I often hear many owners say that puppies or adults need calcium supplements. But do you know? You can't supplement calcium for dogs. Otherwise, the dog will not only not be stronger, but will sometimes get sick.
1. Dogs are often prone to excessive calcium intake. This is a very common occurrence for dogs to consume excessive calcium. This situation can easily be caused by feeding dogs finished dog food while adding mineral feed with a lot of calcium. The entire feed (only suitable for adult dogs) or puppy feed contains enough calcium. If you feed such a dog normally and there is no excessive amount of other meat, then there is no need to add mineral feed and similar products.
Give an example: A puppy who is 3 months old, such as about 10 kg, can grow to more than 30 kg in the future, so the current daily calcium intake is about 8-10 grams. Then the puppy needs about 400 grams of feed per day (this refers to pure meat products, and additional mixed feed is not included). Generally speaking, it is enough to contain about 0.35% calcium per 100 grams, which can completely meet the needs of dogs.
If the dog owner adds two spoons of calcium powder in addition, it means that the intake is already 16 grams, and then the calcium is much more than the amount required by the dog, and at the same time, the intake of phosphorus does not increase proportionally, which causes the calcium-phosphorus ratio to be imbalanced.
Especially in large and medium-sized dog breeds, doing so can cause many skeletal problems. For example, if a large dog like Golden Retriever is oversupply, it is more likely to have hip diseases.
2. Calcium deficiency
Generally, if you make your own dog food, calcium deficiency often occurs. Most homemade dog foods contain insufficient calcium, especially for medium and large dog breeds.
We often think that it is very useful to have a few milligrams of calcium in a mouthful of milk or a calcium tablet. But this view is actually very wrong. It takes about 10 years for a baby to reach 60 kilograms, and it takes less than a year for a real large dog to use. So if you want to supplement calcium in this way, it is of course easy to experience calcium deficiency.
3. What kind of dogs need calcium supplementation?
1. If breastfeeding mothers, if they are physically weak after giving birth, they can supplement calcium appropriately 10 days after giving birth. If the situation is serious, you can go to the animal hospital to take intravenous calcium supplements to try to alleviate the symptoms of calcium deficiency in dog mothers.
2. The possibility of osteoporosis, fractures, and bone spurs in elderly dogs is very high. In addition to more sun exposure, it is very important to supplement calcium that is easily absorbed.
4. The symptoms of calcium deficiency in dogs
1. The limbs are deformed, and the legs are in a shape of X or O;
2. The toes are broken, and the legs are unstable;
3. There are signs of deformation at joints;
4. There is drooling;
5. Do not like exercise and do not run actively;
6. Calcium deficiency during the tooth change period, resulting in slow growth of permanent teeth, thin enamel layer, and poor biting of double rows or teeth;
5. Misconceptions about calcium supplementation
1. Milk supplement of calcium: The lactose in milk can cause gastrointestinal discomfort in dogs, which may cause diarrhea and other conditions.
2. Human calcium supplements: The body of humans and dogs is very different, let alone the differences in gastrointestinal absorption. So don’t use human calcium supplements to supplement calcium for dogs. To avoid the inability to supplement calcium, it will cause harm to the dog.
6. Summary:
In fact, dogs don’t need to make up for it most of the time. Although calcium deficiency is extremely harmful to dog health, as long as you eat dog food normally, you generally will not be calcium deficiency. Only partial eating and disease can cause calcium deficiency. The research and development of dog food has been around for decades. It can be said that the technology and formula are already very mature, which can fully meet the calcium absorption requirements of dogs.