Is Beef Esophagus Safe For Dogs?

While seeking chew treats for your dog, you may find yourself considering beef esophagus. You will then certainly want to know whether the beef esophagus is safe for dogs. Read on, for answers.

Is beef esophagus safe for dogs? Yes, the fact that it is usually easily digestible means that beef esophagus is quite safe for dogs. And it has lots of protein, with relatively low fat. It can present a slight choking hazard for some dogs though.

In comparison to some other chew treats such as rawhide, beef esophagus has a better safety profile. That is mainly on account of the fact that it is digestible.

However, there are some dogs that sometimes swallow these sorts of treats without any/much chewing. For those, beef esophagus can present some sort of choking hazard.

But beef esophagus for dogs that have normal chewing habits is usually quite good.

Incidentally, in some places, the beef esophagus is also referred to as ‘beef trachea’, ‘cow trachea’ or even ‘beef throat’.

 That is why you may find questions like, are beef trachea safe for dogs? Is cow trachea for dogs safe? Or is beef throat for dogs safe and so on.

Behind all such questions, people are seeking to know one thing: can dogs eat beef esophagus safely? In other words, are beef esophagus dog treats safe?

And to be able to answer that question, we first need to know what exactly beef esophagus is. Then we need to know how beef esophagus is made.

Only then can we be able to answer questions like, is esophagus good for dogs? Or, conversely, is cow esophagus bad for dogs?

So we first need to know what the beef esophagus is, and how it is made.

What Is Beef Esophagus?

In this context, beef esophagus is a dog chew treat that is made from cow tracheas.

So it is a treat that is designed to encourage the dogs to chew on for long. That is in order to promote good dental health and good breath.

The manufacturers also say that these are chew treats from which dogs can derive some nutrients.

And it is also a chew that is designed to maximize dogs’ pleasure: as all dogs have natural chewing instincts.

As its name suggests, it comes from cow’s esophagus. When meat processors are preparing beef, certain things like the esophagus are not usually sold to human consumers.

Now rather than allowing them to go to waste, the meat processors convert them into products like dog treats.

So that is how we end up with the beef esophagus dog treats in question here.

As noted earlier, these treats are also referred to as ‘beef tracheas’ or ‘beef throats’. We will be referring to them with all these various names.

How Is Beef Esophagus Dog Treat Made?

The process of making beef esophagus dog treats usually has 5 major steps.

In the first step, the esophagus is extracted from the cow’s body.

Then in the second step, the esophagus is thoroughly cleaned, via an industrial cleaning process.

In the third step, the esophagus is dried (in order to make it crunchy, hence chewy).

Thereafter in the fourth step, the esophagus is sliced into treats of appropriate size.

And in the fifth step, there is packaging of the beef esophagus treat, and distribution to vendors.

Is Beef Esophagus Safe For Dogs?

Before anyone gives their dog beef esophagus (beef trachea) treats, they will want to know whether such treats are safe.

That is what leads to questions like, are beef trachea for dogs safe? Generally, are tracheas safe for dogs? And if the answer is ‘yes’, what is the basis for beef trachea for dogs safety?

In other words, what makes beef trachea chews for dogs safe?

Now, first things first, are trachea chews safe for dogs? The answer is largely ‘yes’.

Dogs are able to digest the beef esophagus or trachea treats. So the risk of these treats causing obstruction or impaction problems once swallowed is low.

The esophagus treats also tend to dissolve quite well, once in dogs’ mouths. This is another thing that makes them safe.

At least in comparison to other chew treats – like, say, rawhide treats – the esophagus treats are safer. Even when you do a beef esophagus vs Bully Stick comparison, you see that the beef esophagus is quite decent.

Going through the various beef trachea for dogs reviews, you see that there aren’t many safety issues.

That is also clear, going through the various beef esophagus for dogs Reddit threads.

There doesn’t seem to be many cases of dogs suffering side effects directly as a result of these treats.

If, for instance, you conduct a search on ‘beef esophagus for dogs diarrhea’, you don’t find much in that regard.

Considering all those facts, are trachea safe for dogs? We can only say ‘yes’. But there is one caveat.

That is for dogs that have a tendency to swallow these sorts of treats without chewing well. For such dogs, beef esophagus treats may not be 100% safe: because there can be a choking hazard.

Is Dried Beef Esophagus Safe For Dogs?

Much of what is available in the market is dried beef esophagus. That leads to the question: is trachea safe for dogs in such dried form? In other words, is dehydrated beef trachea safe for dogs?

The truth of the matter is that dried beef esophagus is safe for most dogs. This is mainly because the dogs’ digestive systems are able to handle it well.

Thus chances of the dried beef esophagus causing internal blockages are low.

The only area that can be problematic is that of choking. A dog that tries to swallow the treat without chewing may be at risk of choking.

Or a very small piece of the treat may lodge in the dog’s throat, without actually causing choking. Nonetheless, this may cause the dog lots of discomfort, sometimes requiring expensive endoscopic removal.

Such things rarely happen though. Many dog owners feed their dogs on dried beef esophagus routinely, without problems.

Is Raw Beef Trachea Safe For Dogs?

There are situations in which one may consider giving their dog raw beef trachea.

This leads to a question: are beef tracheas good for dogs while raw? Can dogs eat beef trachea while raw?

Now one problem with raw beef trachea is in the fact that it may harbor harmful pathogens. Cooking or industrial drying somewhat gets rid of those. But in raw beef trachea, the pathogens are fully present.

So that is what may make raw beef trachea unsafe for dogs in some cases.

Is Beef Esophagus Safe For Puppies?

So far, we have been making reference to dogs without considering their age.

In some cases though, you may be looking at dog owners who specifically have puppies. And those seek to know, is beef esophagus good for puppies?

The true position is that beef esophagus is safe for puppies. It is an ideal starter chew treat, according to most manufacturers. But the puppies need to be sufficiently old, before they can start chewing on these.

The age at which dogs can handle these sorts of chew treats is typically after 16 weeks.

What Makes Beef Esophagus Safe For Dogs?

There are three key things that make beef esophagus safe for dogs.

Firstly, beef esophagus is digestible by dogs. Thus when a dog swallows beef esophagus, you don’t have to worry too much about the potential for things like GI obstructions.

This is important, because common alternatives such as rawhide treats are largely indigestible by dogs.

Secondly, beef esophagus isn’t too high in fat. It has much protein, but little fat. Thus if you check beef esophagus calories, you don’t find anything too worrisome.

Thirdly, there are people who routinely feed their dogs on beef esophagus, without nasty incidents. From them, you can find reassurance on the treats’ safety.

These treats are unlike others, about which there are lots of (safety) complaints from previous users.

Is Beef Esophagus Beneficial For Dogs?

So far, we have been dealing exclusively with the safety of beef esophagus. That is what we have done, in answering the is beef esophagus safe for dogs question.

But a dog treat may be safe without being of any particular nutritional benefit.

So we have to ask ourselves, is beef esophagus good for dogs, nutritionally? This, in other words, is a question on beef trachea for dogs benefits.

Indeed, is beef trachea good for dogs in nutritional terms? The simple answer is ‘yes’. How exactly are tracheas good for dogs?

From beef trachea, dogs can get lots of protein, and a little fat. The beef esophagus also has some fiber and moisture.

Of special note, the beef esophagus has glucosamine alongside chondroitin. Those are unique nutrients that the dog would hardly find in some other treats.

How Often Can Dogs Have Beef Trachea?

Beef esophagus should be a treat, not a staple for dogs. From that statement, it is easy to make an inference on how often can dogs eat esophagus treats.

Most experts recommend giving your dog the beef esophagus once, twice or maximum thrice per week.

For clarity’s sake, one may ask, can dogs eat trachea chews daily? And the answer is ‘no’. It is not ideal for dogs to eat beef esophagus treats more than thrice per week.

Final Verdict – Is Beef Esophagus Safe For Dogs

Beef esophagus is safe for dogs. At least, it is safer that many other chew treat alternatives like rawhide.

When dogs chew on beef esophagus, it usually easily dissolves in their mouths. And if they swallow it, it tends to be easily digestible. Therefore the risk for internal obstructions or impactions is low.

The only safety hazard that can arise is that of choking. This is mostly for dogs that attempt to swallow the esophagus treats without chewing.

For dogs that chew the esophagus treats properly before swallowing, choking is rarely a possibility.

Besides being rather safe to the dogs, the beef esophagus treats are also quite beneficial nutritionally.

From the beef esophagus, the dogs can get nutrients like glucosamine and chondroitin. That is on top of the beef esophagus treats also have lots of protein and relatively low fat.

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Rajkumar Ravichandran

Welcome to Learn About Pet. My name is Rajkumar Ravichandran and I love all pets, travel, and amazing food. I write about my passion and personal experience caring for multiple pets in this blog! ❤️