SHOULD ALL DOGS TAKE SUPPLEMENTS?
It’s no mystery why we feed our dogs supplements. The canine body is a complicated mechanism that fights every day to preserve its own well-being. Therefore, a dog's body needs plenty of nutritional support that foods can’t always adequately provide.
Because of cheap fillers, high starch content and over processing, many dog foods don’t contain enough minerals to adequately support the body. A deficiency of just one or more nutrients can leave your dog vulnerable to disease. Because every dog and cat is unique, they require specific increases in nutrients for many reasons.
Also, our pets’ demand for certain nutrients fluctuates.
Vitamin B is great support to the body during stressful periods
and additional zinc is a helpful nutrient for many breeds; such
as, huskies. No matter how well a diet is formulated, there are
always nutrients, which are not in the diet. The body knows what
it needs and it has its ways of communicating these things to
us. It is up to us to pay attention to our animals’ behavior as
well as their appearance to make sure they’re getting all the
nutrients they need. For instance, is your cat sleeping more
than usual these days? Or does your dog have less of an
appetite? Perhaps they need supplements. It doesn’t hurt to try
supplements to see how your pets respond to them. You may see a
drastic change in their mannerisms or their appearance. When we
give our pets supplements in conjunction with healthy
well-balanced meals, their bodies intelligently draw what they
need from the supplements and allocate them properly. Rather
than taking a specific vitamin or mineral in calculated
amounts, herbs deliver many nutrients in various amounts to the
parts of the body that require it.
Choose a dog supplement that contains the rather unusual Ester C
(Calcium Ascorbate), which is non-acidic, rich in calcium and other minerals and better absorbed than regular Vitamin C. It is usually not added to dog foods because it was once thought that dogs don’t require C because they manufacture it in their liver.
This way of thinking about dogs is archaic because we must now
consider the way dogs’ eating habits have evolved from years of domestication. Out in the wild, dogs ate prey that had intestines filled with grasses that contained C. Now at home,
they eat the foods we give them and they occasionally take a bite out of the neighbor’s lawn. Now, it seems as if dogs aren’t getting enough C. Vitamin C, considered a vital antioxidant, supports the bone, teeth and gums, blood vessels and the immune system. Nutritionists consider it a "conditionally essential" nutrient, meaning that it is needed in higher amounts during certain times in the animal’s life such as sickness, separation anxiety, stress from shows, visits to vets and confinement due to long distance trips.
Just like humans, it is recommended all supplements be taken
along with plenty of exercise and proper diet.
EDITOR'S NOTE: While there are many other supplements that act as "antioxidants" we believe the first line of defense before considering supplementation is to start with a high quality dog food. Supplementing your dog's Alpo is better than not, but why not ditch the Alpo altogether and feed a high quality food from the start? Then, depending on your dog's age and breed, you can work out a custom supplementation plan from there.
About The Author: Lori Matthews studies health, nutrition and
wellness and enjoys writing articles on health for both people and
pets. Please visit http://www.premium4pets.net
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