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Did you know that dogs have a fairly high dietary need for calcium?
They have evolved around a diet that contains whole prey, and eating them, bones and all. This physiological requirement is often underappreciated in homemade diets.
The Calcium needs of your dog can be easily met in a raw food dogs diet, which contains raw meaty bones. When feeding the softer bones that dogs are able to chew and swallow, and subsequently digest and absorb the bone which will provide many nutrients, but will be a core source of their calcium.
Commercial foods will also have sufficient calcium to meet their needs. They will not need additional calcium supplementation when fed a commercial diet.
If you are finding that your dog has bone fragments coming out the other end in their poo, then you will have to question if they are able to adequately digest and absorb the bone.
Calcium is important for many roles in the body. Most people know of calcium as making the bone and skeleton nice and strong. And although this is a major role it plays, there are also some other essential roles.
Structural integrity of the skeleton
Cardio vascular regulation
Muscle contraction and nerve signalling
Transportation of nutrients in and out of the cells.
As you can see, the bone density is very important, however the regulation of the heart and cell communication is essential to life. This is likely why the bodies largest mineral stores are utilised for such essential work.
The bones act as a reservoir for this calcium, and bone is constantly being actively broken down and reformed. This can be remodelled and can also repair breaks.
When there is a reduction of the dietary calcium, there will be an increase in the bone breakdown to liberate calcium to where it is most essential. The blood is kept at a very narrow window of calcium, and reading a blood test to see if there is adequate calcium will be misleading.
As the body continues to pull calcium stores from the bones, we end up with a lower bone density and more brittle bones much more prone to fracture.
Growing dogs and lactating bitches are the least forgiving when having a diet that has shortfalls in nutrients. The rapid growth, or high demands from lactation can pull more calcium than the body can liberate from the bones. In growing pups we can see orthopaedic problems show up, and in severe cases in bitches, we can see hypocalcaemia, when untreated as an emergency, can lose their life.
I often hear "my dog never has never been fed calcium, and he is fine."
However, in most animals this is a very subtle and gradual process as the bones are slowly mined for their calcium. Adult dogs are much more forgiving to mineral imbalances. However this will inevitably lead to health problems.
Unfortunately for puppies, Excess calcium is not better than insufficient calcium. Getting the balance right, and the energy levels right is critical in this early growth period, and this is even more important in large breed puppies.
What is exceedingly frustrating is people trying to make a low cost dog food. They mix 1 part mince, 1 part vegetables and 1 part rice/pasta.
This diet fills me with dread. There are so many nutrient deficiencies, which need to be addressed, but one glaringly obvious deficiency is Calcium. This is a low cost nutrient that can be easily added in.
If your dog cannot eat bone, there are some very good alternatives. You can use eggshell powder, or I also stock a bone based calcium supplement from Canine Ceuticals called Replace-a-bone.
Are you confident your dog is getting enough calcium in their diet? If you need some guidance on this, I can formulate fully balanced meals that meet NRC nutrient requirements for your dog.
Give your dog a pat for me!
Kerrie
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