Thinking About Replacing Bone With Eggshell Calcium

[lavishsqualor]

My two cats, Atticus and Thirteen, have been eating raw most of their lives. There was a short period when I fed them canned in the morning and then raw at night; however, for the last year or so it's been solely raw.

My female tuxedo Thirteen is prone to bouts of IBS and is incredibly picky. My male gray tabby, Atticus, is healthy as a horse and will eat ANYTHING. Both are two years old. Atticus weighs about eleven pounds and Thirteen about seven.

My raw recipe is one whole, skinned and gutted rabbit (no feet and no head) to equal parts boneless meat, plus, of course supplements. That boneless meat is usually rabbit but can also be chicken or turkey.

I am thinking about doing away with bone and using eggshell as my calcium source, and I'm looking for your thoughts on that. My primary motivation is that I'm fearful that my male cat, Atticus, will block. It's such a concern for me. I dilute his food so much now that it's more water than actual meat but he has no problem with it and laps it up. He pees like a grown man, but I still can't shake the fear. I guess it's because I've had kidney stones three times and I know how horrible it can be.

My other rationale is that because Thirteen has IBS I'm thinking that the lack of whole bone might be beneficial for her.

As sort of a litmus test for this change I've asked myself, "If the Feline Fairy Godmother offered me a lifetime supply of RadCat for both of my cats would I turn it down?" The answer is no, and RadCat uses solely egg shell calcium which is much lower in phosphorus.

Thoughts?

 

[orange&white]

As sort of a litmus test for this change I've asked myself, "If the Feline Fairy Godmother offered me a lifetime supply of RadCat for both of my cats would I turn it down?" The answer is no, and RadCat uses solely egg shell calcium which is much lower in phosphorus.

Thoughts?

I would also love for that whiskered godmother to pay me a RadCat visit, but apparently she doesn't hang out around my neighborhood!

You are losing some minerals by substituting eggshell, plus the blood and fat in the marrow for whatever those nutrients are worth. RadCat is adding powdered dulse, which would contain a lot of the minerals lost in the substitution.

 

[mschauer]

I use MCHA which is freeze dried bone. I've obtained a nutrient analysis if it from the manufacturer and that it shows bone contains only very low amounts of minerals other than calcium and phosphorous. Magnesium is present in a non-trivial amount but magnesium is present in non-trivial amounts in all of the animal parts we use in our recipes. None of my recipes comes up deficient in any mineral including magnesium if I use eggshell in place of MCHA. I do agree though that there could be nutrients in bone that might be beneficial. In fact that is why I use MCHA.

I also agree that it is probably better to not give bone to an IBD cat. Their GI tract is suffering enough without having to deal with pieces of bone.

According to the link below dulse contains a significant amount of iodine. If you use it be sure you don't end up with too much iodine in your finished food. Excess iodine in the diet has been associated with both hyper and hypo-thyroidism.

Nutritional Charts : Maine Coast Sea Vegetables, Sustainably Harvested and Certified Organic

 

[orange&white]

Yes, I was reading a few weeks ago that Dr. Becker with Mercola also recommends the MCHA (MicroCrystalline HydroxyApatite) for a calcium source. Since it is bone...you shouldn't be missing any nutrients and you could skip the dulse. It looks like Rad Cat is also using the dulse as an Omega-3 source. That's a good option.

 

[lavishsqualor]

Thank you both for the input!

Mschauer, I've just spent the last several hours reading Mickey's weight loss thread. Absolutely amazing.

And, orange&white, you made me realize how much of an Arkansas rube I still am. I had never heard of dulse before!