Follow the directions for calcium
With a few exceptions (see “When You Don’t Need to Add Calcium” above), you should add calcium to your dog’s diet at home.
Calcium guidelines can be determined in a number of ways, including a dog’s weight, percentage of dry matter in the diet, and calories a dog needs. Everyone has their complications:
- Small dogs eat more and have higher nutritional requirements for their body weight than large dogs. Therefore, you cannot use a linear guideline such as “Enter x number per 10 pounds of body weight.” Whenever you see linear feeding instructions, the red flag is whoever gave the directions does not understand feeding.
- The amount of moisture (water) in foods can vary from about 10 percent or less in dry foods (kibbutz, dehydrated, freeze-dried) to 80 percent or more in wet foods (canned, fresh, frozen, raw, cooked). You will need to convert the weight of your “fed” food to dry matter (DM) to provide a clue as to how much food to eat. The percentage of dry matter does not change much when changed from “fed” to dry food but is usually three to five times higher than the percentage “fed” to “wet” food. Since we feed our dogs less fatty and high-calorie foods, adjustments must also be made for foods with more than 4000 kcal/kg DM.
- Calculating nutritional requirements based on the number of calories your dog needs is the simplest method, but it also has some limitations. Calorie requirements depend on the dog’s activity, metabolism, and more. The exact amount of food also depends on how many calories your dog gets from snacks, chewing, leftovers, and other sources. Inactive dogs, in particular, who eat less for their expected body weight, should get more calories from a balanced diet to avoid nutrient deficiencies.
The National Research Council (NRC) issued the most recent nutritional guidelines for dogs in 2006. They recommend feeding adult dogs at least 1 mg of calcium per calorie (kcal), which is the equivalent of 1 gram (1000 mg) per 1000 kcal (Mcal). ,,,,.
The nutritional guidelines published by the American Feed Control Officers Association (AAFCO), which were finally amended in 2016 to reflect the latest recommendations from the NRC, increase this value to 1.25 mg calcium/kcal (1.25 grams). Mcal).
With dry ingredients, this is 4 to 5 grams of calcium per kilogram of food per dry matter or 0.4 to 0.5 percent DM.
Another factor that affects the amount of calcium your dog needs: phosphorus. There should always be as much calcium as phosphorus in their diet, up to twice as much for a healthy dog (or three times as much for a dog with kidney disease).
Most of the home foods I’ve seen contain between 0.5 and 1.25 mg of phosphorus per kcal. So, providing 1.25 mg of calcium per kcal will give the dog the right amount of calcium and the right ratio of calcium to phosphorus.
You need to know how many calories your dog is likely to have based on his ideal body weight – not his actual body weight. See Table I on the next page for an estimate of the amount of calcium to add to homemade food for dogs of various sizes and activity levels to provide 1.25 mg of calcium per kcal. Although nutritional needs do not vary based on activity level, dogs who eat more will need more calcium to balance the amount of phosphorus in their diet.
Include at least the lowest indicated amount of calcium for your dog’s ideal body weight, even if you feel you need to eat fewer calories than indicated to keep your dog at a reasonable, lean weight. When you need to feed less to help your dog lose weight or to prevent the dog from gaining unwanted weight, it is time to reduce the number of calories your dog gets from other sources.
The amount of calcium you give doesn’t have to be precise. Good to provide a little or a little more calcium than indicated. Most commercial adult dog foods I have seen contain between 2 and 3 mg of calcium per kcal (dog food or “lifetime” has much more). These foods also have an equivalent amount of phosphorus.
If you are on a diet that is part of a commercial or household part, adjust the calcium levels listed in Table I. For example, if you eat half at home, provide half the stated amount of calcium.
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