Talking about blood

[pinkman]

So, I went to the grocery store the other day and I found hunks of pork blood. Yes, just plain ol' pork's blood. In tubs. 

I've been thinking about adding some of this blood to her meals kinda like how canned food will have gravy. Does anyone know if you can over-dose on nutrients by doing this? If not, I have a feeling she's gonna love it. 

I'm going back to the grocery store next week, so if anyone has any sorta input I'd appreciate it a lot.

 

[vball91]

This is a really interesting question! I think blood is high in iron, but I really have no idea what the nutrient profile of just blood is. I do know my cat loves it. She will always lap up the bloody juice first. I will do some research if no one else responds soon. I wonder if blood is listed in the USDA database???

 

[pinkman]

Thanks for the speedy response! I checked (did a quick search for "pork blood") but I only found blood sausages...

Also, what if I say, simmer it for a bit? I wonder if that'll do anything? Probably won't do it, but I'm just curious really.

 

[vball91]

Simmering it won't do anything to the minerals but may do something to any amino acids present. Why would you simmer it, to make it more gravy like? I am actually looking for a healthy gravy alternative myself. Blood is good, but sometimes my cat just laps the blood and leaves the meat behind (kind of how she is with gravy too!).

 

[pinkman]

Yeah, to make it thicker would be the only reason I'd simmer it. 

I actually made some diluted pate canned food that I would use as a "gravy" on occasion. I'd love to use the blood though, I sometimes "gravy up" her ground mixes with water but I think she knows it's just water... Haha.

Oh and another thought- Maybe I will try making gravy using baked chicken puree'd. Sorta like baby food? Hmmm... But blood... :9

 

[vball91]

I did find a nutrition data sheet for lamb blood. Per 100 gram serving, 75 calories (3% from fat), 17 grams of protein.

 

[pinkman]

Thank you! Now I'd need to consider the iron content. I wouldn't want my cat (or anyone's cat for that matter) to go through iron toxicity. Hope others can chime in!

 

[Willowy]

When I was a kid, there were a lot of Filipino families on our block. They cooked pig's blood pretty frequently, I'm not sure what they made with it, BUT. . .cooking blood stinks. Bad. Like a dirty dog. A really really dirty dog, LOL. Just fair warning .

I have also heard that blood is fairly rich and too much may make them throw up (the reddish liquid with meat is not blood, just "meat juice"). I would not want to clean up blood barf :lol3:.

 

[pinkman]

Hmmm. Dirty dog smell, eh! It's something I'm used to. 

 I knew the red liquid from the ground mixes are just "meat juice", but if blood is too rich and if Lox's gonna puke maybe I will not do blood. I wonder if I can thin it out with water? In that case I won't simmer it at all.

How does the smell compare to tripe?

 

[ritz]

Good question.  I let Ritz lick the styrofoam plates that come with the raw food from the grocery store--she loves it.  I wonder about feeding cats/Ritz the excess juice (blood?) that comes with packages of chicken LIVER.  How much of that is blood, how much is water?  I wouldn't consider mixing it with water and leaving it out in her water bowl, I would think it would spoil fairly quickly.

I don't know how blood/cooked blood compares to tripe, but personally I didn't find tripe to have a horrible smell.  I wouldn't want to wear it as perfume, but it didn't smell as bad as I thought it would.

 

[pinkman]

To give more options for those who are looking for a healthy alternative to gravy (blood or not) here are some additional things I've tried:

- Pulverized freeze-dried treats or raw food with added water

- Stock made from bonito flakes (fish though, ugh.)

- Taking cans of Tiki Cat and creating a puree (fish again, ugh.)

- Said puree whipped with egg yolks

Things to try:

- Making broth out of chicken feet, or any body part with lots of collagen

- Collagen jelly