Calcium – an essential mineral for dogs

Calcium is an essential mineral in your dog’s diet and is one of the most important supplements to add to home cooked meals.   It is also one of the minerals often lacking in home cooked diets. The calcium amount should be twice that of phosphorus in the diet. My instructor for the nutrition course have emphasized countless times that 99% of the dogs she sees in her veterinary  clinic are deficient in calcium and magnesium , after being tested for mineral levels using the fur mineral analysis. When our Chihuahua, Fuji had a blood test done earlier this year, her calcium readings was borderline normal. Since then, I have been ever more conscious of ensuring that our home cooked meals are supplemented with calcium. The parathyroid regulates the amount of calcium and phosphorous in the blood. If a dog has insufficient calcium, the parathyroid will look for calcium in the dog’s bones. More parathyroid hormone will be secreted to balance the calcium phosphorous ratio and this could lead to a disorder known as secondary hyperparathyroidism. Calcium is also very important for nerve transmission and for supporting the adrenal and thyroid function.

An inexpensive source of calcium is powdered egg shells.  It is best to use organic eggs, if possible. Organic eggs are more expensive at 50 cents per egg but since I will be using the eggs for protein and and the shells for calcium, it is a small price to pay for my dogs nutrition.  We first wash and clean the egg shells, air dry them and store in the fridge. When we have accumulated about 20 egg shells, we bake them in the oven at 180 degrees Celsius for 5 minutes. Using a mortar, we pound the egg shells till they resemble fine powder. The powdered egg shells can be kept in the fridge for up to 2 months. 1 teaspoon of egg shell yields about 1,800 mg of calcium and the recommendation is to use 3/4 teaspoon of powdered egg shells to 400g of boneless meat.  So the next time you cook eggs, save the shells and give your dogs a natural source of calcium.

 

Paws fur Life, Canine massage & Nutrition. A healthy dog is a happy dog