Dog Community

Posted : 10/31/2010 1:34:31 AM

You can also use egg shells. Wash empty eggshells in warm water until all of the egg white is removed, but do not remove the membrane because it contains important nutrients for the joints which helps arthritis. One whole medium sized eggshell makes about one teaspoon of powder, which yields about 750 - 800 mgs of elemental* calcium plus other microelements, i.e. magnesium, boron, copper, iron, manganese, molybdenum, sulphur, silicon, zinc, etc. There are 27 elements in total. The composition of an eggshell is very similar to that of our bones and teeth.

Sunshinegirl

Posted : 10/31/2010 9:50:17 PM

I don't supplement with other calcium. I guess they get some from their yogurt as well as the bones. Does anyone know how much calcium a 16 lb. dog needs on a daily basis?

jennie_c_d

Posted : 11/1/2010 3:18:19 PM

Optimum Nutrition, Monica Segal's book, has the NRC guidelines in it, and is awesome, awesome, awesome for home cooking. If I could find it, I'd get them and tell you, but I think I might have loaned it out!

Sunshinegirl

Posted : 11/1/2010 9:05:58 PM

What does NRC stand for? Is it info that can be found online?? I'm cooking for them now and removed most of the bones...... just leaving a couple, but I really want to try to balance things out for sure. I mean, I fee like they eat very healthy, but I don't want to take any chances. Thanks!

calliecritturs

Posted : 11/1/2010 9:37:17 PM

Sunshinegirl
Does anyone know how much calcium a 16 lb. dog needs on a daily basis?

It depends on the type of calcium ... and it doesn't go by dog weight it is a ratio with the amount of protein you feed. Bonemeal typically I think is like 1 teas. per 8 oz. of meat, and the calcium I use (from seashells) is 1 teas per 16 oz meat.

So in other words you add the calcium to the food when you make it -- with the calcium in ratio to the amount of meat in the food.

jennie_c_d

Posted : 11/2/2010 9:49:20 PM

Mordanna's info on the NRC is here:

http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=requirements

The guidelines are available from the NRC for $236. Yeah, Optimum Nutrition is a lot cheaper, and probably gives us non-scientist folks a lot more info.

There *is* an amount that each dog should get, not just to balance the food. I found this out in a very serious way when I spent $1000+ on bladder surgery for one of my dogs. The actual amount of minerals that they ingest matters, as well as the balance of the food, especially for dogs with issues that can be managed nutritionally.

Sunshinegirl

Posted : 11/3/2010 9:20:53 PM

Thanks so much!

UTI?