Beef Kidney for Dogs: Raw or Cooked, How Much, First Bite

Beef kidney for dogs is fine in small amounts when it is plain: raw, simply cooked or freeze-dried. It is a rich organ, so the portion is smaller than you would give of a muscle meat like chicken breast, and most of this page is about the plain part.

Kidney is a pair of bean-shaped organs, dark reddish brown and firm, usually sold wrapped in hard white fat that you trim off. Ox kidney is the same thing under another name. It smells stronger than liver or heart, and it is chewier when cooked. Dogs do not seem to mind either one.

Raw, cooked or freeze-dried

Raw kidney is what people who feed raw use, and the handling rules are the same as for any raw meat. Buy it fresh, keep it cold, and wash your hands, the board and the bowl afterward. Trim the fat and the pale core before you cut it up. Cut it into small pieces, because a whole kidney is a lot of rich meat in one go.

Cooked is the easier route for most kitchens. Simmer cubes in plain water until they are cooked through and no pink is left in the middle. That takes minutes, not an hour. Let them cool and cut them smaller. Cooked kidney turns firm and a little rubbery, so small pieces matter more than they do with raw.

Freeze-dried kidney is raw kidney with the water taken out under vacuum. The pieces end up light, dry and brittle, and they snap into smaller bits without much effort. Read the ingredient list. For a plain treat it should say beef kidney and nothing else.

What is not plain

Steak and kidney pie is the dish most people picture, and it is the wrong thing to share: pastry, gravy, onion and salt. Kidney fried with onions is no better. Garlic, onion and heavy salt are the problem in nearly every cooked kidney recipe, not the kidney itself. If the kidney came off your plate with sauce or seasoning on it, skip it. Rinsing does not take the onion out.

How much beef kidney for dogs

Kidney is a treat or a small topping, not a meal. A common rule of thumb keeps all treats together to about 10 percent of what a dog eats in a day, and kidney should be a small slice of that. For cooked or raw pieces about the size of a fingernail, this is a reasonable range:

• Small dogs under 20 pounds: one or two pieces.
• Medium dogs, 20 to 50 pounds: two to four pieces.
• Large dogs over 50 pounds: four to six pieces.

Those are a couple of times a week numbers, not every day. A rich organ fed daily is a good way to get a loose stool and a dog that stops being interested. Dried pieces weigh far less than fresh ones, so go by size rather than weight and break them to about the size of a pea.

The first time

Start with one small piece, plain, on a quiet day at home. Then wait a day. Organ meats are rich, and a new one can upset a dog's stomach, so the first serving is a test rather than a reward. If everything looks normal, give a little more next time. If your dog is on a special diet or has a kidney condition, ask your veterinarian before you add it.

Kidney, liver and heart

Liver is the organ most people start with. It is softer and milder smelling than kidney, and most dogs take to it at once. Kidney is firmer and stronger, and it is usually a second or third organ that people try after liver. Heart is the easy one. It is really a muscle, it eats like a firm piece of steak, and our beef heart guide covers it. Spleen is the other organ people ask about, and the beef spleen guide explains why it is fed in pea-sized pieces.

If you want an organ treat from us

We do not make kidney. The organ treat we make is Freeze-Dried Beef Liver. The only ingredient is beef liver, and we freeze-dry it in small batches in Malvern, Pennsylvania. The pieces are medium sized and break easily, so one piece turns into several training rewards. It comes in 1.5, 3 and 6 ounce bags, and we list it for adult dogs and puppies. The label says: "Feed as a treat, reward, or topper." It also says to supervise while feeding and to provide fresh drinking water. The rest of what we make is in our freeze-dried treats for dogs collection.

Storing kidney

Fresh raw kidney keeps in the refrigerator for a day or two. If you will not use it by then, cut it into small portions and freeze them in a bag. Cooked kidney keeps a few days in a covered container in the refrigerator, and it should be cold before it goes to the dog. Freeze-dried pieces are simpler. Reseal the bag after opening and keep it cool and dry, away from the sink, since moisture is what turns a crisp piece soft. Anything that smells sour or off goes in the trash.

Kidney questions

Can dogs eat raw beef kidney?

Many raw feeders do. Buy it fresh, keep it cold, trim the fat and pale core, cut it small, and wash up afterward like you would with any raw meat. If you would rather not handle raw meat, simmer it plain first.

Can dogs eat beef kidney every day?

We would not. It is a rich organ, so a few small pieces a couple of times a week is plenty for most dogs. Keep all treats together near 10 percent of the day's food.

Can dogs eat kidneys from other animals?

The same plain rules apply. Pork kidney and lamb kidney are cooked or served raw the same way, trimmed and cut small, with nothing added. This page is written about beef.

Can puppies have beef kidney?

Once a puppy is on solid food, one tiny plain piece is the same first-time test as for any new food. Wait a day before offering more. If your puppy is on a prescribed diet, ask your veterinarian first.

Why does kidney smell stronger than liver?

It is simply a stronger smelling organ, and drying it does not change that. Fresh kidney that smells sour or sharp is a different matter, and that goes in the trash.

Is steak and kidney pie okay to share?

No. The pastry, the gravy, the onion and the salt are all wrong for a dog. If you want to share kidney, take a few plain cooked pieces out before anything else goes in the pot.