Dog Diet – Are Supplements Good Additions To Your Dog’s Diet?
But then how do you tell if your dog’s diet requires supplements? Or what type of supplements are good additions to your pet’s diet?
Your dog’s diet may not need to be supplemented at most times. Let’s assume that you feed your pet on formulated diet from a respected dog food company that offers you a guarantee that your dog’s meal is uniquely designed to provide a well balanced and healthy diet for your dog. When you occasionally give low quality meals to your dog that increases the need for additional supplementation. It’s normal for vets to advice you to give your pets diet some boost. It’s advisable that you supplement your dog’s diet with a boiled egg a number of days in a week. This will add a good amount of vitamins A and D to your dog’s dietary requirements. Vitamins A and B are vital for maintaining good bone makeup and healthy eyes.
Suppose you have resolved to take the matter into your own hands and create your own dog’s diet by cooking at home or customizing a natural diet or you just want to ensure that your pets’ health is at its top, you may require learning about the advantages of supplements. Then you need to know that your pet’s diet could be well enhanced by addition of green vegetables, nuts, and whole grains. These food items will increase your dog’s intake of vitamin B. other enhancement may include yeast, liver, and beans. Vitamin B is essential to your pet’s health because it gives your dog healthy muscles and skin.
To strengthen your dog’s immune system by warding off deficiencies, enhance the dog’s diet with extra vitamin E. Wheat germ, bran, and vegetable oil are excellent sources of vitamin E. Another essential nutrient is vitamin K which abounds in plenty in liver, fish, leafy greens vegetables and seeds. Vitamin K is essential because it increases your dog’s blood clot capability.
Glucosamine is another good dog diet supplement; this is because glucosamine has been verified to enhance joints health and keep arthritis at bay. Dog diet supplements could also be unsafe if done incorrectly e.g. you may be mistaken to think that you are doing your dogs lots of good by supplementing their diet with raisins and grapes, a very terrible mistake. Such fruits have been reported to cause dogs death through renal failure after consumption. It is therefore wise to consult a professional before administering supplements into your pets diet just to be sure that you are doing the right thing.
Excessive use of calcium supplements is dangerous to a dog’s diet. Moderate use of calcium is good for the formation of strong, healthy bones, but too much could be fatal. Big breeds of puppy tend to grow excessively large but weak bones when given excessive calcium in their diet.
Ensure that you have consulted with your veterinary about the dog’s supplements you are considering to get for your pets. The vet should advice you on the suitable quantity of supplement s to include in your dog’s diet. You and your vet both care for your dog’s welfare and should ensure that you provide what’s good. Giving a healthy and well balanced diet to your dogs is one of the simplest ways of ensuring that they have a long healthy lifestyle.
Abhishek Agarwal
http://www.articlesbase.com/pets-articles/dog-diet-are-supplements-good-additions-to-your-dogs-diet-753466.html
February 17th, 2010 at 12:51 am
What is the best vegetarian dog food?
hello! thanks in advance for your help!
first, just in case anyone has read "vegetarian dog" and is now freaking out and ready to lambaste me for my choice, i kindly ask that you keep those thoughts to yourself. i have my reasons, love my dog, and am making the best choices for him that i kno how. thanks.
ok, now on to my question! my dog is primarily a vegetarian (treats have meat products in them) and i am wondering what is the BEST vegetarian dog food on the market. currently my dog (a 1 yr old shepherd/lab mix) is on Nature’s Balance brand veg food. i understand that is a good brand, but i am curious if anyone swears by their brand, and why. please let me kno whatever pros and cons you’ve experienced.
in addition, anyone who has good advice about supplementing a dog’s vegetarian diet or information on where to find home made dog food recipes that meets AAFCO nutritional standards, that info would be most welcome. i am planning to start him on L-carnatine, taurine and nutritional yeast next week.
btw, i am willing to feed my guy seafood.
thanks so much!
"amy akita mom", thanks for the link, that is just what i’m looking for!
"chrissyk…" thank you for being respectful.
everyone who is giving me a hard time, you all reiterate the same, rote standpoint. it is too bad (for you) that you are too close-minded to explore other options than those you are familiar with. i am willing to bet that the amount of research i have done regarding my dog’s diet would put yours to shame. if i had access to the quality meant my dog would encounter if he were roaming the wild, i would feed him that in a heartbeat. but the meat that goes into the commercial dog food (and most meat made available to humans) is of poor quality and packed with chemicals and pesticides. in fact, much of the meat found in dog foods have previously been labeled unfit for human consumption…which is already shockingly low grade. there are plenty of videos online that will show you just what i am talking about. it is possible to have love for animals that are not pets.
February 17th, 2010 at 5:54 am
broccoli
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February 17th, 2010 at 5:56 am
Can I ask why your dog must be a vegetarian?
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Mutt
February 17th, 2010 at 5:58 am
A good supplement might be chicken or beef. Would you feed a cow ham or chicken. animals evolved to be where they are and dogs are made for meat.
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February 17th, 2010 at 6:00 am
Canines are Carnivores. Their system is set up to process meat and digested grains (like from eating the guts of their prey) I actually admire your tenacity but it is counter-intuitive.
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February 17th, 2010 at 6:02 am
huh? dogs need a meat diet not,like humans,the dog could DIE b/c there bodys dont give them some things like ours does. ;( for the sake of your dog; dont diet him on veggies,give him veggies AND meat insted.
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February 17th, 2010 at 6:04 am
ukanuba. because it has different vegetables. if you want to make it a vegetarian, you shouldn’t give it fish. i think ukanuba is the best choice.
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February 17th, 2010 at 6:06 am
Unless your dog is allergic to ALL sources of meat, which I doubt there is no reason your dog should be on vegetarian food or even treats. Your dog is a carnivore and a vegetarian food is an inappropriate food, plain and simple.
And yeah I’m gonna lambaste you because you AREN’T making the best choice in all honesty. Heck I know vegetarians who feed their dogs a raw prey model diet. I am sorry if they can swallow their own feelings about meat consumption and feed their dogs appropriately then at least you can feed your dog a quality kibble that is meat based.
If given a choice your dog would pas sup a plate of broccoli for a steak. i’m not getting as heated as I normally can but seriously your dog needs more meat in his diet than he is getting.
ADD: And if common sources of protein are a problem then you find a new source – rabbits, venison, water buffalo, buffalo, moose, goat, etc.
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February 17th, 2010 at 6:08 am
I just delved into the lifestyle of a vegetarian dog (not my choice!) but she’s eating Dick Van Patten’s Natural Balance Vegetarian Formula for the last four years and does great.
Here is the website:
http://www.naturalbalanceinc.com/dogformulas/Vegetarian.html
And here is the "vegetarian dog" website:
http://www.vegetariandogs.com/
http://www.ehow.com/how_5339_dog-vegetarian-diet.html
http://www.wisegeek.com/is-it-healthy-to-feed-my-dog-vegetarian-dog-food.htm
Just make sure that your dog is getting enough protein and calcium in his/her diet.
I’m new to this scene too (I have five RAW fed dogs and one vegetarian!) and I asked a question about being a vegetarian dog last night, here is the link (maybe you’ll find something helpful):
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=ArFlP7uWo9lvsOFmsD6NU8fsy6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20090109174824AAJWEuK
Have her vetted prior to starting the change in food. Its likely that if she’s been on meat products her entire life this switch will not go well, and most definitely will not go smoothly. She will lose a lot of weight if you don’t do it right, and it can seriously damage her kidneys and liver if you go at this incorrectly.
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February 17th, 2010 at 6:10 am
As far as a vegetarian food besides Nature’s Balance, I’ve heard of Avoderm. Although I’m not sure how good of a food it is. I would not berade you for putting your dog on a vegetarian diet, if you don’t want to support the meat industry then that’s your decision. Dogs are not obligate carnivores so they don’t need meat to live healthy. There is still animal protein in their foods without it being meat protein.
If you are still willing to feed him seafood than I would check out California Natural Herring and Sweet Potato. I just actually switched to adult food and that’s what my pup is eating.
I don’t know much about supplements though, that would be best to ask your vet, but honestly as long as the food you’re feeding him is high quality then he shouldn’t need them.
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I thought about feeding my dog vegetarian, probably won’t, but doesn’t mean other people can’t.
February 17th, 2010 at 6:12 am
I’m not a vet and I respect your choice. He is your dog and you will care for him your way. But, dogs need meat! So do humans. I know you said to keep it to myself but that poor dog! Wild dogs eat meat, and it’s important to their health. It’s part of their nature to eat meat. Why do you think they have the sharp teeth that they do. Like I said i’m sorry if I stepped over the line. I was definitely not trying too, and I think it’s great that you obviously love your dog.
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February 17th, 2010 at 6:14 am
"i have my reasons, love my dog, and am making the best choices for him that i kno how." Vegetarian is NOT the best choice! Cmon, you have got to be kidding!
It makes me sick when people anthropomorphize their pets to the point of making them eat according to their personal beliefs.
Uness your dog has a strange medical condition in which he cannot have protien, then he has to have a meat source.
If you are interested, California Natural has a Herring and sweet potato dog food. It is nutritionally balanced enough that your dog does not need supplementing.
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February 17th, 2010 at 6:16 am
You should get rid of your dog, since you dont care about him, dogs are meat eaters and your harming your dog by trying to make him not eat meat. If you want to be vegetarian that is great for you. But why push your views on to your pets that need to have meat in there diet. Get a hamster or some birds, those dont need meat in there diets.
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February 17th, 2010 at 6:18 am
Will in my own option Dogs need meat to be healthy and active.
But its your choice on what you feed your dog (even if i don’t approve of it) they do have good vegetarian dog food.
Here are some i recommend:::
*As what you feed Natural Balance Ultra Vegetarian is probably one of the best vegetarian dog foods their is. =)
*AvoDerm Natural Vegetarian — is good but not as good as Natural Balance
*Nature’s Recipe Healthy Skin Vegetarian Recipe — You can get this at petsmart.
*Missing Link Vegetarian — At petsmart
Would you feed your dog Fish? If so you should feed ORIJEN 6 FRESH FISH with SEA VEGETABLES this food is a 6 out of 6 star dog food and is one of the best foods you can buy.
Here is their website:::
http://www.championpetfoods.com/orijen/products/ORIJEN6FISH.aspx
*I feed Taste of the Wild dog food::::
http://www.tasteofthewildpetfood.com/products/dogs/wetlands_canine_formula/
Hope this helps!
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Dog Lover, Proud Owner of a Purebred American Akita and a Black Lab mix<—See Profile for Pictures. I feed "Taste of the Wild"