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Foreword

Many novice owners will fall into the pit of health care products at the beginning of pet raising, such as nutritional cream, trace elements, lecithin, fish oil, seaweed powder, hair powder and so on. Of course, calcium supplement products are also products that many novice owners will buy. Such a calculation, even if it is to buy domestic health care products, domestic dog food, a month's cost is really a lot! But do dogs really need these things? Today, I would like to share with you my experience of supplementing Kimi with calcium.

The experience of giving Kimi a calcium supplement

Reasons to Give Kimi Calcium

(Pictures from the Internet)

1, Kimi's ears are relatively large, in the brothers and sisters belong to the standing ears late, when the two ears are not standing, because I believe that calcium supplements can help the rumors of standing ears, so I bought calcium supplements for Kimi.

2. The product page exaggerates the importance of calcium supplementation. There is no doubt about the importance of calcium to dogs, but "most pets are calcium deficient" is an irresponsible conclusion without data support, which is misleading to novice owners.

Kimi's choice of calcium supplement products at that time

I chose this pet's liquid calcium. The product details say that liquid calcium is easier to absorb than calcium tablets. I don't know if this is true, but it does have an advantage. It's friendly for small dogs or puppies, and there's no need to worry about dogs getting stuck in the throat.

Its disadvantage is that the liquid calcium in the mouth of the bottle will dry after opening, and then block the mouth of the bottle. In addition, its palatability is not acceptable to all dogs, so if you want to buy it, you can buy a bottle first to see if the dog can accept it.

Misunderstanding of Calcium Supplementation for Dogs

Mistake 1: Calcium supplements can help erect ears

(Pictures from the Internet: @ Shovel Officer Ah Cheng)

Pet blogger @ Shovel Shit Officer a Cheng mentioned in the video that dogs' ears are cartilages, and there is no way to help them stand up with calcium supplements. If you want to help them stand up, you can use the method of sticking the nose to the ears. Those who advocate that calcium supplements can stand up with ears are either not professional enough or want to make black-hearted money.

Mistake 2: Large dogs are prone to calcium deficiency

In a suitable dog food, the ratio of calcium to phosphorus is up to the standard. Under normal circumstances, dogs usually eat dog food intake of calcium enough to meet the body's needs. However, the feeding cost of large dogs is much higher than that of small dogs, resulting in a much higher proportion of large dogs eating inferior dog food. In the case of eating inferior dog food with unreasonable calcium-phosphorus ratio for a long time, it is also expected that dogs lack calcium.

Therefore, instead of blindly supplementing dogs with calcium, it is better to spend more money to choose high-quality dog food for dogs. At the same time, I hope that when you raise a dog, you can decide whether to raise a large dog or not according to your own economic strength. After all, large dogs are much more expensive than small dogs in terms of feeding and medical treatment.

What kind of dogs need calcium supplements?

1. Homemade dog meal

(Photo: @ nekomeowww)

Fresh food is better for dogs than dog food. Nowadays, many owners have embarked on the road of homemade dog meals and raw meat. Because they can't get enough calcium from food, the owners of homemade dog meals will choose to add calcium supplements to dog meals. But it is very important to master the ratio of calcium to phosphorus when making it by oneself. If you don't have enough knowledge to support it, it is recommended to buy dog food honestly.

Two, the doctor diagnosed the dog's calcium deficiency.

Because of the individual differences of dogs, it is not excluded that some dogs really need calcium supplements if they have bone problems. Owners should give calcium supplements to dogs under the guidance of doctors. The problem of calcium supplementation for elderly dogs can also be consulted by doctors first.

Consequences of excessive calcium supplementation

1. Excessive calcium supplementation can cause long-term hypercalciuria and increase the chance of stone formation in the urinary system.

2. There is too much calcium in the bone, which makes the bone brittle and prone to fracture.

3. Premature calcification of cartilage and premature closure of the forebrain lead to microcephaly, which restricts the development of the dog's brain.

4. Affect the dog's appetite, thus affecting the intestinal absorption of other nutrients.

5. Premature calcification of bones and early closure of epiphyses affect the development of long bones and the body shape of dogs.

Seeing these, will you still give your dog calcium supplements?

(The above personal experience is for reference only)