raw egg whites

[mrsgreenjeens]

I know when feeding eggs, it's ok to give them the yolk, but we're supposed to slightly cook the whites.  Yet, when preparing ground mixes, raw eggs are typically added.  So what gives?  Why is it OK to add whole uncooked eggs to ground meat mixes, but it's not really ok to feed them the entire raw egg when just feeding a plain egg as a meal?  What's the difference? 

The reason I am asking is because I need to figure out how to incorporate just egg whites into Callie's meals, so wondered it would be OK to mix them (uncooked) into her ground mixes just before serving.  OR, even mix them into Weruva canned food, assuming she'll eat any food with them added, the little princess

.  I bought a carton of 100% egg whites (nothing else added, which was very difficult to find, I might add!), so I can add in as much or little as I want.

 

[Willowy]

As I understand it, raw egg whites contain avidin, a protein which binds and prevents the absorption of a certain amount of biotin. When fed with the yolks, though, the yolks contain so much biotin that they sort of balance each other out. Or something like that. But when the raw egg whites are fed alone, you'd have to supplement biotin to prevent a deficiency. Cooking inactivates most of the avidin.

 

[carolina]

Whats the matter with cooking it?

 

[ldg]

The TCS member I worked with re: developing a diet for a CRF kitty ended up hiring Dr. Pierson as a consultant. She reported back that Dr. Pierson says the whole avidin thing is completely overblown, and simply to not worry about it. Raw, cooked, whatever.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Whats the matter with cooking it?

I just thought it would be easier to pour a little out of the carton right into her food and stir it in, rather than haul out a frying pan to scramble up 1 T of egg white for every meal in hopes she will eat it.  Think it's easier to disguise in uncooked form 

.  But, mainly, because I've got one of those inquiring minds

 

[carolina]

I just thought it would be easier to pour a little out of the carton right into her food and stir it in, rather than haul out a frying pan to scramble up 1 T of egg white for every meal in hopes she will eat it.  Think it's easier to disguise in uncooked form  .  But, mainly, because I've got one of those inquiring minds :scratch: :lol3:

I have one of these: Microwave egg poacher Might work well :nod:
Also, I am not sure how much you feed..... But since I feed 100% raw, If I was to do that, the deal would be to feed about 1oz a few times a week.... So a bit more than 1T at a time :dk:

 

[lcat4]

mrsgreenjeens, et al...

I thought I would bump this thread to see what you ended up doing with the eggwhites and continue the discussion for specifics.  I just bought the 100% egg whites in the carton.  Are you cooking 1 T for each meal?  Are you adding it in uncooked?  Is it okay to do uncooked (obviously much easier, if they'll eat) since it's from the carton as opposed to a freshly cracked egg?  What are you doing for calcium balancing? 

I premix my ground meat with Alnutrin with eggshells, portion, and freeze.  I don't want to cook the egg whites early and freeze with my meat.  Do I adjust my Alnutrin mix in anticipation of adding egg whites?  Is it such a small amount of food and phosphorus that I can ignore it for my Alnutrin amount (I usually shoot for about 1.25:1 ca/ph)?  Can I cook up a couple days worth of egg whites, keep in the fridge, and add to each meal? 

I don't know if I have other questions or not, but that's a good start. 

Thanks, Lori

 

[happybird]

The microwave does work well, if you don't want to dirty a skillet and want to cook the eggs. I used to scramble eggs and add them to the dishes I put out for the ferals. If you put a small dot of butter (or tiny spray of spray oil) in a coffee cup, scramble an egg on top and nuke for 30-40 sec. they fluff up nicely. I thought it would be a good, cheap protein to add to their food, glad to hear they have other benefits as well. And the cats loved them, although my indoor girls seem to have lost the taste for eggs. They are so darn picky.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

mrsgreenjeens, et al...

I thought I would bump this thread to see what you ended up doing with the eggwhites and continue the discussion for specifics.  I just bought the 100% egg whites in the carton.  Are you cooking 1 T for each meal?  Are you adding it in uncooked?  Is it okay to do uncooked (obviously much easier, if they'll eat) since it's from the carton as opposed to a freshly cracked egg?  What are you doing for calcium balancing? 

I premix my ground meat with Alnutrin with eggshells, portion, and freeze.  I don't want to cook the egg whites early and freeze with my meat.  Do I adjust my Alnutrin mix in anticipation of adding egg whites?  Is it such a small amount of food and phosphorus that I can ignore it for my Alnutrin amount (I usually shoot for about 1.25:1 ca/ph)?  Can I cook up a couple days worth of egg whites, keep in the fridge, and add to each meal? 

I don't know if I have other questions or not, but that's a good start. 

Thanks, Lori

I am just adding the whites from the carton (uncooked) , not even a Tablespoon, to the thawed ground mix since she is eating it that way.  Not supplementing with calcium since it's such a small amount.  There is probably about 4 - 5 oz in each container that I add the egg whites too. 

If you wanted to cook up a couple of days worth, I sure don't see an issue in doing that.  My girl just doesn't seem to like cooked eggwhite.  But I always keep boiled eggs in the fridge, and they last a LONG time.  ('course, they're in the shell, usually.  But deviled eggs last for at least a few days, so you should be AOK)  Hope your boys like them.  

I'm still having problems getting Callie to take her kidney support pills

.  I think she's had maybe a total of 3

.    Guess it's better than none

 

[lcat4]

Thanks!  I followed what you did at breakfast this morning:  One tablespoon added to about 5 oz prepared ground turkey.  They each ate their 2.3 oz of food without hesitation.  That doesn't allow for much in the way of substitution of egg white for meat, about 1 1/4 teaspoon per meal.  I don't know what that is on an overall phosphorus level, but I imagine the total egg whites will have to increase a bit to have much impact.  Without sharing any trade secrets, does LDG know what Dr. Pierson's recommendations were on a per meal basis? 

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Glad they liked the egg whites (or at least didn't reject the food with them in it

).  BTW, I just looked it up, and the egg whites themselves naturally contain some calcium...another reason not to add more.

 

[lcat4]

Thanks for checking on that - it's good to know. 

Tonight I tried to cook the egg whites - just to see how they liked it.  I put 1 T in a custard cup and microwaved for a few seconds.  Splitting the egg whites into two, each got .25 oz.  I added the regularly prepared turkey, less .25 oz, so they were served the correct total.  At one point I was worried. I looked at each boy's plate, most of the meat was gone, and there was a mass of white egg.  I stirred it a bit and they kept eating.  At the end, one little scrap of egg was left on Clark's plate, and Lewis nicely finished it off for him. 

In the future, I don't know if I will cook it as much as I did, I think a little goopy might be better.  I also don't think I'll add it to my container, but instead serve it straight to the plate.  I had extra food from this morning, but I was hesitant to use it tonight after it having sat with the raw egg white all day. 

Thanks again for your help!

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Well, I mix mine into Callie's food, which actually stays in the fridge for at least two days, since she's the only one who eats it, and I'm lucky if she eats 3 oz per day (she's very petite).  I keep it is a tupperware type container in the meat drawer and just stir it each time before dishing up her portion.  So far, no problem.