Guest Anonymous Posted June 13, 2004 Posted June 13, 2004 Sorry guys I already asked this question in a few posts, but they were really old ones so nobody really checked them and answered I guess..anyways so I'm gonna post my question in a fresh new topic... My question is regarding cooked meat and calcium I currently feed my dog wellness on some days, and then I'll switch to cooked food on others...it seems to be working quite well... For example I usually cook chicken and tear off the meat (no cooked bones EVER) and mix it with veggies.. I use alot of different veggies...I'll also mix a knuckle of chopped up ginger, and occassionally add a teaspoon of garlic powder...not always since its related to the onion family and I heard onions are toxic for dogs.....and then I'll mix everything together and give her one cup in the morning and one cup in the evening for dinner... I have been trying to figure out how to get her enough calcium when she's eating the cooked food since I do not give her bones...sometimes I'll add a few tablespoons of cottage cheese or yogurt but I do not want to use that as a calcium supplement since dairy isn't always that great for dogs...Can anyone suggest how much calcium is required per pound (2 cups) of cooked meat?... I haven't been able to find any exact measurement requirements...I am thinking about grinding up eggshells instead of using calcium tablets/powder...how much of the grinded eggshells would I need in that case? I should probably mention her weight as well.. she's 55 lbs... I calculated the amount of raw (in my case its cooked) meat she should be eating per day..its 1.1 lbs (2 cups) (2% of her body weight)...I'm guessing this would not include the veggie mash.... The little one is around 10-15 lbs and his requirements are 0.3 lbs of meat or 4.08 ounces..again I'm assuming these calculations don't include the veggies. How much calcium do I need for him? I'll probably have a really hard time with his feeding requirements since I'm not always the one controlling his diet..my mother feeds him whatever she wants so I've given up on trying to make her realize that he needs his nutrients in proportion..not shnitzel with potatoes and carrots! :-? I also don't want to throw off the proportion of phosphorus to calcium if I'm switching back and forth between dry and cooked (although I'm trying as much as possible NOT to give her dry food unless I have no time to cook for her). I need some help :o Quote
courtnek Posted June 13, 2004 Posted June 13, 2004 cheese is a good source of calcium, just watch the fat content. also, your vet might be able to give you a powdered supplement of some kind you could put in the food. Quote
TDG Posted June 13, 2004 Posted June 13, 2004 pitbulletta, i just answered your post in the "care" forum. a proper calcium/phosphorus content in the diet is absolutely crucial, since excess, unbalanced phosphorus causes kidney damage. cheese isn't going to do much for balancing out a diet, since it doesn't have a very high amount of "excess" calcium - cheese contains phosphorus too, so that content needs to be taken into consideration as well. the cheapest, most natural calcium supplement is ground egg shell powder, which contains roughly 1,800 mg of calcium per teaspoon. if you don't use a lot of eggs, you can also get calcium citrate or coral calcium at the health food store or supplement aisle at the supermarket. just make sure these products don't have anything else added, since many human calcium supplements are fortified with vitamin D, which is toxic in excess amounts. Quote
Guest Anonymous Posted June 14, 2004 Posted June 14, 2004 TDG..thanks so much..however how do I know how much I should be adding to each cup of food...or lb of meat that I give my dog? I'm still confused about the proportions...can you help me out? Quote
Guest Anonymous Posted June 14, 2004 Posted June 14, 2004 Also, I was wondering if there is any way I have to balance magnesium? I heard something about that but never really looked into it... Quote
TDG Posted June 14, 2004 Posted June 14, 2004 if you are feeding a varied diet (which means not falling into the trap of feeding the same items all the time), magnesium will be present in sufficient quantities. dairy products, meat, fish and seafood, apples, blackstrap molasses, avocados, bananas, dark leafy vegetables and whole grains are all sources of magnesium. i'm sorry i can't really give you a cut and dry answer on the calcium, as i mentioned before, supplementation depends on the recipe you are feeding, not just on how much meat is present. personally i aim for a ratio of 1.2:1, which means the amount of calcium present in the food is 1.2 times as high as the amount of phosphorus. to achieve this balance, you have to know what's present already, and obviously if you include a lot of calcium deficient items in a recipe, you will have to supplement more than in a recipe that is more balanced due to its ingredients already. amounts and proportions matter. just so you get a general idea, here are some items and their average calcium and phosphorus content: meats, eggs, dairy products chicken, white meat only, per 100 grams: ca 11 mg, ph 196 mg chicken, dark meat only, per 100 grams: ca 12 mg, ph 162 mg ground turkey, per 100 grams: ca 25 mg, ph 196 mg turkey heart, per 100 grams: ca 6 mg, ph 222 mg turkey liver, per 100 grams: ca 5 mg, ph 279 mg ground beef , 80% lean, per 100 grams: ca 18 mg, ph 158 mg beef heart, per 100 grams: ca 7 mg, ph 212 mg beef liver, per 100 grams: ca 5 mg, ph 387 mg ground pork, per 100 grams: ca 14 mg, ph 175 mg 1 large egg, average 50 grams: ca 26.5 mg, ph 95.5 mg cottage cheese, lowfat, 2% milkfat, per 100 grams: ca 69 mg, ph 151 mg plain nonfat yogurt, per 100 grams: ca 199 mg, ph 157 mg cheddar cheese, per 100 grams: ca 952 mg, ph 676 mg fruits & vegetables parsley, raw, per 100 grams: ca 138 mg, ph 58 mg zucchini, raw, per 100 grams: ca 15 mg, ph 38 mg carrots, raw (not baby carrots), per 100 grams: ca 33 mg, ph 35 mg baby carrots, raw, per 100 grams: ca 32 mg, ph 28 mg apple, raw with skin, per 100 grams: ca 6 mg, ph 11 mg banana, per 100 grams: ca 5 mg, ph 22 mg grains and other carb sources oatmeal, cooked with water, per 100 grams: ca 8 mg, ph 76 mg pearled barley, cooked, per 100 grams: ca 11 mg, ph 54 mg whole wheat pasta, cooked, per 100 grams: ca 15 mg, ph 89 mg white potatoes, cooked in skin, without salt, per 100 grams: ca 5 mg, ph 44 mg sweet potatoes, baked in skin, without salt, per 100 grams: ca 38 mg, ph 54 mg taking the above values, a recipe made from beef heart, zucchini and whole wheat pasta calls for a different amount of calcium than one made from dark meat chicken, parsley and oatmeal. Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.