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Additives For Healthy Bones


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Hi there, I am going out to get some pet mince from the butchers today because the tinned food smells gross, I've never been a big feeder of tinned food because to me it smells the same when it goes in as when it comes out (and visa versa). I realise if I get mince it wont have any additives like the tinned puppy food does. So what can I add to promote healthy bone growth for my 10 week old boxer puppy and for my smaller dog to speed up the recovery of his broken leg? I've googled for info but can't really find anything specific to dogs only humans for aiding broken bone recovery and I am reluctant to give human remedies to dogs without checking first. Omega oil is something that came up. Also tinned whole sardines...but the dogs aren't keen and left them to stink out my house.

I'm off to the vet Thursday for puppies shots and will ask for advice then - but if I could have some suggestions here to run past her that would be good, as being just a routine vaccination I will get the young vet who doesn't have the knowledge of the senior vets.

By the way I also feed chicken necks to both dogs who love them, and Pal puppy kibble for the puppy.

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Get some chicken necks for your pup plenty of chewable bone in their.I have a 10 week old pup similar to yours.Always feed mine on chicken necks as well as sardines and eggs with the shells crushed.Make sure the smaller dog gets plenty of calcium and maybe supplement with glucosamine and chondroiton as well as enough time in the sun each day.Vitamin d from the sun is essential in healthy bone growth and repair.I had a dog with a fractured leg awhile back and I also gave it deer antler velvet.Its not cheap and cant say categorically if it worked but dogs leg healed fine without any intervention.Hope that helps.

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I would avoid additives for the pup - feed plenty (as in about 50% of the diet) of edible bone. Depends on the size of the pup, edible could be from bashed up chicken necks up to whole turkey necks. Meat alone is not the natural diet of a dog and will do a LOT of harm, IMO it would be better to get a bag of edible meaty bones than a bag of a best mince in the world.

Pet mince can be the leftovers and be totally unsuitable (and half rotten) or it could be minced chicken frames which are OK but IMO don't have enough meat for a puppy - plenty of good bone though! So check what is in the mince and ask the butcher for suggestions.

Your vet will almost certainly tell you to feed dry food - do you feed this as well?

What does the breeder's diet sheet tell you to feed the pup?

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Throw the Pal Puppy Kibble out & get him a decent puppy kibble plus raw meaty bones like chicken necks or frames daily. I don't know why your dogs would turn their noses up at sardines, my dogs love them & get tinned mackeral as well. Raw eggs together with the finely crushed egg shell are also good. But get rid of the Pal...rubbish in...rubbish out.

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Ah now eggs are one thing I have an abundant supply of. How many eggs per day is ok? And whites and yolks or just yolks? I've heard of the feeding shells to dogs, but worried the young one will choke on shells. I am cooking them some pasta as we speak just as a nice treat to go with their mince. I have never been a fan of any dry food but it's always handy to have a packet on standby as it's convenient to feed when in a hurry and nothing else is available. And yes vet recommends dry food.

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Ah now eggs are one thing I have an abundant supply of. How many eggs per day is ok? And whites and yolks or just yolks? I've heard of the feeding shells to dogs, but worried the young one will choke on shells. I am cooking them some pasta as we speak just as a nice treat to go with their mince. I have never been a fan of any dry food but it's always handy to have a packet on standby as it's convenient to feed when in a hurry and nothing else is available. And yes vet recommends dry food.

I am not sure why you would feed pasta :confused: A couple of eggs a week would be good, but feed them raw, the whole lot, but crush the shell up unless you want your dogs to learn that it is OK to steal eggs. I mix them in with their kibble. If you are not really sure that you have the knowledge to feed them a whole, balanced meal, by putting together "bits & pieces" then I would be going for a premium quality dry food & make that their mains plus eggs or sardines for variety & raw meaty bones for their teeth.

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What does the breeder's diet sheet reccomend?

Pasta is totally unnecessary for dogs, and IMO actually pretty bad for pups full stop. Fills them up with useless carbs they can't process efficiently. Adult dogs can get by with some useless stuff just to fill them up, pups IMO can't

A couple of eggs at week, including the shell would be fine. The pup would be just as likely to choke on a piece of pasta as a piece of crushed egg shell.

I agree with sheena, you don't appear to have the knowledge to create a proper raw diet for the pup especially - stick with a decent dry food and a few treats like sardines, eggs and some meaty bones at least until the pup's critical growth period is over

Edited by Sandra777
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I agree with sheena, you don't appear to have the knowledge to create a proper raw diet for the pup especially - stick with a decent dry food and a few treats like sardines, eggs and some meaty bones at least until the pup's critical growth period is over

Rather than make comments like that, why not actually try to provide her with the knowledge required (I'm assuming you must have plenty of it?).

For what it's worth, Teela, I'm of the opinion that Sandra's suggestion of 50% bone in a puppy's diet is totally inappropriate. If you ask, many places will be happy to mince up roo or chicken frames into meat (rather than just throw them out) and the meat can be frozen to help exercise their jaws. Done that way, the risk of choking or injuries to the gut are pretty minimal.

Raw feeding for puppies does take a bit more research but there's heaps of information here and plenty of other people with a decent understanding of the issues around it.

Shmoo's list of dangerous foods is also definitely worth reading, while you're at it. Some foods that are generally considered safe do actually have some risks (like eggs).

Edited by Hardy's Angel
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I agree with sheena, you don't appear to have the knowledge to create a proper raw diet for the pup especially - stick with a decent dry food and a few treats like sardines, eggs and some meaty bones at least until the pup's critical growth period is over

Rather than make comments like that, why not actually try to provide her with the knowledge required (I'm assuming you must have plenty of it?).

For what it's worth, Teela, I'm of the opinion that Sandra's suggestion of 50% bone in a puppy's diet is totally inappropriate.

50% edible bone as in chicken necks doesn't mean 50% of the diet is actually bone. (Chicken necks are usually not much bone at all, mostly they're cartilege) and if you fed a pup 50% minced chicken carcases it wouldn't be getting 50% bone either as chicken carcases are a lot of scrap meat and cartilege too.

So sorry I didn't have time to write out an entire diet for a puppy right at that moment.

I'm sure Teela is able to use the search function on this site and find this information for herself if she wants to learn more about the whole subject in her own time and make her own decisions about what is right for her puppy.

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and if you fed a pup 50% minced chicken carcases it wouldn't be getting 50% bone either as chicken carcases are a lot of scrap meat and cartilege too.

You wouldn't want a puppy eating 50% bone anyway, that's the point.

The OP wasn't imposing on you by asking about these things, you chose to come in here and reply. If you don't have time to post something of use (besides "You don't know what you're doing"), perhaps spend your precious time doing something else?

Anyways..

http://www.dolforums.com.au/topic/172826-rawnatural-chitchat/page__hl__raw+feeding

http://www.dolforums.com.au/topic/229646-starting-to-feed-raw/page__p__5587238__hl__%2Braw+%2Bdiet__fromsearch__1#entry5587238

http://www.dolforums.com.au/topic/229010-joint-supplements/page__p__5568627__hl__%2Braw+%2Bdiet__fromsearch__1#entry5568627

http://www.dolforums.com.au/topic/228131-raw-meat-for-puppy/page__p__5540877__hl__%2Braw+%2Bdiet__fromsearch__1#entry5540877

http://www.dolforums.com.au/topic/227319-raw-diet-for-dogs/page__p__5514442__hl__%2Braw+%2Bdiet__fromsearch__1#entry5514442

The first thread is very good, lots of discussion there.

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Throw the Pal Puppy Kibble out & get him a decent puppy kibble plus raw meaty bones like chicken necks or frames daily. I don't know why your dogs would turn their noses up at sardines, my dogs love them & get tinned mackeral as well. Raw eggs together with the finely crushed egg shell are also good. But get rid of the Pal...rubbish in...rubbish out.

Why is it surprising to you that the OP's dogs don't like sardines?My two love sardines but then again they would eat dirt if I put it in a bowl.The OP is asking for advice not critisism.

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Throw the Pal Puppy Kibble out & get him a decent puppy kibble plus raw meaty bones like chicken necks or frames daily. I don't know why your dogs would turn their noses up at sardines, my dogs love them & get tinned mackeral as well. Raw eggs together with the finely crushed egg shell are also good. But get rid of the Pal...rubbish in...rubbish out.

Why is it surprising to you that the OP's dogs don't like sardines?My two love sardines but then again they would eat dirt if I put it in a bowl.The OP is asking for advice not critisism.

Exactly.

Of the three foster dogs I currently have..

One will scoff down roo tails as if they were the first thing he'd ever eaten (Doug). The other two will back away if they smell them (Sophie, Ru).

Two will eat kibble if mixed in with meat (Doug, Sophie). The other one will eat around the kibble and if the amount is anything over a quarter of a cup in his meat, he just won't eat it (Ru).

One will gobble down worming chews (Sophie). Two have to have their worming chew coated in peanut butter (Doug, Ru).

Not all dogs like fish. Not all dogs like egg or egg shell. Plenty of dogs don't really enjoy chewing on bones.

I do know why the OP's dogs might turn their noses up at sardines- they're not Sheena's dogs and they have different tastes.

People need to bear this stuff in mind when making suggestions. What works for one dog might not work for another, I think even the most enthusiastic raw vs commercial debaters will admit that "what is best for the dog is what the dog does best on", there's no exact formula, even for individuals of a certain breed (I feed my greys raw but know plenty of people who feed their hounds kibble- both groups are doing just fine).

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My suggestion would be this.

Get a decent kibble, add in the egg a couple of times a week. Also use chicken frames, necks etc.

I wouldn't be starting a puppy on a mince diet especially if he has a bone issue (ie broken) as you can't guarantee the level of vitamins and minerals in it.

My last puppy was fed on a mid line food, chicken frames/necks and she broke her leg at 12 weeks of age. She came good and now at the age of 9 has only just started showing signs of arthritis. Definitely check with your vet though as they are physically seeing the animal and we aren't. They can give you a pretty good picture of whats going on.

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My suggestion would be this.

Get a decent kibble, add in the egg a couple of times a week. Also use chicken frames, necks etc.

I wouldn't be starting a puppy on a mince diet especially if he has a bone issue (ie broken) as you can't guarantee the level of vitamins and minerals in it.

My last puppy was fed on a mid line food, chicken frames/necks and she broke her leg at 12 weeks of age. She came good and now at the age of 9 has only just started showing signs of arthritis. Definitely check with your vet though as they are physically seeing the animal and we aren't. They can give you a pretty good picture of whats going on.

Its not the puppy that has a broken leg.She said she has a smaller dog ie. small breed with a broken leg.

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That's right I have a 22 month old Chinese Crested with a broken leg and a new 10 week old boxer puppy. I spoke to my vet who suggested I feed a good range of different food such as mince, chicken necks and frames, pasta, rice, eggs, even fruit and veges...in other words variety. He said that I could add omega 3 to the older ones diet if I liked but if I feed variety there is really no need and in his opinion omega wont hasten the healing process. He also recommends puppy kibble, but NOT supermarket stuff. I was lucky enough to see the senior vet who really knows his stuff. I am confident enough that what I am now feeding is a good basis for their diet. Thankyou for all your responses.

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