When it comes to your dog’s feeding and diet, it is important that there is a good balance of vitamins and minerals. This is to ensure that your dog’s immunity system is in tip-top condition, which is something we believe every dog owner would want.
The thing is, it is not uncommon that such a balance is derived from supplements if you are into homemade foods. If this is the way you prefer as opposed to buying over-the-counter dog food, it is all the more important that you know what vitamins are in food. This includes knowing the symptoms of excess or deficiencies in each vitamin, so that you can provide for your pet adequately.
If you do not already know, certain vitamins require daily top-ups whereas others are stored in the body for a period. The former includes Vitamin B and C, both of which are water-soluble and are not stored in the body. Hence, you will need to replenish them daily.
On the other hand, Vitamins A, D, E and K dissolve in fat before they are absorbed into the blood stream. Excesses are stored in the liver, therefore it is not necessary to replenish them each day.
Now that we have gotten the basics out of the way, let’s look at what type of food you can feed your dog to ensure it has a balanced diet:
- Cod liver oil: good source of Vitamin A, avoid night blindness and improve skin condition;
- Fish oils, egg yolks: Vitamin D, increases the body’s ability to absorb calcium to promote healthy bone growth;
- Peas, beans, lentils and other legumes: Vitamin B1, important to help release energy from foods
In particular, if you lean towards feeding fish in frozen condition to your dog, you should all the more try to get some of the abovementioned vegetables into your food mix. Alternatively, you can provide a supplement of B1. This is because your dog will not be getting the Vitamin B1 it needs from frozen fish, so it is important that you keep this in mind.
All in all, if your dog’s feed includes a good variety of vegetables and meat, it is possible that you may not need to supply it with artificial supplements. If, however, a balanced diet cannot be provided, then you should definitely consider supplements to help achieve that.
To find out if your dog’s diet is adequate, it’s best that you consult a vet to confirm. If you have been sending your dog to a dog daycare centre, you may easily do so by seeking the advice of their in-house veterinarian, which any good ones should have. Most staffs would be adequate enough to assess your dog’s dietary practice nevertheless, as is the case with this dog daycare centre.