Almost every dog food brand has thigh chicken included in their products which means chicken thighs for dogs are safe and healthy. Well, some people make their dogs eat cooked chicken thighs separately or in raw form as well. Talking about this trend, we have to analyze the benefits and risks of chicken thighs for dogs and its recommended dietary allowance and preparation methods. Let’s see all these aspects in detail!
Is it safe for dogs to eat chicken thighs?
We know that most dog foods contain cooked chicken thighs, which make them safe to use yet, some people think that chicken thigh is quite a fatty meal for the dog. Considering the risk factors of fats, they do not let their dog eat chicken thighs. If you are one of these people, we are afraid you are wrong. The fats included in the chicken thighs are healthy fats, which fulfill the dog’s nutritional needs and maintain its body weight. Hence, we can say that Chicken thighs for dogs are safe for their health.
What safety measures should be kept in mind while feeding your dog chicken thighs?
The most crucial thing while feeding your dog chicken thigh is to remove the bone. A cooked bone is dangerous for the dog as it can easily splinter inside the dogs’ gastrointestinal tract and cause a puncture. Besides, it can lead to choking, which can be fatal for the dog. Secondly, make sure that your dog is not allergic to chicken.
Cooked chicken thighs for dogs:
Cooked chicken thighs for dogs are a nutritious, hygienic, and quality food choice. They provide many essential nutrients to the dog fulfilling their requirements and providing ultimate energy to them. So, you can give cooked chicken thighs to your dog but make sure the rest of the dog food is not full of chicken because this can lead to various problems.
Benefits of Cooked chicken thighs:
Cooked chicken thighs are beneficial and safe for dogs if deboned properly and cooked according to the appropriate methods. They can be added to different meals of the dog and given separately as well. Let us see how! Not only internally, but the dog’s physical appearance also gets better with it.
Healthy fats:
The cooked chicken thighs for dogs contain monounsaturated or Omega-6 fatty acids, which are quite beneficial for the dogs. These healthy fatty acids build lean muscle mass, lower the risk of heart diseases and cancer, support weight loss, and reduce cholesterol.
Better Taste:
Besides healthy nutrient composition and plenty of health benefits, cooked chicken thigh offers an exotic taste to dogs, making them enjoy their food. Your puppy will surely love the unseasoned food no matter you have baked it or boiled it. Also, you can mix them with their other meals, such as vegetables.
Good diet:
Protein is one of the significant portions of a dog’s diet, and chicken thigh is one of the best food choices for fulfilling protein requirements with limited calories. Also, cooked chicken can lower the risk of multiple infections, usually caused by eating unclean raw meat.
How to cook chicken thighs for dogs?
We know that chicken thighs are safe and healthy for dogs, but do we know how to cook them properly? If you are wondering how to cook chicken thighs for dogs, you are at the right place.
Some people consider seasoning chicken thighs while cooking them or adding spices into them, while others may deep fry them to bring good taste. But keep in mind that these things might seem good for humans; dogs have different dietary habits. Saturated fats may lead to high cholesterol levels, whereas additional salts and spices can be allergenic for the dogs. So, avoid all these things to save the medical care expenses of your little dog.
Baked Chicken thighs:
Some owners do not like to feed their dogs on boiled chicken. For those, baked chicken is the best option to make their dog consume chicken thighs. It is not even a little of a challenging task to prepare baked chicken thighs for dogs. All you have to do is follow some steps properly.
It would be best if you had some olive oil and chicken thighs for preparing baked chicken thighs—Preheat the oven to about 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Coat the dish and the thighs with a single layer of olive oil to avoid sticking, and cook them for 20 to 25 minutes without covering. After they are cooked, let them cool down and cut into smaller pieces.
Chicken Thighs and Rice dinner:
If you wonder what could be the best combination of chicken thighs, then rice is the correct answer. When low-fat protein and single source carbohydrates combine, they make a highly nutritious and beneficial meal. If your dog is suffering from any GIT problem, this meal is the ultimate remedy. Also, if your dog has a poor appetite, it will help it have sufficient food by enhancing its desire to eat. Just make sure you are not offering this meal to your dog daily.
Now how to cook chicken thighs and rice dinner? Take a large pot and put the chicken thighs in it. Fill it with water sufficient for boiling the thighs. Boil the thighs for approximately 20 to 30 minutes or until they get white completely from inside as well. Take the thighs out, save the broth, and let the chicken cool down but, don’t forget to remove the bones later. Now boil 1 cup rice in 1½ cup of broth. Boil them for 20 minutes, and rinse afterward to remove excess starches.
Cooked chicken thigh bones:
Cooked chicken thigh bones are pretty dangerous for the dogs as they are hard to chew and brittle in texture. When ingested, they splinter and increase the risk of internal injury or choking.
Raw chicken thighs for dogs:
Along with cooked chicken thighs, you can also feed raw chicken thighs to your dogs. The raw chicken thigh for dogs is more beneficial than cooked. Among all the parts of the raw chicken, the most recommended ones are chicken thighs and wings. More tender than red meat, raw chicken thighs are rich in essential amino acids, have less saturated fats, high proteins, low calories, and more unsaturated fatty acids.
At what age can we give raw chicken thighs to dogs?
As your puppy reaches the age of 7 to 8 weeks, it is eligible to eat raw meat. You can cut the chicken thighs into smaller pieces and use a kitchen hammer to soften them and making sure that there is no bone inside them also, removing any sharp debris particle that can harm your dog in any way.
Benefits of raw chicken thighs:
Raw chicken thigh has more recommendations than cooked due to safety concerns as well as nutritional value. Here, we are going to discuss some of the expected benefits of raw chicken thighs for dogs.
High in protein:
Just like cooked chicken thighs, the raw ones contain plenty of protein content as well. Exactly the chicken thighs contain 13.5 grams of proteins. This low-fat protein helps the dogs in building lean muscle mass and lets them stay healthy and fit. Also, the protein requirement of the dog is fulfilled by the consumption of raw chicken thighs so, be careful about the other protein-containing products.
Better Stool:
If you fed your dog on the neck or other bony parts of the chicken, its stool would be more likely white and crumby also, and the dogs get constipated in such situations. But if you let your dog eat chicken thighs, not only is constipation prevented, but the dog’s intestine absorbs most of the valuable ingredients instead of wasting them.
Improves dental health:
For young dogs, chewing pieces of raw meat will make their teeth stronger, whereas in adult dogs, even if you place the whole chicken thigh piece, they will tear it quickly, which is good for their dental health.
Source of omega-6 fatty acid:
We know that saturated fats are not suitable for dogs as they aid in increasing the dog’s weight more than expected and can make the cholesterol levels higher or lead to any cardiovascular disease. But Omega-6 fatty acid is an unsaturated fatty acid, which is the opposite of saturated fats meaning, it offers a lot of benefits to the dog. Still, it most importantly maintains its healthy body weight is preventing disorders like hip and elbow dysplasia.
Low-caloric content:
The high protein content in raw chicken thighs does not mean that it is a high-calorie food. What’s best than having nutritious food for your dog with a limited number of calories. It means you can pair raw chicken thighs with other meals as well.
Risks of eating raw chicken thighs:
Everything has its advantages and risks, so consuming things the right way is the key to availing just the benefits. But we should consider discussing some of them to give you information about how these raw chicken thighs can be less beneficial for the dogs.
Low vitamin D:
If you give raw chicken thigh separately to your dog as a whole meal, then your dog may start to get a deficit of many micronutrients. At the top of the list comes Vitamin D. the raw chicken thigh contains only 3.0 μg/kg of vitamin D, which is quite insufficient for the dogs.
Can cause inflammation:
The amount of omega 3-fatty acids is not balanced with omega-6 fatty acids in the raw chicken thigh. This imbalance of fats can lead to chronic inflammation in dogs. Hence, it is essential to pair the raw chicken thigh with some other meals to balance the fats.
Risk of fatal paralysis:
If the raw chicken thigh piece you are feeding to your dog is not clean and hygienic, it may lead to multiple infections in the dog’s gut. These infections can further make the dog suffer from paralysis as a consequence. Paralysis is a life-threatening condition for your dog; hence, always clean the raw meat before letting your dog eat it.
Are raw chicken bones dangerous?
Unlike cooked chicken thigh bones, raw chicken thigh bones are pretty safe and healthy for dogs. When a dog eats raw bone, its gum, and dental health improve, it also gets many nutrients. Hence, there is no risk in offering your dog raw chicken thigh bone. Just be near your dog if it is pretty young for such a diet.
Dosage of Chicken thighs:
A general hand of rule is to let your dog eat 3% chicken thigh meat of its bodyweight so, and it entirely depends on the dog’s weight. For example, if your dog is 60 lbs in weight, consider giving only 1.8 lbs of chicken thigh meat. Also, if your dog is underweight, you can slightly increase the dosage, whereas, if it is overweight, try to decrease the consumption a little bit until it gets back to normal.
Is it reasonable to serve chicken thighs to your dog every day?
No! Never consider your dog feeding the chicken thigh meat daily. Suppose you provide chicken thighs for dogs once a week or even twice; it is sufficient and healthy for the dog. A third day will start bringing side effects in its health.
Bottom Line:
Feeding chicken thighs for dogs is a good idea to keep your dog healthy and offer it a delicious meal once a week. Being high in protein and having healthy fats, chicken thighs provide plenty of health benefits to your pup. You can make your dog eat chicken thighs either in cooked or raw form. Just take care of the dosage, and be aware of bones being dangerous for the dogs. In the case of raw meat, clean it to avoid bacterial or salmonella infections.
