Can My Dog Eat This?
February 5, 2017 7:29 PM Subscribe
Can my dog eat this? I baked some chicken thighs last Sunday. They disappeared to the back of my fridge and I found them this Sunday. Obviously, I'm not going to eat it... but is there any reason I shouldn't give it to my dog? Rooney would love to eat it-- so AskMe, can he? [Requisite pupper pic by Mefi's own pjern.]
I thought dogs aren't meant to have cooked chicken bones anyway.
posted by lollusc at 7:39 PM on February 5, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by lollusc at 7:39 PM on February 5, 2017 [1 favorite]
I would probably feed this to my dog (bones very carefully removed) but I would probably also eat it.
posted by i_am_a_fiesta at 7:39 PM on February 5, 2017 [6 favorites]
posted by i_am_a_fiesta at 7:39 PM on February 5, 2017 [6 favorites]
No.
posted by Verba Volant at 7:40 PM on February 5, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Verba Volant at 7:40 PM on February 5, 2017 [1 favorite]
How does the chicken smell and look? Sour smell and slimy texture? If it smells and looks bad, don't give it to your dog. If it doesn't, give Rooney a treat. Seconding I would probably also eat it.
posted by Rob Rockets at 7:48 PM on February 5, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by Rob Rockets at 7:48 PM on February 5, 2017 [2 favorites]
If it passes the smell check. I've definitely eaten week old cooked chicken thighs that passed the smell test without ill effect (yet)
posted by astapasta24 at 8:03 PM on February 5, 2017
posted by astapasta24 at 8:03 PM on February 5, 2017
I totally would. My dog get all my probably-still-fine-to-eat-but-why-chance-it food. I take thighs and boil it for a long time until the meat falls off the bone and then pick out the bones with tongs.
posted by ReluctantViking at 8:05 PM on February 5, 2017
posted by ReluctantViking at 8:05 PM on February 5, 2017
Response by poster: (They are boneless and skinless!)
posted by headspace at 8:05 PM on February 5, 2017
posted by headspace at 8:05 PM on February 5, 2017
Best answer: Sigh. I wish feckless fecal fear mongering were still around. As a professional chef, he knows from spoilage.
Smell/taste testing can only definitively prove something is bad. Not all pathogens that spoil food will produce noticeable odours or flavours even when the food is already toxic.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 8:07 PM on February 5, 2017 [9 favorites]
Smell/taste testing can only definitively prove something is bad. Not all pathogens that spoil food will produce noticeable odours or flavours even when the food is already toxic.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 8:07 PM on February 5, 2017 [9 favorites]
Best answer: Dogs have eaten worse and so have people. But if you're worried enough to ask, you'll be worried that he'll get sick. Just chuck 'em.
posted by paulcole at 8:09 PM on February 5, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by paulcole at 8:09 PM on February 5, 2017 [1 favorite]
Best answer: He is too cute for you to let him eat that. I don't give my dog any peoplefood I'm not willing to eat myself.
Firm vote for toss.
posted by mochapickle at 8:14 PM on February 5, 2017 [2 favorites]
Firm vote for toss.
posted by mochapickle at 8:14 PM on February 5, 2017 [2 favorites]
The back of the fridge is colder than the front of the fridge. Often things freeze that are stuck at the back. If you cooked the chicken well, and it went into the fridge soon after, it is probably OK for both of you. Keep in mind, dogs are scavengers they have plenty of gut bacteria to take on that chicken. They eat the guts of things when they kill them, you know. Plenty of spoilage bacteria in the guts of pocket gophers and the like, that dogs will catch and eat.
posted by Oyéah at 8:42 PM on February 5, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by Oyéah at 8:42 PM on February 5, 2017 [2 favorites]
Best answer: NO!
When I was taking my cat to the vet a few years ago I sat in the waiting room with an elderly lady who had done exactly this.
The outcome was not good.
Please, for the love of your dog don't do this, because you will never ever ever forgive yourself.
posted by prismatic7 at 8:43 PM on February 5, 2017 [3 favorites]
When I was taking my cat to the vet a few years ago I sat in the waiting room with an elderly lady who had done exactly this.
The outcome was not good.
Please, for the love of your dog don't do this, because you will never ever ever forgive yourself.
posted by prismatic7 at 8:43 PM on February 5, 2017 [3 favorites]
I wouldn't give a pet any leftovers that I wouldn't personally eat. Ask yourself, why do you not want to eat it? What are you worried might happen? How would you feel if the same thing happened to your dog? That will lead you to the answer.
posted by primethyme at 9:00 PM on February 5, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by primethyme at 9:00 PM on February 5, 2017 [1 favorite]
No. No. No. Don't risk your gorgeous dog's health.
posted by bearwife at 11:36 PM on February 5, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by bearwife at 11:36 PM on February 5, 2017 [1 favorite]
So...you don't want to get food poisoning but it's ok if your dog does?! Or do you think they're somehow immune to it?
posted by Jubey at 1:13 AM on February 6, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Jubey at 1:13 AM on February 6, 2017 [1 favorite]
Hmm, my dog digs down bones and retrieves them after weeks, even months. I think dogs have an other tolerance of food decay than humans. I will definitely give my dog a week-old piece of chicken if it smells good and there is no slime or discoloring.
posted by mumimor at 2:50 AM on February 6, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by mumimor at 2:50 AM on February 6, 2017 [3 favorites]
I am very persnickety about food safety and I do this exact thing very often.
posted by gnutron at 4:47 AM on February 6, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by gnutron at 4:47 AM on February 6, 2017 [1 favorite]
Best answer: I don't think you're a bad person for asking - we've all seen our dogs eat some incredibly questionable items - but add me to the "no" votes. Unless a vet or two comes in to say otherwise, I would assume that there's a risk of giving your dog food poisoning, and just toss it (make it up to him with a different treat).
posted by DingoMutt at 5:01 AM on February 6, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by DingoMutt at 5:01 AM on February 6, 2017 [1 favorite]
Chicken thighs are cheap.
An hour of your labor cleaning Mach 3 poop and vomit off the carpet, off the couch, off the wall is less cheap, and it's gross.
Replacing a thoroughly empoopened chair or couch isn't cheap.
A visit to the emergency clinic when the dog just won't stop crapping isn't cheap.
I never get these questions, because they seem to so utterly fail any remotely rational cost-benefit thinking. What's the very best outcome that can possibly happen here? The single greatest thing that can happen if you feed them to your dog? You save the price of some chicken thighs. So *maybe* \$5?
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 5:43 AM on February 6, 2017 [10 favorites]
An hour of your labor cleaning Mach 3 poop and vomit off the carpet, off the couch, off the wall is less cheap, and it's gross.
Replacing a thoroughly empoopened chair or couch isn't cheap.
A visit to the emergency clinic when the dog just won't stop crapping isn't cheap.
I never get these questions, because they seem to so utterly fail any remotely rational cost-benefit thinking. What's the very best outcome that can possibly happen here? The single greatest thing that can happen if you feed them to your dog? You save the price of some chicken thighs. So *maybe* \$5?
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 5:43 AM on February 6, 2017 [10 favorites]
Response by poster: Thank you for your help; Rooney will get another treat! I googled food poisoning in dogs, and nearly all the results talked about salmonella from raw eggs, raw fish, raw chicken, and old dairy-based foods like potato salad.
I couldn't find an answer on whether or not they would get food poisoning from cooked chicken, so I came here. Thanks, AskMe.
posted by headspace at 9:10 AM on February 6, 2017 [3 favorites]
I couldn't find an answer on whether or not they would get food poisoning from cooked chicken, so I came here. Thanks, AskMe.
posted by headspace at 9:10 AM on February 6, 2017 [3 favorites]
Askme usually runs 70 to 30 in favor of YOU eating it, but do NOT feed it to your critter.
I tend to vote nay, but mostly because my dog horks up too much people food, and it's not worth cleaning it up. Give a doggy treat.
posted by BlueHorse at 7:16 PM on February 6, 2017
I tend to vote nay, but mostly because my dog horks up too much people food, and it's not worth cleaning it up. Give a doggy treat.
posted by BlueHorse at 7:16 PM on February 6, 2017
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Automocar at 7:35 PM on February 5, 2017 [13 favorites]