Thursday, October 9, 2008

Fish Lottery


Sigh... I was all set to tell you how I won the fish lottery last night - my grocery delivery came and instead of 6 lbs of fish tails and bones, I got 6 pounds of fish cubes - tuna, salmon, swordfish, sea bass. JACKPOT!!!! I LOVE FISH MORE THAN ANY OTHER MEAT EXCEPT MAYBE RAW LIVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Until Stanislaw and Big Pupi (excuse me Pupi, but is it pronounced like "puppy" or "poopie"?), my friends who also eat raw, told me about Salmon Poisoning Disease. This Salmon Poisoning Disease sounds like a real bummer: it comes from eating raw or undercooked salmon, can be fatal in dogs if left untreated, and doesn't seem to affect other animals the same way.

But... I love me my sushi, so I had to do a little more research on this Salmon Poisoning Disease to see what it was all about. Here is a good discussion of SPD and its symptoms and risks:


Freezing (at least, the freezing one can do with a home refrigerator) doesn't seem to kill it. Cooking it does. But it does seem limited to wild-caught Pacific salmon. Momma breathed a sigh of relief because my raw salmon is farmed Atlantic salmon. So, no risk of Salmon Poisoning Disease. Yay!

On the other hand, Atlantic salmon is higher in PCBs (boo) and farmed salmon has a whole host of nutritional and environmental drawbacks, like higher Omega-6 and less Omega-3 oils, and much more carcinogens and antibiotics, not to mention the coloring that gives farmed salmon its salmon color. See this link for an overview.

So what's a sushi-loving pooch to do? Well, given all the commercial dog food recalls, the risks from eating salmon still seem relatively small. Being extra cautious, Momma is now familiar with the symptoms of Salmon Poisoning Disease (thanks Stanislaw and Big Pupi!), so just in case a wild Pacific salmon jumps in my mouth, Momma will know what to look for.

But for any pooches who are indulging in salmon sushi, especially out West, make sure your humans know where the salmon is coming from, and make sure they know the symptoms of Salmon Poisoning Disease:

vomiting
lack of appetite
fever
diarrhea
weakness
swollen lymph nodes
dehydration

Pass the tuna please. I need some mercury.

8 comments:

Stanislaw said...

Hey Biggie Man.

Glad you mom knows the symptoms. We've always said that education is the most important thing. Well, not me... I say that feasting is the most important thing.

Enjoy your sushi! I know we LOVE our fishies too.

PS- It's pronounced "puppy." Big Pupi was named after the Red Sox player David Ortiz, who is nicknamed "Big Papi."

Stanislaw said...

Almost forgot - may we ask where your groceries come from? We're looking for a new distributor since we've been unhappy with our local co-op. Thanks!

Unknown said...

H-Mom thinks that she wants to come over for dinner!

Lois Lane/Laney said...

My mom loves fish, but she hasn't fed me any yet.

Unknown said...

YUMMMMM sushi!!!!! I love sushi too! I had no idea about salmon poisoning... what a scary thing. Good thing yours comes from the east coast.

Anonymous said...

Yeah I did not know about this either. Biggie, I'm glad your mom is informed and keeps you safe.

Chris and Mackenzie said...

Whoa...never heard of it before. Need to consider this the next time the girl gets a salmon treat.

Dexter said...

Blech. There are cooties everywhere a guy looks. The fishies look yummers. Closest I get are canned sardines and salmon oil. Do you ever eat your fishies right out of the freezer like Noah?

Slobbers,
Mango