Ensuring that your dog can reach and maintain a healthy weight is incredibly important for increasing longevity, happiness and overall health.
Satin balls are essentially raw meatballs made with a variety of ingredients that are intended to be used as a weight gainer for dogs who are in need of some extra meat on their bones.
Satin balls can be made using a number of different ingredients and the recipe can be adjusted to meet the needs of both the dog and the owner themself.
The two typical staple ingredients in satin balls are ground beef and oatmeal.
They can be fed to your dog by themself, or as an addition or supplement to their regular diet.
These can be used for underweight working dogs, dogs coming into rescues who are emaciated and need a fast and effective weight gain diet regimen, dogs who need to be enticed to eat and even dogs who are sick and in need of some extra meal supplements.
Satin balls are loaded with calories while being high in fat, and have a quite simple recipe that can be modified in a variety of ways, making this an incredibly versatile meal option for dogs.
They offer fiber, protein, and important minerals like phosphorus, zinc, iron, and manganese.
How To Make Satin Balls
Satin balls are a fairly low-cost, incredibly effective way to give your dog that extra boost of fat and calories in order to help them put on the important weight needed to stay healthy.
In the following section, we will provide an ingredient list, as well as a step-by-step guide that breaks down exactly how to make your very own satin balls at home!
This original recipe is said to have been created by a registered nurse named Diana Carreon, back in the year 1996.
This original recipe is still used to this day, however, there have been a number of ingredient alternatives adopted by owners and their satin ball recipes over the years.
Original recipe ingredients list:
- 10 pounds of ground beef (choose the quality at your discretion)
- 1 large sized box of Total cereal
- 1 large sized box of oatmeal
- 1 12 ounce jar of wheat germ
- 1 and ¼ cup of vegetable oil
- 1 and ¼ cup of unsulphured molasses
- 10 raw eggs WITH the crushed shells included
- 10 envelopes of unflavored gelatin
- 1 pinch of salt
This is a large scale, bulk producing version of the recipe that will end up making a larger number of satin balls.
If you would like to try out a smaller batch before getting into larger batches, simply scale the recipe down accordingly!
Step 1: Gather Your Ingredients
To start, make sure that you have collected all of your ingredients and set them out so they are ready to go.
There are a number of substitutions that can be made to the original recipe at the discretion of the chef!
One such substitution that we recommend considering, is switching out the vegetable oil that does not provide any real health benefits, for a different oil that can contribute to the overall quality of the satin balls. Flaxseed oil is a great option, as it is high in very healthy omega-3 fatty acids.
Step 2: Mix Your Ingredients
Find yourself a large mixing bowl that is big enough to accommodate all of your ingredients, with enough room to properly mix everything without making a big mess.
Put all of the dry ingredients in first, then follow up with your choice of oils, the eggs, and then finally add in the meat component.
Now that everything has been added, use your hands and incorporate everything together so that your mixture looks nice and uniform in the end.
Step 3: Create Your Patties/Balls
Now that your mixture has been prepared, you can start forming it into patties, balls or whatever shape makes the most sense for your situation.
This step is where you will want to know what kind of portion sizing you would like to achieve so that your satin balls are consistently sized.
This will depend on the size of your dog, as well as what you intend to do with your satin balls in terms of implementing them into your dog’s diet.
Smaller dogs will need much smaller servings than larger dogs, and the satin balls should be formed accordingly.
If you plan to use them as a meal replacement, larger portions are suitable, while using them as a meal supplement or a snack would usually call for smaller portions.
Step 4: Freeze Portions For Future Use
Once you have decided on proper portion sizing, it is important that you freeze everything that is not being used immediately.
Using ziploc bags is an effective way to do this, but you can also use saran wrap or some other food wrap in order to be more cost effective.
These are super easy to pull out ahead of time to thaw and have ready for your dog to enjoy whenever you need them!
Step 5: Serve Your Satin Balls
As mentioned previously, you can use your satin balls as a meal replacement, a snack in between meals, or as a supplement to your dog’s regular meals.
Serve them however you see fit, your dog will absolutely love these!
One thing to consider is that you should be cleaning your dog’s bowl or dish fairly regularly, as the ground beef is raw and remnants could cause bacteria to grow that may make your dog ill!
How Many Satin Balls Can I Feed My Dog?
The relative size and weight of your dog, as well as how much weight is needed to be gained will have a part to play in determining how many satin balls can be served up per day.
For a smaller dog that weighs less than say 20 pounds, 1 normal-sized satin ball per day should be more than enough to facilitate weight gain.”
If your dog is a medium-sized to large-sized breed, providing 2 satin balls per day is a good place to start. Giving him or her one at the beginning of the day, and one at the end of the day is a good way to go about distributing your servings.
Once you have followed this regimen for about a week, you should ideally be starting to see some sort of weight gain in your dog.
At this point in time, you can choose to increase the number of satin balls served per day, based on weight gain progress and owner discretion.
Smaller breeds can have their intake increased to 1.5 or 2 servings per day, while medium to large breeds can be getting 3+ servings per day.
It is important to be closely monitoring your dog’s progress as you do not want them ending up overweight, which could cause a variety of other health issues.
My Dog Doesn’t Tolerate Grains – Any Recipe Alternatives?
Some dogs are intolerant to grains, and therefore should not be having them added to their diet.
Since there are grains in the original satin ball recipe, alternatives have been created to allow these grain intolerant dogs to still reap the weight-gaining benefits that adding satin balls to their diet can provide.
Dogs are most typically allergic to corn, wheat, or soy, but will sometimes have intolerance for a number of other plant-based grain ingredients.
Even if your dog is not overtly allergic or intolerant to grain ingredients, it may still be a good idea to consider substituting grains for other alternatives in your satin ball recipe.
Here is a grain-free satin ball recipe that you can use, or further modify to suit your set of needs!
- 10 pounds of ground beef
- 500 grams of cottage cheese
- 1 ¼ cup of vegetable oil (or healthier alternative)
- 1 ½ cup of unsulphured molasses
- 10 raw eggs WITH the crushed shells included
- 10 envelopes of unflavored Gelatin
- 1 pinch of salt
Dan is a well respected content researcher who has vast experience working projects in the pets niche. He is a frequent contributor to dogtemperament.com and loves delivering numerous helpful dog articles like this one that are read by thousands of our readers monthly.