ADDING SUPPLIMENTATION TO A PUPPY'S FEEDING SCHEDULE
Tomarctus SA 1
or not to feed my pups Goats Milk and Goats Cottage Cheese as
additional feeding, I have been informed the following:
"The safety zone for Calcium intake at which osteoarticular diseases
do not develop in all large breeds would lie between:
1. When the pups are 2 months old 260 - 830mg of Calcium/kg/day.
2. At 5 months the range would narrow slightly to 210 - 540mg of
Calcium/kg/day.
It all depends on the weight and the age of the puppy being fed, as
well as the total amount of Calcium in mg. I would say that feeding
goats milk and a small amount of goats cottage cheese would not push
the Calcium levels out of the safety zone.
I would be careful about further supplementation with SA-37 and Cani-
Vit. I believe that most of the vitamin supplements are not necessary,
and if it contains too much Calcium it can be harmful.
Your diet seems perfectly adequate to me and putting in more
supplements in my opinion would be overdoing it."
Furthermore, advice from a breeder-friend in the USA that a Malamute
should be fed a dry kibble with at least 24% or more protein and 15%
or more fat and Crude Fibre to be less than 4%. This breeders also
advised to feed for even growth; fresh protein foods like cottage
cheese, plain yogurt, hard-boiled eggs, small amounts of boiled liver
(occasionally), boiled chicken are a welcome treat that can be added
to the dry meal to enhance health and enjoyment BUT all of this should
not exceed 10% of the dog's total diet. They also often give their
Mals frozen mackerel as an healthy supplement to their meals. Apples
and carrots are also their favourite.
Advice on the above advice for even growth, the feedback was as
follow:
"All the supplements you mentioned seem fine to me especially in view
of the puppy formula you currently use. Unlike cats, dogs are not
obligatory carnivores and will eat grapes, apples, pumpkin seeds etc.
quite happily and will digest it quite efficiently. The main source of
protein should be derived from meat and not gluten. This gives you the
correct ratio of Omega 3 and 6 fatty acids for a healthy skin. For
this reason I am quite happy with the frozen Mackerel. An
exceptionally good source of Omega 3."
The current balanced nutritional puppy formula I currently provide
contains;
1. Min of 26.5 % in protein,
2. Crude Fat not less than 7 %
3. Crude Fibre, not more than 3,5 %.
4. The rest of the puppy formula also includes: Chondroitin Sodium
Sulphate and Glucosamine Sulphate as building blocks to help build
joint cartilage and improve joint flexibility. The inrediants consists
of Cereals, rice, plant derivatives, meat & animal derivatives,
minerals, vitamins, tallow, digest, nutritional purpose additives
(Glucosamine Sodium Sulphate and Chondroitin Sulphate) with an
approved anti-oxidant and;
5. Moisture, is not more than ............ 10,00%
6. Crude ash, is not more than .......... 8,50%
7. Calcium, is not less than .............. 1,20%
8. Phosphorous, is not less than ........ 0,80%
9. Ca : P Ratio ............................... 1,2 - 1,5 : 1
Herewith the content and Goats Milk Content (500ml):
Protein .....................................2.9%
Fat ..........................................3.2%
Calories/100ml ...............................70
Vitamin A (i.u/grms fat) .................. 39
Vitamin B (ug/100ml) ..................... 68
Ribboflavin (ug/100ml) ...................210
Vitamin C (mg ascorbic acid/100ml) ..2
Vitamin D (l.u/grms fat) ..................0.7
Calcium ...................................0.19%
Iron ........................................ 0.07%
Phosphoros ..............................0.27%
Cholesterol (mg/100ml) ..................12
When looking at the advice given regarding FAT CONTENT; the currently
dry kibble puppy formula I am feeding is 7% plus Goats Milk adds an
additional 3,2% for a total of Fat being at 10,2 - still well below
the suggested 15%. By adding a teaspoon of Goats Cottage Cheese a day
at 3,2% added fat, we will be getting close to 13,4% for Fat content -
which I would say is more than sufficient. By adding boiled chicken
and skins from time to time with a frozen Mackerel once a week will
balance the fat content to 15% or more.
When looking at the calcium content in Goats Milk, which seems to be
very low (0,19% on 500ml) and by adding a sprinkle of Cani-Vit powder
seems to be well below the quantities suggested:
2 months = 260 - 830mg of Calcium/kg/day.
3 months = 245 - 730mg of Calcium/kg/day.
4 months = 225 - 635mg of Calcium/kg/day.
5 months = 210 - 540mg of Calcium/kg/day.
6 months = 195 - 430mg of calcium/kg/day.
5 Grams (flat teaspoon) of Cani-Vit contains 300 mg of calcium above
others - if you then mix a teaspoon of Cani-Vit powder into a 250ml
tub of Goats Cottage Cheese and provide your puppy with one heaped
teaspoon a day, you still will not be exceeding the suggested
quantities for large breeds as indicated above.
My assumption is when looking at the figures; that I will not be doing
any harm or any abnormalities to a puppies growth should I be
following the above practices!
Why do we see so many Mals today with only average bone; whereas the
breed standards indicates that an Alaskan Malamute should be "heavy
boned"
What is your opinion on the topic at hand?