Eggs seem to be one of those questions that dog lovers aren’t clear about whether to include or not in their dog’s dinner bowl. So let me assure you, eggs are great for dogs!
They are a relatively inexpensive source of high-quality protein, rich in good fats, vitamins, and nutrients.
So let’s get the negative out of the way. Eggs are often given bad press because raw eggs have a couple of issues. There is a risk of Salmonella with raw eggs, cooking kills Salmonella so that is easily fixed.
The second issue is that raw egg white contains avidin, a protein that binds with biotin and prevents its absorption. Avidin is destroyed in cooking. Again easily fixed. There is some argument that egg yolk contains biotin so they balance each other out, but effectively the raw white binds with it, so this isn’t in my view a sound point. Nil sum game.
Really an occasional raw egg is completely fine and will have little impact. To me, it is more an issue if raw egg (whites) are frequently in the diet.
Note that these points apply to humans as much as dogs. Eggs were given a bad rap for a few decades for being a significant causal factor in cholesterol, now completely disproven. In fact, eggs are shown to be preventative in heart disease!
There is an ‘old wives tale’ that egg yolk is good for dry flaky skin, and actually this has some foundation to it. Of course, it depends on the cause but a biotin deficiency causes this, and egg yolk with its biotin boost is the natural remedy.
Cooked eggs are delicious! There are so many ways eggs can be incorporated into the dinner or be the main source of protein. Scrambled eggs are a favourite standby here when the cupboard is a bit bare and dinner is needed in a hurry. Adding some cheese makes it even more delicious. Boiled eggs, poached, fried, frittata, omelette, all are fast easy, and delicious. Michel Roux wrote a whole book on just Eggs!
Always buy free-range (or at least cage-free eggs), at least it lends some voice for the life the chicken leads as the producer of these little wonders.
