Substituting Chicken Hearts For Chicken Livery

[Oysters Mom]

I’ve been making homemade cat food for 20 plus cats for 2 years using Dr Pierson’s recipe. I have a question regarding substiting hearts for chicken livers. Supply is no problem. My local grocery store orders all my meat for me so I get 80lbs of Gizzards, Hearts, Liver no problem. I want to replace the liver because if not completely cooked, “cooked to death” to kill ALL BACTERIA & toxins, it spoils the food & has killed 3 cats.
Now I’m thinking just use the hearts which I don’t cook, thus preserving the nutrients.
I’m currently having to boil for 20 minutes at a full rolling boil the food we just made because liver must not have been “cooked to death” and I have food with high bacteria counts. Color & smell on top.
So if the nutrition is similar is there a problem substituting?

Thank you

 

[Willowy]

No, hearts are just considered muscle meat and don't have the particular nutrients that organs have.

Maybe using beef liver/kidney would work? Beef usually doesn't have as much bacteria as chicken.

Also, how do you store the food, and for how long? I'm not so sure it's the liver causing bacterial growth.

 

[EmersonandEvie]

Hi and welcome!

This is very important: you CANNOT use hearts in place of liver! The vitamins and nutrients found in liver are NOT found in chicken hearts. Omitting the liver would make your food nutritionally imbalanced and will cause major health problems in the long run. If you are using Dr. Pierson's recipe, stick to it to the letter.

What cats have died? Your personal cats? If all cats eat the same batch and an entire batch is spoiled, then *all* of your cats would have gotten ill and/or passed away.

If you are entirely turned off of using fresh liver, there are complete powders that you can use that provide the nutrients found in liver. However, if you choose that route, they are very pricey, especially for 20+ cats.

 

[catapault]

How about cooking the chicken livers separately?

I found this on-line:

"If you've crossed off cooking chicken livers in the microwave oven because you once exploded a few of them, or the dishes were too ''livery'' tasting, here are two recipes to get you back on track.

"Chicken livers will splatter and even burst if you just stick them in the microwave on high power. Because the livers have a high fat content and contain air pockets under a thin membrane, the membrane will burst when pressure builds up.

"However, the livers won't splatter or burst if you cover them with wax paper and use medium (50 percent) power.

"The wax paper holds in enough of the heat and moisture for even cooking, but not as much as tight plastic wrap, which would make the livers cook too quickly. Medium power lets them cook slowly enough to avoid bursting."

 

[kittyluv387]

As others have said you cannot replace liver with heart. Many of us use raw liver but if you're not comfortable with it you should cook the liver by itself.