Few factors determine both the health and diet of our animal, so adequately meeting your nutritional needs is a care that deserves all our attention.
A dog goes through different vital stages over the years and in each of them different dietary needs are presented. During the first months of life, nutrients play an important role in facilitating optimal development. That’s why, in this article by Animal Expert, we explain the importance of calcium for puppies.
- In the various precautions for puppies.
- The control of the puppy’s diet is one of the most important.
- Because the body of a puppy will need all the nutrients.
Among them, we can highlight calcium, a mineral present in 99% of the dog’s skeleton and that performs important functions for the dog’s body:
Calcium is a mineral that must maintain an adequate relationship with phosphorus and magnesium to be used by the body. Therefore, it is recommended to maintain the balance of the following amounts: 1: 2: 1 to 1: 4: 1 (calcium, phosphorus and magnesium).
The dog’s body faces a long process that will require a lot of energy: its development, not only physical and physiological, but also mental and cognitive. During this process, you will need to increase your bone mass, as well as its density, and also make changes in the tooth parts, being the calcium essential for these formations.
Therefore, a puppy needs significant amounts of calcium that are much higher than the needs of an adult dog:
If we feed the specific rations of the puppy during the first months of life, calcium needs should be met, however, many experts in canine nutrition do not recommend that the puppy be fed only with commercial formula. On the other hand, although there are many calcium-containing foods that dogs can eat, a home diet requires supervision from a veterinarian.
So what’s the best solution? Follow a feeding pattern using good quality commercial preparations but also suitable home-cooked food for the dog. In addition, it is possible to supplement your calcium intake with a finely ground eggshell in a coffee grinder, however, we recommend that you consult your veterinarian or dog nutrition specialist for any questions about your dog’s diet. And if you prefer to opt for a 100% homemade diet, we advise you to know all the needs of the dog to offer a suitable and varied diet.
If you would like to read articles similar to, we recommend that you visit our Balanced Diets section.