Cooked lamb

Lamb has been a mainstay protein in dog food for decades. It offers complete protein with iron, zinc and B vitamins, and it is still used as an alternative for dogs that react to beef or chicken. The rules are simple: trimmed lean meat, off the bone, cooked through, with nothing added. Fat is the first caution. Lamb carries a firm fat cap on chops and shoulder, and lamb fat is high enough in saturated fat that it congeals as it cools. A large fat load in one sitting is hard on the gut and is a classic acute pancreatitis trigger. That shows up 24 to 72 hours later as a dog that stops eating, vomits repeatedly, takes a praying posture with chest down and rear up, and hurts when you touch the abdomen. That picture is a same-day visit, not a wait-and-see. Seasoning is the second. The American Kennel Club advises against feeding any meat with excessive salt, seasonings, onions or garlic, and lamb is almost always cooked with exactly those. A rack of lamb is a garlic-and-rosemary crust. Leg of lamb is salted and often studded with garlic cloves. Lamb stew and shepherd's pie are built on onion. Gyro meat is heavily salted and onion-seasoned. Garlic and onion damage canine red blood cells, so pulling the meat out of a seasoned dish is not a fix. Mint jelly is sugar, and it adds nothing your dog needs. Bones and skewers are the third. Cooked bones become brittle and splinter into sharp pieces that can damage the esophagus and internal organs, so no chop bones and no rib bones. Skewers deserve a separate warning: a bamboo skewer that smells like lamb is exactly what a dog swallows whole, and a swallowed skewer can perforate the esophagus, stomach or intestine, sometimes requiring abdominal surgery. If skewers were on the table, count them, and call even if your dog seems fine. Raw lamb is the fourth. The ASPCA notes raw meat can carry Salmonella and E. coli that are harmful to pets and humans alike, and the bowl and your hands spread that through the household. Cook it through. Keep lamb and all treats inside 10% of daily calories, and do not let muscle meat displace a complete and balanced diet, which is where the calcium and micronutrients come from. One nutrition note: lamb was once considered a novel protein, but it is now common in commercial food, so if you are choosing a protein for an elimination diet, pick it with your veterinarian based on what your dog has already eaten. And if a bone or a skewer went down, do not induce vomiting at home -- sharp objects do more damage on the way back up.