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zinc deficiency?

6K views 17 replies 6 participants last post by  ioreks_mom 
#1 ·
so, i think i posted about iorek scratching already, but i got another suggestion yesterday. iorek scratches one spot on his neck and the back of his front leg on the same side. my vet checked him out and said she didn't know what it could be, she said maybe displacement. the lady that works at the daycare yesterday suggested that it could be a zinc deficiency. she said that it causes itching and a lot of northern breeds are prone to it. i looked it up only briefly since i am on my lunch break. it said that it is mostly dermatitis around the mouth and on the face, with itching and scaling. from what i can see iorek's skin looks a nice normal pink colour under his fur in those areas. iorek eats raw. he might be getting too much calcium, since this is also a cause of zinc deficiency, but he has always been scratching in that area, before the raw.

what kind of supplement can i get? what is your experiences with this, if any one has experienced this?

thanks for your help :)
 
#3 ·
I wouldn't think a raw-fed dog should suffer from zinc deficiency. Here's some info I found:
"Red meats, especially beef, lamb and liver have some of the highest concentrations of zinc in food. A turkey's neck and beef's chuck or shank also contain significant amounts of zinc."

You could increase his liver consumption for a while to see if it does any good. Maybe some oysters thrown in now and then (they have the highest zinc content of any food).
 
#4 ·
thank you :)

i don't actually feed iorek much beef, i don't have a source for it. i do give him turkey necks though, about once a week. i could give him more liver though.

i read that too much calcium will also cause a zinc deficiency. i found it hard to find a lot of info on the internet about it. i also read that some northern breed dogs are not able to absorb the zinc

"Two syndromes are associated with zinc-responsive dermatosis. Siberian Huskies typically develop Syndome I, which is caused by an inability of the intestines to properly absorb zinc. Syndrome I affects adult dogs between
1 and 3 years of age despite being fed a complete and balanced dog food."

i got that from this site

i will try supplementing with the multivitamin and see what happens from there. i am getting a little worried about making sure iorek gets all the vitamins and minerals that he needs anyway.

thank you for your help.
 
#5 ·
The first word of advice I have is stop taking nutritional advice from a girl at the daycare. :)

A big problem with people relatively new to raw feeding and with vets is that they want to blame every little thing on the diet. There is nothing wrong with the diet. Look somewhere else for the cause of your dog's problem. In time you will become more comfortable and confident with the diet and realize that the diet is the last place to look to for problems your dog has.

IF northern breeds are actually having problems absorbing zinc then they are talking about kibble fed dogs trying to absorb zinc in a form other than in natural foods. Gray wolves, which is another northern breed, don't have problems with zinc.

Calcium isn't a problem for raw fed dogs either. Excess calcium is either absorbed by bones or is excreeted from the body pretty quickly. It's not just floating around in the body causing problems.
 
#6 · (Edited)
i think that your first sentence is kind of rude.

the people at the daycare ALSO feed raw. and she is studying dog nutrition in school. my vet supports me feeding raw, does not sell science diet, and promotes home prepared food.

i will take advice from people i trust and who have my dog's best interest at heart.
 
#7 ·
My post contained good advice. I don't care what the lady at the daycare feeds or how much she studies, she gave you bad advice. Daycares are not the place I would seek nutritional advice.

I wasn't commenting on your particular vet but on vets in general. I thought that was clear. I guess not.

It's cool that your vet supports raw feeding. It can be difficult to find a vet like that.
 
#8 ·
she did not give me bad advice, she told me about something that some dogs suffer from and told me i should look into it. so, unless you know my dog and my situation then you have no way to know (and no right to tell me) that i was given bad advice.
 
#9 ·
In time you will become more comfortable and confident with the diet and realize that the diet is the last place to look to for problems your dog has.
Yeah... that's about as far from the truth as possible.

Raw is nice, but it isn't the best for every dog. Been there, done that, and got off of it after my dogs liver went out of whack, and my other dogs epileptic seizures got 3x more severe and frequent. Once off raw, her seizures went back to once a month, instead of twice a week when she was on raw. It works for many dogs, but not EVERY dog, and it CAN cause health problems with some dogs.

Back on topic, Iorek, I have also heard of a zinc deficiency in my research with my foster dachshund's skin problems, and have heard of dogs being supplemented, per vets orders, with a zinc supplement. It's definitely one option to look into and talk to your vet about.
 
#11 ·
thanks guys!

i did talk to my vet about it and she recommended a multivitamin with zinc in it. she promotes home prepared diets (not kibble yay!!) and she said that a lot of people who feed this way also give a multivitamin. we are going to try this and see what happens. iorek does not seem to have scaly skin, but with his fur being as thick as it is you could never tell for sure!

Yeah... that's about as far from the truth as possible.
thank you! i know that some dogs just don't do well on raw, i have seen it myself. iorek is doing well, much better than on kibble, but i also know that if there is a problem with him i have to look in every possible place for a solution. iorek seems to have a few issues that my vet and i are trying to figure out and we haven't quite been able to find the answers yet. maybe the supplements will help, i hope they do. i know that a raw diet is not the be all and end all cure for everything!
 
#16 ·
there are no wounds to take pictures of. there is only nice, normal pink skin. you cannot comment on what might be causing it because you are disregarding a major part of what could be causing it. i am not saying his diet is deficient in zinc, but it is possible that his body is not absorbing it as well as it should. it is not going to heal up quickly since it has not healed yet and it has been this way since we got him. he was kibble fed then and then we switched to raw dec 20th. if anything it has gotten worse in the last month or more.

i started this thread to see if anyone on the board has had experience with this sort of thing.
 
#17 ·
One of my huskies had zinc deficiency they are prone to it as they find it hard to absorb it ,Kira had red raw hairless patches on her muzzel ,I gave her chelated zinc gluconate a small amount of kelp and a very small cube of liver until it cleared it took a while but its never came back:)
 
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