Act 1 - Scene 6:
Finito

The preceding pages outline the principles that will guide us while preparing and making wholesome pet food. However, if you only fed homemade pet food as described so far, then you would not provide all that your dog or cat requires nutritionally. As with any pet food, commercial pet food or homemade pet food, there are certain nutrients which are missing and need to be replaced and/or added in the form of nutritional supplements.

When it comes to thinking about such missing nutrients, in the past I used to always tell people about the calcium that our pets would obtain while eating a bird, mouse, rabbit and so on because while eating the prey, our pets would also eat some of the bones. But the bones are no longer in the meat we feed. Therefore, in the past, myself and many others would suggest feeding bonemeal as a source of calcium for our pets. The supplemental bonemeal was meant to simulate the bones our pets would eat naturally in the wild.

Using bonemeal as a calcium supplement is how things used to be done, but no more.

While bones do provide calcium, bones also provide too much phosphorus which we want to actually avoid (the reason for wanting to avoid phosphorus in explained below... just keep reading). So if bones are not the ideal source for calcium, then where did the majority of the calcium our pets obtained come from?

The answer, which might shock you, is from the blood of their prey. Blood is very high in calcium.

While there is still some blood in the raw meat you buy from your butcher or grocery store, the amount of blood is not as high as found in fresh prey.

As a result, we definitely want to ensure our pets get additional calcium through the use of a good calcium supplement. The importance of a calcium supplement cannot be stressed enough and furher information about calcium is explained in Part 1 - Scene 9. Now, I know what you are thinking... you are wanting to know right now, if calcium is so important, then please tell me now what sort of calcium supplement I should provide my pets.

So to satisfy your curiosity, the calcium supplement I now use is finely ground egg shells because it is high in calcium and contains almost no phosphorus. Okay, now I know you are wondering what's the deal with phosphorus? Why do you keep mentioning phosphorus?

Let's take four steps backwards for a moment now and talk a little more about the history of calcium supplementation for our pets. Let's start from the beginning and work our way forward so that you better understand why good calcium supplementation is extremely important for our pets...

When I first started feeding a homemade diet in 1993, bonemeal was used. Why? Because at the time, that's all that was available. Although bonemeal was not the ideal source for calcium, it was the only source at the time.

Now you should not feed bones to your dog or cat because they may splinter. If the bone splinters, it can get stuck in the throat, stomach, intestinal tract, etc requiring emergency surgery. Fresh bones have not been exposed to oxygen for too long and thus are soft and supple. But old bones can splinter due to oxidation.

It's also important to note that when I talk about bonemeal, I am not referring to the bonemeal you find at your favourite garden center (unless you want your pet to flower). Bonemeal used for gardening purposes would be poisonous to your pet's health. When I talk about bonemeal, I am talking about nutritional grade bonemeal which is for human consumption and which is found at your local health food store.

Over the years, as homemade pet food started to get more popular, advances were and have been made in terms of supplements for our pets. Bonemeal slowly but surely was no longer viewed as a suitable or acceptable form of calcium supplementation for pets.

Why?

Well, there are numerous reasons why... so let's explore the reasons why bonemeal is not a suitable a calcium supplement for your pets:

1. Bones by nature store nutrients including heavy metals such as lead. Some bonemeal could therefore be high in lead.

2. For those that don't know, the ancient Romans made their water system using lead pipes. At that time, lead was known by its Latin name which is "Plumbum". The individuals who worked on these plumbum (lead) pipes became known as "plumbers".

3. Since the pipes were made of lead, the water the Romans drank was then high in lead which lead to many health problems including infertility which was one reason why the Roman Empire fell apart (see, not just a pet book, but a history book too!)

4. Now, since bones can store such nutrients as lead and other heavy metals, it was important to ensure the bonemeal being fed was low in lead.

5. In order to make low lead bonemeal, one needs to use the bones of young cows and many, including myself, do not feel totally comfortable doing this.

6. Since lead is a concern, this is one reason for not feeding bonemeal but also, there is the concern about mad cow's disease because the bones used to make bonemeal do not, in most situations, come from free range cows.

7. Bones can also contain some toxic elements due to the fact that toxic elements, when ingested, can be stored in the bones.

8. Bonemeal is made from bones that have been boiled, usually to make gelatin. As a result, by the time the bones are ground into bonemeal, most of the nutrients have been boiled out. Therefore, bonemeal does not provide as much nutrition as one thinks.

9. Last but not least, bonemeal is now difficult to find and expensive to have shipped to you due to its weight.

But wait, here's the most important reason why you should not use bonemeal and this is where phosphorus, as mentioned above, becomes a factor.

1. Meat is naturally low in calcium and high in phosphorus.

2. Bonemeal is not only a source of calcium, but bonemeal is also a source of phosphorus.

3. Pets need a 2:1 ratio between calcium and phosphorus. That is, for every 2 parts of calcium in the food, there should be 1 part phosphorus. As an example, if the food contains 2 grams of calcium, the food should contain 1 gram of phosphorus.

4. Do you follow so far?

5. When using something like bonemeal, your pet actually becomes calcium deficient. Why?

6. To understand why, it's important to read #1 and #2 again.

7. When reviewing #1 and #2 again, we see that meat is low in calcium and high in phosphorus while bones provides both calcium and phosphorus. As a result, by using bonemeal as a calcium supplement, you do not adjust the food so it has the 2:1 ratio of calcium. Instead, bonemeal reverses this ratio so that perhaps our pet's body has a 1:3 ratio... that is, 1 part calcium to 3 parts phosphorus.

8. One therefore needs to feed a calcium supplement that it is high in calcium and low in phosphorus to help create a balance in the daily calcium and phosphorus intake.

9. Our pet's body must have a 2:1 ratio of calcium and phosphorus to be healthy and if this is ratio is not achieved, then our pet's body will be out of balance and this simple nutritional imbalance can then affect other aspects of our pet's health.

10. Using a good calcium supplement to help counter balance the fact that meat is low in calcium and high in phosphorus is the single most important thing you can do to help improve the health of your pets.

Okay, so that's a look at bonemeal and why bonemeal is no longer used or recommended.

So what's the alternative? How has pet nutrition advanced past the use of bonemeal as a calcium supplement?

Now, instead of bonemeal, I use and recommend finely ground egg shells.

Why? Why use finely ground egg shells?

1. Finely ground egg shells are not boiled like bones to make bonemeal, thus there is full nutrition in the ground egg shells.

2. With ground egg shells you do not need to be concerned about mad cow's disease.

3. Finely ground egg shells can be made by yourself.

4. If you do not have your own supply of egg shells or if you don't have time to make your own finely egg shell powder, then can buy finely ground egg shells at a very affordable price and because it's light weight, shipping charges are much lower than the cost of shipping bonemeal.

5. The most important reason for using finely ground egg shells is this...

   • Egg shells are extremely high in calcium and contain virtually no phosphorus! There's that word again... phosphorus...

   • By using finely ground egg shells as the calcium supplement for our pets, we can more easily balance our pet's body so there is more calcium than phosphorus in their body

WOW

Let's take a deep breath for a second... because not only are we talking about pet nutrition at the moment, but we are talking about mathematics in the form of ratios! If you were like me and asleep during class, then this whole ratio thing might confuse you a little. If this is the case, then let me summarize by saying the following:

• Meat is low in calcium and high in phosphorus.

• Our pets need twice as much calcium in their diet as phosphorus.

• The best way to ensure your pets are getting twice as much calcium as phosphorus is by using finely ground egg shells as a calcium supplement.

• If our pets do not get enough calcium in their diet, then our pets are more susceptible to health problems relating to excess phosphorus in the body.

• Providing finely ground egg shells as a supplement is the single most important supplement you can give your pet.

You can buy finely ground egg shells or you can make your own egg shell supplement by collecting and grinding the egg shells yourself.

Editor's Paw Note:

If you want to learn more about supplementation and how I do it, simply read my notes about food supplementation which can be found in Appendix A - Scene 8.

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Katherine’s Official Gospel

Did you know that... In 1990 the FDA banned sulfite use on fresh potatoes, but the National Coalition of Fresh Potato Processors joined forces with some other potato companies and got the ban overthrown on a legal technicality. Makes me feel safe! Now you know!

source: FOOD by Susan Powter

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