Calcium for dogs
Calcium for adult dogs and puppies is a crucial ingredient and element in their nutrition. And, why not, for cats and kittens. The Calcium-Phosphorus ratio is fundamental in bone health to avoid serious problems. Let’s take a practical look at the most important aspects of calcium for adult dogs and puppies:
Calcium food for lactating bitch, calcium for puppies, how to give calcium to a dog, homemade calcium for dogs, the amount in the food, excesses and deficiencies, different types of calcium, and so on.
Whether it is a home diet or a commercial diet, calcium must be present in the right amount for proper bone health and strength. If this balance is not met, it is very likely that the skeletal system will suffer serious problems such as fractures.
The amount of calcium for adult dogs is approximately 120 mg/kg/day of calcium. While the amount of calcium for puppies is more than double, about 320 mg/kg/day of calcium.
Finely ground eggshell (in a coffee grinder) is an excellent source of calcium. When making homemade feed it is very important to incorporate this element, as long as calcium is not given from another source.
A healthy dog that receives occasional bones in its home diet, is varied and, in addition, alternates occasionally with quality commercial food does not need to be supplemented with calcium, and in general with any other mineral.
Another high quality source of calcium is bone itself. However, it presents two problems: it is more difficult to grind and the amount of phosphorus present in it, so in order to maintain the correct calcium-phosphorus ratio, a greater amount should be added. That is, about 2500 mg per kilogram of feed. You have to be very careful with the bones, if you do not know how to give them properly I recommend learning first, and nothing better than our courses or books.
Calcium food for lactating bitch
You should never change the diet in a fast way, the changes should be PROGRESSIVE, and much more in a lactating bitch, why? Because you can cause diarrhea that would be serious in a lactating bitch, because she needs to have her intestine working properly to absorb as many nutrients as possible, since she is producing milk, and this requires a lot of energy, energy that is obtained through food.
Regarding calcium for lactating bitches, the first one I recommend is plain yogurt. You may have heard that dairy products cause diarrhea in dogs, true, but that’s not the case with yogurt in general terms. I explain. Dairy products can cause diarrhea in dogs because of LACTOSE (milk sugar), however, with yogurt this does not happen, why, because yogurt has NO LACTOSE, the bulgarians (the little animals that produce yogurt) eat the lactose, this is the reason why it does not cause diarrhea, that is why yogurt is an excellent food with calcium for a lactating dog, besides, as it is obvious, a quality diet made by you.
Natural yogurt (even if you buy it in a supermarket) is lactose-free, so it is unlikely to cause diarrhea.
There are other foods with calcium for lactating bitches such as spinach, chard, canned sardines (you have to give them with everything and the central spine, which is where minerals such as calcium and phosphorus reside), almonds, and bones. We recommend that you start with yogurt, and then introduce others. The bones DO NOT give them if you do not know, first learn, for that you have our book of natural diets for dogs, there we teach you from scratch.
If you are eating feed or kibble, try to change (progressively) to a croquettes of the highest possible quality, even puppies, but, I insist, PROGRESSIVELY, a feed that I recommend is Orijen, even if you change to a dehydrated food (which has nothing to do with a kibble or feed) I recommend a quality one like Naku, here is an article about quality commercial dog food.
Calcium for dogs, homemade
Finely ground eggshell is an excellent source of calcium for dogs; until it is a powder consistency, to avoid particles large enough to hurt the tongue. Offering a teaspoon for small dogs 3-4 times a week and a large scoop 2-3 times a week for large dogs is sufficient.
Another source of calcium for dogs are certain vegetables, for example, spinach is a very high quality vegetable and is also rich in calcium.
NEVER MAKE a homemade diet without the supervision of a veterinarian, and even better if he/she is an expert in dog nutrition.
Calcium can be added before serving the food or when preparing several days’ worth of food. From experience, I recommend adding it to the total formula, for practicality, above all. And if we talk about practicality, what I always recommend is to get a quality commercial supplement. This way we avoid mistakes and sleep peacefully.
Finally. There is a false belief in puppy feeding that the more calcium we introduce in the diet the more they will grow. People associate calcium with healthy bones and therefore growth, and it is true. But “more does not mean better”.
There are homemade diets for puppies, but you have to know how to balance them well under the supervision of a veterinarian expert in dog nutrition. Otherwise, there are excellent puppy foods on the market, and with a good diet supervised by the veterinarian we will have a healthy puppy that will become a strong adult. And with firm bones.
If you want to know about puppy nutrition, I recommend my puppy food article.
Here is a series of recommended articles:
- Can dogs eat rice, noodles, pasta?
- Puppy food and food for puppies. Key tips
- Can chicken broth for dogs kill yours?
- Can dog eat onions? Tricky truths about forbidden foods for your dog
- How to get your dog to eat kibble. 7 tricks
- Foods that regenerate the liver in dogs (liver disease)
Subscribe to the free online workshop on nutrition for dogs
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