# Is it normal that kidneys smell this bad? Gagging pretty hard over here.



## PuffDaddy (Aug 24, 2016)

Does anyone have experience in feeding kidneys? I need some feedback. The only real offal (secretion organ other than liver) that I have available in my area is kidneys. The problem is that they always smell absolutely awful. I am sorry, but rotten pee is the best way to describe it. Is it normal that they smell wretchedly disgusting and foul beyond my worst nightmares?

I have so far thought they must be old and spoiled. But I have never been much of an organ eater myself (zero experience. zero interest.), so what do I know? Tripe smells like a rotten caracas three days in the desert, and that's normal. Is kidney similar? Is even a good kidney a stinking kidney?

I have thrown out two batches already because I was concerned they were rotten, and I am now scratching my head wondering how I can get my hands on something else instead of these kidneys in order to get some offal other than liver into Puffy's diet. Does this smell indicate that they are they rotten (because I have always gotten them before their expiration date, so technically they SHOULD be ok) Or do kidneys just smell this disgusting? To me they really smell like bio death poison. They do clean the blood to produce urine so maybe they just smell like old pee. Is this what living the kidney lifestyle is about? Smelling bad like really bad pee? I don't know, guys...

I have a strong sense of smell and I have gagged for five minutes after opening them in the past. I almost pulled a Puffy-move and could have followed in his footsteps by vomiting on the carpet myself. Fortunately, it didn't come to that, but I am a bit traumatized and am now afraid to buy more since this has happened on more than one occasion. Unfortunately, I stocked up on six of them recently and so now there are a couple packages sitting unopened in my fridge and laughing at me while I shirk away in fear with bad memories.

I do rotate a variety of organs like heart, gizzard and tripe, but all of those, while full of goodness, count more for muscle meat as opposed to secretion organs, and I would like to get in that 5% non-liver "proper offal". I am recently trying to go for a prey model diet, but the learning curve is steep when you are about to vomit on your carpet because you got a slight whiff of the dog's food. 

There is also an option to spend 60 bucks on 10 pounds of mail-order pancreas, which is also the kind of secretion organ that would count for offal. It's frozen into a solid block. Call me a wimp, but I am intimidated by the thought of that showing up with the mailman.


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

Kidneys do smell of urine, but the smell should not be too strong. Are they cow, pig or lamb? I have found that the bigger the animal, the stronger the smell tends to be. It could also be that you have a particularly sensitive sense of smell, in which case there are a couple of things that might help: 
Process the kidneys while they are still partly frozen 
Soak them in milk for an hour or two - a good way of reducing the smelliness of most meat


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## UKpoodle (Jul 22, 2015)

They do smell pretty bad, but you'll find that when you've been feeding raw for a while you become slightly nose blind to these things and surprisingly unflustered about handling bits of dead animal. I received my bulk delivery of frozen meat yesterday, including chickens heads. They freaked me out a bit, especially when one of the bags came open and two heads rolled across the floor, but I just gritted my teeth, picked them up and chucked them out on the lawn as a little midday treat for the dogs. 
If they're not frozen already then I'd just bung them straight in the freezer and serve them either frozen or partially defrosted, like fjm suggested, that should help with the smell.
Otherwise I'm afraid you just need to 'man up' haha!


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## ericwd9 (Jun 13, 2014)

Nose peg required.LOL Soak in milk as advised. You can blanch them by dipping (for 30 sec) in boiling water. This sterilizes them and kills some of the scent. It is the scent that the dog likes. You may have an aversion to urine. This is not uncommon. It is often due to being admonished as a child for wetting the bed. Kidneys do smell of urine which is a sterile fluid we excrete.

You are trying very hard to give your puffy a good diet. Most of the requirements are found in oily fish which abound in your country. You might find this less objectionable. Feed the whole SMALL fish or remove the bones and feed all of the FRESH fish including the gut.
Eric.


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## Liz (Oct 2, 2010)

Are the kidneys fully thawed when you cut them? It can be easier - and easier on your nose - to partially/mostly freeze them before cutting them.


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## PuffDaddy (Aug 24, 2016)

Well, thank you everyone once again! It sounds like the smell I am getting is kind of normal, and I am a wimp. 

The scent of the urine off of these things is not one of fresh pee exactly, it is a worser and funkier form. I buy these things (pig kidneys, btw) in a sealed plastic bag which they have usually sat in for a few days, although they are not at their expiration point by any means. Maybe marinating in the juices and the plastic like that just makes a bit of a kick which is apparent when I first open it. I can't seem to get them any fresher. I have tried to source them directly from the butcher and they don't have anything like that here. It seems that feasting on organs is not really a part of the culture. There is just this one particular grocery store that sells these kidneys in the bag like this, and I have made special trips to go there, only to be horrified by the results every time. 

I have a pretty keen sense of smell, so my nose is probably interpreting the situation as worse than it is. I was concerned they were really bad or something. The milk sounds like a good idea. Maybe I will try the partially frozen thing, too. Maybe a flash boil isn't too much to ask for. Thanks for those tips.

Eric, Right now it seems those little fish are not in season and you can only get them pre-gutted. I was a bit surprised myself, as I have been looking a lot. I suppose most people do not want the guts. They should be back in season soon enough though, and then they will have the full variety available again, even the much sought after blood and guts variety. Sometimes it can be hard to get exactly what you want here, because it is a small country which has been somewhat isolated for ages, and it has very specific cultural demands when it comes to food, products and seasonality etc. Anyone who lives on an island must know a bit about that, I imagine.

I don't think these kidneys are necessarily spoilt from what you all describe, but I also have a feeling that they just are not super fresh. If you saw them sitting in this bag you may concur. They do not come frozen, unfortunately. I know that frozen things can actually be freshest since they are often frozen immediately. 

I am also wondering where I might have access to fresher offal. It would seem that a proper butcher would have it, but they just seem to have these mainstream places in grocery stores that get the stuff pre-butchered so the selection is limited everywhere I have been. I can't seem to find a "Ye Olde Butcher Shop". 

Does anyone know if a halal butcher would be likely to have a decent selection of offal? I am sure there is one somewhere in this city. Maybe that is what I need to find.


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## Liz (Oct 2, 2010)

I don't know if you have a sizeable Asian population, but I sometimes buy from an Asian grocery store. Just make sure the meat doesn't come from China. As for halal, Pakistanis eat everything - brains are a delicacy - so you might be able to get all sorts of good stuff.


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## SusanG (Aug 8, 2009)

Yeah, kidneys smell like urine - awful! My ex used to love them and I would gag the whole time I was cooking them. lol! No way would I eat them but I guess dogs like kidneys or almost anything like that. Is there any reason to specifically feed them?  Do they have some health benefits over other cuts of meat? (just curious)


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## Poodlebeguiled (May 27, 2013)

I didn't really notice anything too over the top horrible smelling. And I do smell things to make sure they're still okay, not spoiled. I take them out of the freezer and they may last one or two more meals. (the amount I bag) Maybe I'm just comparing them to tripe, which really smells awful. I guess if every time you buy them they smell that terrible, it's probably normal. I wouldn't think they'd be spoiled every time you purchase them. (?) Definitely freeze and then cut. Everything is easier when it's half frozen when you cut it up and you can re-freeze. Try to do so while there are still about 50% ice crystals left. 

You are lucky that you probably have all kinds of fish. Remember...don't feed fish though, more than twice a week. Oily Fish - Rawfeeding Rebels And freeze it first for a couple of weeks if you get it fresh. 

You're absolutely right. Gizzards & hearts are muscle meat. Tripe is muscle meat but also partly an organ meat, which I feed almost daily, just a bite or two in with whatever else they're eating. Most people feed it as a muscle meat once a week or so. I like to balance my dogs' diet at each meal but you can do it over time.

Is there no possibility of you getting any other organ meat? We have Asian markets near by and I can get pork brain, kidneys from a few animals, liver of course. I have yet to find some pancreas. When I get my tripe which I order from a place in PA, it comes with spleen attached. Gosh, can you talk to the butcher and see why or if these kidneys might be spoiled? Or maybe they're not. Maybe my nose is desensitized a little bit. lol. Maybe he'd have an idea for you for a place to find more organ meat. Or is there anyplace online you could order it from? I think the place I use would be too far too ship it and that's no good. I can't even get it at this time of year...not without paying exorbitant 2-day shipping. 

Well, good luck Puffdaddy. Keep us posted on how the diet is working out. I hope you can find more organ meat. And it's so hard to know about the kidneys....maybe ask someone more familiar. (?) The butcher? Or would his nose be desensitized too? arrggghhh!

This is just a little thing explaining more about organs and things.

OFFAL OR ORGAN - The Dog's Dinner - by Ann Ridyard


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

Offal does tend to go off very quickly, and is likely to fester if stored in a polythene bag. Kidneys are one of those things you need to buy very fresh and use or freeze immediately. It looks as if Durham Animal Feeds deliver to Finland - including frozen food, according to their website. Their frozen kidney chunks are £5.70 for 4 kilos, and spleen is even cheaper. Best of all are their premixes which do it all for you! I don't know whether they do deliver frozen foods to where you are, or how steep the deivery charges would be, but it might be worth asking them: DAF Petfood


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## PuffDaddy (Aug 24, 2016)

Thanks so much for that suggestion, FJM. We just have one company in Finland that offers a similar service and they have almost no offal. I am going to look further into your company suggestion and see if it could be reasonable for shipping to here.


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## UKpoodle (Jul 22, 2015)

DAF don't deliver frozen food abroad unfortunately. They use UPS and Royal Mail for deliveries overseas and it states that the couriers do not have refrigerated vans, so they can only deliver frozen food on their own vans within the UK 
This is from their website:
Orders that are to be delivered to the following countries sorry there is a surcharge due to the courier charging more for this delivery, please feel free to contact us for more information (this doesn't apply for any Royal Mail postage)
PLEASE NOTE: Courier vehicles are NOT refrigerated.


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

Ah - that was the bit I was looking for and missed! In that case you may need to get into conversation with your local slaughterhouse - if you do talk to them, do not, repeat do _not_ allow yourself o be tempted by the offer of whole cow stomachs, no matter how cheap!


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## peppersb (Jun 5, 2011)

I have fed beef kidney to my dogs and it had no odor that I noticed. It came frozen. I defrosted it and cooked it. I buy from local small-scale farmers who raise their cattle on pasture. In the US you can find farmers at eatwild.com. They have started to list farmers outside of the US/Canada, but nothing so far in Finland.


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## mjpa (Dec 11, 2016)

I get frozen beef kidney from our local butcher. I slice it "soft frozen" then refreeze.
Like peppersb, I detect no smell even when it defrosts fully.

Maybe if you rinse it in cold water it won't smell like pee?

Edit: I just noticed you get pig kidneys, not beef.


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## kontiki (Apr 6, 2013)

The only organs my spoo will eat are from grass fed beef, or other grass fed lamb or occasionally pork, and deer/elk from local hunters. I buy liver and kidneys from local farmers, cut it into meal size portions and freeze it. The night before I put it in the refrigerator and then feed it the next day. We have no problem with smell.

The only times we have had a problem were when we were traveling and I had to buy liver or kidneys from a butcher or a store. Then I cringed at both the texture and the smell, and my spoo either wouldn't eat it, or ate it and later threw up.

I would wonder if it is totally fresh, or if it is from mass feedlot animals.


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