I need some help, nutrition site for homecooking

I'm gonna have to bump this thread. I bought human Caltrate 600 with no Vit D or any other minerals because I give a home cooked diet. I've been desperate to find dog calcium (only calcium without the phosphate) and found none. This is the closest, and I'm still working on collecting egg shells, so while i'm at it, is it fine to supplement with this? The pet shops here don't carry any seaweed/kelp calcium and all the calcium supplements contain phosphate and other minerals and Vitamin D. This human one contains 600mg calcium "each tablet contains calcium carbonate 1500mg equivalent to 600mg elemental calcium". I haven't given them any yet, just need to be doubly sure for now.

 There isn't a special calcium for dogs. I use NOW Calcium Carbonate; you can get it at health food stores. If you would order the book, Optimal Nutrition, that I linked in your other thread, it would tell you how to calculate how much calcium your dogs need, as well as how much zinc, iron, selenium, copper, magnesium, manganese, vitamin A, etc, that they need. The book is $25 and is very pleasant to read. On the same site, you can order a booklet for about $7 called Cooked Diet Recipes. It has balanced recipes for dogs from 10 to over 100 pounds.

 I couldn't find NOW calcium carbonate. I still only have the Caltrate 600. I've been feeding full home cooked for 2 weeks now, and a little concerned after calculating their calories, calcium and phosphate intake that the ratio is way out of balance. I don't know if I'll get the book right away (have been ordering way too many things online since Axl's IMHA onset and still trying to return them one at a time).

  I'm so sorry that one of your pups has IMHA; that's a terrible disease; (((hugs))).  We have 2 health food stores in our area and both of them carry NOW calcium carbonate. As how much calcium your dogs need, that depends on their weight and how much is in the foods you're including in their diet. For now, you can use the the general rule that for every three and a half ounces of meat (weighed after cooking), you add 250 mg of calcium. You can crush the tablets and mix it in their food. The Cooked Diet Recipes booklet costs $7.95 and has balanced recipes for dogs from 15 to 100 pounds;   Cooked Diet Recipes

 I'll keep your pup in my prayers.

Thank you for the sweet thoughts. Axl passed 3 weeks ago, it was tough and horrible, I was in the IMHA thread for that period. Now my other 2 are under very strict and calculated diet with little chemicals, zero kibbles, that's why I'm so anxious about the types of supplements. I'm in Singapore, we have GNC here and couple of other health stores, we don't have NOW here, but it does seem pretty similar to Caltrate. I'm gonna try using that for now, and see if I can go onto an online store which delivers. It's so expensive those pet products...

Monica's books are very good.

I also have used _Home Prepared Dog and Cat Diets_, another book boy Lew Olsen, hwich I can't recall the title, but she talks about raw, cooked and kibble topper recipes.

Then the latest neat thing I Found was my obedience trainer's vet has this website dogdishdiet.com and advocates crock potting.  Neat guy.

Hope this helps!

I've been home cooking for twelve years so here's the cheap and easy way to do it. First, buy a cheap coffee grinder. Secondly wash egg shell used by humans and pets. When dry grnd them. Use 1/2 tsp per cup of cooked meat. For some meats you'll be a little less calcium than necessary and for others you'll be over. In the long run it works out just fine.

 Thanks for the post. I've purchased a calcium supplement from the pet store, including vitamin D and C, not my preference, but I'll collect egg shells while at it. That bottle won't last me for too long. I hope I don't screw up the egg shells. Do I need to toast them? I don't have a baking oven, just drying them will do?

 Just wanted to let you know that the vitamin D in the Caltrate may not be a bad thing, depending on how much is in it. Dogs need vitamin D; for example, Jessie weighs 62 pounds and needs about 250 IU's of vitamin D daily. So, you may still want to crush the Caltrate and add it to their food at the rate I suggested in my previous post.

 The Caltrate I have doesn't have vitamin D in it, the natural pet seaweed calcium does, 100IU. It says per serving 625mg natural seaweed calcium, equivalent to elemental calcium 212.5mg, so I'll calculate based on 625mg?

Oh and I give my buds ester C which is calcium ascorbate (always thought it's just a more effective vitamin C), does that interfere with my calculation of calcium? 

 According to this website;    The Bioavailability of Different Forms of Vitamin C

 " 1,000 mg of calcium ascorbate generally provides 890-910 mg of ascorbic acid and 90-110 mg of calcium. Calcium in this form appears to be reasonably well absorbed."

  So I guess you could use it in your calculations. You should know that dogs do not have a requirement for vitamin C. Breeders use Ester-C to calm their bitch down. Vitamin C is passed in the urine and when you use a form like ester-C that is combined with calcium, it can cause calcium oxalate crystals.

  The answers I've been giving you are from Monica's books, and my knowledge of balancing a home made diet is limited. There's more to adding calcium than the rule I gave you of 250 mg to every 3 1/2 ounces of cooked meat, but it can work for awhile. You will eventually need to learn how to provide the correct calcium-phosphorus ratio. There is an interaction among minerals; too much of one can interfere with the absorption of another. Too much calcium interferes with the absorption of zinc, iron, and copper. Also, a common mistake for home made diets is not enough potassium, so make sure to include some food with it. It's hard to provide enough B vitamins; most vegetables don't have enough and unless you're feeding a lot of beef, their diet is probably deficient in B's. B vitamins are water soluble so it's hard to give a dog too much. You could get a B 50 supplement and give each dog 1/4 of it daily. If you joined the k9 Kitchen group I linked before, they could help you more than I can.