Would Calci Plus Benefit Pup

[sandymere 8,261]

High calcium diets are known to cause problems in large breed dogs and one might surmise that they would possible have a similar, if lesser, effect on other dogs so I would not go for calcium supplements with puppies, especially one fed as well as you intend.

See link

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11131552

 

 

Lactose is the sugar in milk and young animals produce lactase to enable them to digest it. As they mature they stop producing lactase so they lose the ability to digest milk. As an aside many human populations are the same but those that have a pastoralist background, keeping cattle, have evolved to produce lactase into adulthood enabling them to utilise dairy sources as food throughout there lives.

 

Many use goats milk in the belief it is lower lactose than cows milk but in reality they are both about the same. Fat content is again similar and size is not particularly different or relevant, if a pup can digest a lump of fat into small globules then the small globules in milk are not going to be a problem.

 

So dogs, as mammals, will digest milk, including cows and goats, as pups but not as adults. Its a decent source of fluid, calcium, protein, carbs etc so can be a good food for young pups as part of a balanced diet..

 

 

Links

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lactose

 

http://drinc.ucdavis.edu/goat1.htm