Canine Nutrition: Essential Supplements

Canine Nutrition: Essential Supplements

For this blog series, Canine Nutrition we went over the essential vitamins, minerals, amino acids and fatty acids that dogs require. I also went over carbohydrates even though they aren’t essential to a dog’s diet it is important to know what they are, what they do and how they affect the body…especially since our dogs are diabetic. And since many of us either make homemade treats or homemade food for our dogs, it is important to have a good knowledge base of human-grade foods. Today I am going to go over essential supplements and when you should be adding them to your dog’s diet.

Grab a cup of your favorite caffeinated beverage and let’s get to it.

Multivitamins and Minerals

If you are feeding your dog a commercial diet you should not need to add multivitamins and minerals since they are required to meet AAFCO requirements.

Prescription diets may or may not meet AAFCO requirements due to the reason a dog is being fed prescription diet. Certain diseases that require low protein, when a dog requires very low fat or low phosphorus will not meet AAFCO requirements and this is why they are prescription foods. You should not add multivitamins and minerals to your dog’s diet unless you speak with a certified veterinary nutritionist.

Homemade feeders need to add multivitamins and minerals to dog’s diet to ensure that they are getting all the essentials.

There are several brands of multivitamins and minerals that are diabetic safe, I have gone through all ingredients and inactive ingredients for the following:

• Nupro Gold – powder form.
• Nupro Silver – powder form includes joint and immunity support.
• Vetriscience Canine Plus Multivitamin – chewable tablets only, soft chews contain maltodextrin.
• Vetriscience Canine Plus Senior Multivitamin – chewable tablets only, soft chews contain maltodextrin.
• Dr. Harvey’s Multivitamin + Mineral – powder form.
• Nutrition Strength Multivitamins for Dogs - chewable tablets.

Note: most soft chews have flours that will raise blood glucose levels. Always read ingredients/inactive ingredients and look for flours, sugars, molasses and maltodextrin. These will all raise blood glucose levels, maltodextrin. Maltodextrin spikes blood glucose higher than sugar.

Calcium

Appropriate amounts of calcium should be in commercial dog food since they are required to meet AAFCO requirements.

Prescription diets may be low in calcium due to specific illnesses but this is something that you need to speak with a certified vet nutritionist about.

Homemade feeders should add a source of calcium because typically diet is low in calcium and multivitamins and minerals may not have enough calcium.

There are several calcium products listed below.

• Eggshells – a great source of calcium. One large eggshell has about 2.2 grams of calcium. Eggshells can be ground to a fine powder and added to dog’s meals. Bake eggshells at 300° F for 5 – 7 minutes then grind to a fine powder. General amount to add to food: 1 tsp. per lb of meat.
• Wholistic Pet Organics Calcium Support – powder supplement.
• Gentle Blends Pet’s Friend Fine Eggshell Powder – powder supplement.

Omega Fatty Acids

Omega fatty acids are very important for your dog and should be incorporated into diet whether your dog is being fed commercial diet or homemade. Commercial diets include omega fatty acids but the amounts are typically low unless it is a fish-based food. Prescription diet may be low in omega fatty acids depending on illness so speak with a certified vet nutritionist about adding them to your dog’s diet.

Here is a list of omega fatty acids you can purchase.

• Grizzly Omega Health for Dogs & Cats, Wild Salmon Oil/Pollock Oil Omega-3 Blend – oil.
• Dr. Harvey’s Health and Shine - Omega-3 Fish Oil – oil.
• Dr. Harvey’s Health and Shine - Salmon & Krill Oil – oil.
• Coco & Luna Omega-3 for Dogs – chewable tablets.

I want to quickly mention that Balance It is a great company and you can have a nutritionist create a diet for your dog for free, special diets will require approval from your vet. Balance It was created be a board-certified veterinary nutritionist and many nutritionists use it. They also offer multivitamin and minerals that are tailored to your dog’s diet.

A couple of honorable mentions that are not essential supplements but are beneficial to your diabetic dog! The following products are offered by Astro Pet Products, are made in the USA and ingredients are human grade.

D-Mannose – a supplement that helps prevent bladder infections by binding to bacteria in the bladder. D-Mannose should be given at night right before bed, this way it sits in the bladder overnight.

Methyl B12 – at higher doses this has been shown to help with diabetic neuropathy in dogs and cats. I give this to all my dogs with remarkable results and Astro Pet Products Methyl B12 comes in 2 oz or 4 oz bottles!

Joint Support with Hyaluronic Acid for Dogs & Cats – most of us with pets that are older and they benefit from hip and joint supplements. I have been using this since Astro Pet Products launched it and it works well.

Ocupet – eye supplement that is packed full of vitamins and antioxidants beneficial to the eyes of dogs and cats. Eye supplements help with the overall eye health of our pets.

Ocupet is available for Small Dogs & All Cats and for Medium to Large Dogs.

Until next week stay comfy, don’t stress and you got this!

Michelle Matlock

Canine Nutrition Coach

AAHA Certified Diabetes Educator

Founder/Administrator of DDO: Diabetic Dog Owners University