-62% for raw.


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## 2Dogfarm

DGerry said:


> http://jn.nutrition.org/content/128/10/1716.full
> 
> This shows about those numbers.
> 
> Here's one for dogs:
> 
> http://www.jbc.org/content/26/1/263.full.pdf
> 
> Numbers like 88.5-91% utilization for cooked, 51-62% for raw.


I'm not a huge fan of the first study, since the subjects were only 5 people with major digestive problems to begin with. 

I didn't read through all the second study, because it seems to focus on the egg whites? The nutrition is pretty much all in the yolk, so I'm not sure what the big hoopla is about the whites. 

I wouldn't go out of my way to feed eggs to the dogs if I didn't have an abundance, but I would even uncooked I believe eggs are a highly nutritious, quality food. Especially eggs from pastured chickens who eat grass and bugs and worms!


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## DGerry

2Dogfarm said:


> I'm not a huge fan of the first study, since the subjects were only 5 people with major digestive problems to begin with.
> 
> I didn't read through all the second study, because it seems to focus on the egg whites? The nutrition is pretty much all in the yolk, so I'm not sure what the big hoopla is about the whites.
> 
> I wouldn't go out of my way to feed eggs to the dogs if I didn't have an abundance, but I would even uncooked I believe eggs are a highly nutritious, quality food. Especially eggs from pastured chickens who eat grass and bugs and worms!


The whites were probably focused on because they contain more of the protein which is what's being measured in these studies when they look at the digestibility.

Another example:

http://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j...1mJI3_s48Wc6jxGlu5YzMkw&bvm=bv.92885102,d.aWw

(Sorry for the weird link, but it's a paper examining the benefits of cooking food in general and citing data from numerous studies about cooking and digestibility, mostly relating to calorie content/the availability of protein/carbs/fat in cooked vs raw food)

This states the digestibility of raw egg(homogenized mixture of yolk and white) was lower in ileostomy patients than healthy patients(51% vs 65%) but that both saw significant improvements in digestibility with cooked egg(up to as high as 94%).

Keep in mind that I'm not saying eggs fed raw are "useless" as the original(for this line of discussion) poster claimed, rather I'm trying to provide some source material for how the digestibility of raw vs cooked was obtained and what it might mean. These studies don't, as far as I can tell, examine anything other than energy content so how available things like Vitamin A and Vitamin D et al. might be isn't considered. Even if your dog does only get 60% of what's in a raw egg...does that matter? Unless your dog has some sort of vitamin or mineral deficiency there's no issue there, and unless your dog is losing weight and shouldn't be then the amount of calories they get out of it doesn't really matter that much either. Raw or cooked an egg will provide some variety to your dog's diet, and if your dog enjoys eating a raw egg here and there then why not? It does seem to me to be fairly well-established however that cooking will improve the digestibility of the protein in eggs. If that matters to you and you feel like scrambling eggs for your dogs, go for it. If it doesn't matter to you and/or you don't feel like making scrambled eggs for your dog, just give them raw.


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