Should I add Zinc and Magnesium?

Question
Hi. My 12-year old Brittany is on a mostly homemade diet. He had a complete blood panel done which showed all values were within the reference range. Here are my questions:

- Magnesium is 1.7 on a scale of 1.5-2.5. Should I supplement? I bought 170 mg. Magnesium Citrate caps, but haven't used them yet.

- Amylase is 425 out of 290-1125 and Lipase is 171 out of 77-695. Should I introduce digestive enzymes?

- How does one know if Zinc should be added to the diet? He's 40 lbs. and gets 8 oz. daily of venison, bison, turkey, cod or halibut. He also gets a veggie mix, sweet or white potato, canned pumpkin and 1 tbsp raw beets (keepin' his liver healthy) with each homemade meal. On the few mornings that he gets 1/2 cup kibble (Wellness or Acana) with canned, I reduce the protein to 4 oz. for the evening meal. I also give 1 kangaroo treat per day which has 180mg/kg min of Zinc proteinate. Should I add the 10 mg Zinc Gluconate tablets that I have?

- Thyroid is 1.8 out of 1.0-4.0. Should I increase a little by adding kelp? I currently rotate spirulina with yaeyama chlorella on alternating days.

Thank you!


Answer
Hi Darlene,

The way in which a nutritionist ascertains what to add to a diet, starts off with assessing your individual dog's actual requirements, and settling on goal numbers for each one.
Next, based on multiple factors but starting with body weight, we make up a spreadsheet with nutrient goals. Then we use foods in specific combinations to fulfil these goals - some are easily met dietarily while others - like zinc - are much harder to get the full amount daily. In additions, many nutrients need ot be baalnced in relationship with one another - so you see where I'm going with this.
Anything I tell you based on the numbers here is only going to be guesswork. I don't have any idea how much of these nutrients your dog is getting to start with.

I can help you with this in two ways.

1) you can join my yahoogroup which has a free tutorial, step-by-step methodd oin our Files, and we can help you work through the numbers and the balancing fo the diet on your onw.

The URL is http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ThePossibleCanine-Nutrition

2) you can look over my website and see if any of my services are interesting for you. For example, I can analyze the diet you are using now and make suggestions for improvement - or, I can formulate a diet plan tailored to your individual, including supplements for required nutrients and additional support for overall wellbeing.
www.thepossiblecanine.com


I can't really suggest adding iodine, zinc etc willy-nilly to a diet that is already clearly not balanced, it may do more harm than good.

Feel free to join the yahoogroup and start feeling your way aorund the Files, that can work for many who have the time and inclination to learn how to do it. For others, there's always me. :)
All the best, Catherine