In order to stay healthy, dogs need to get 5 nutrients from their food, as a dog lover, please pay attention to the following 5 ingredients in your dog's food:

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Vitamins

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Minerals

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Fats

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p> Carbohydrates

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Proteins

Vitamins serve to protect vision, promote bone growth and metabolism.

Vitamins are indispensable in the whole process of metabolism, because they are the most important "biological" catalysts of chemical changes in living organisms.

Vitamins are divided into water-soluble and oil-soluble, of course, they have different roles. For example, if a dog's paw is injured and bleeding profusely, some vitamins can stop the bleeding, while others can help the wound to heal. So how much vitamin does a dog need? Generally speaking, the amount of vitamins in marketed dog food is sufficient to meet a dog's vitamin needs. Please note: Do not add vitamins to your dog's food as they can be counterproductive.

The role of minerals is to protect bones and teeth.

Minerals play an equally important role in the metabolic process. It is an important part of fermentation enzymes and blood cells, and is not only responsible for the transmission of external stimuli to the nervous system, but the calcium and phosphorus in them help promote strong bones and teeth.

The amount of minerals in commercially available dog foods is adequate to meet the mineral needs of dogs, so please be aware that too many and too few minerals are not good for your dog's health.

Fat is used to store energy and to keep the skin smooth and the coat healthy.

Fats consist of fatty acids and glycerol. Since dogs cannot produce fatty acids on their own, it is important to get them from food. Fat is a highly valued source of energy, it absorbs oil-soluble vitamins, and it also adds flavor to food. In addition, it is important for the health of the dog's immune system and skin to get enough oil-soluble vitamins and fats from the dog food.

Carbohydrates serve to store energy and promote digestion.

Carbohydrates include monosaccharides, disaccharides, polysaccharides, and plant-based tissue matrices such as cellulose and lignin (texture). Polysaccharides are made up of sugar molecules that can be broken down quickly into useful energy. Plant-based tissue substrates are important for the flora of the intestine and for the health of the colonic mucosa.

Proteins serve to promote growth and development and strengthen connective tissue.

Proteins are made up of many amino acid molecules that metabolize matter to produce the proteins the body needs. Amino acids are extremely important for developing puppies, as well as for bitches during pregnancy and lactation. Amino acids not only promote tendons and muscles, but they are converted into fermentable enzymes and hormones that the body needs. If a dog does not get enough protein, or if the quality of the protein is low, it can result in deficiencies that can cause the dog's body to become lethargic. Of course too much protein is equally undesirable.

Dog Master 2006-06-18 18:38

(a) Water

-- Water is one of the nutrients for dogs. Adult dog carcass contains about 60% of water, the proportion of puppies is higher. All physiological activities in the body and the metabolism of various substances must have the participation of water in order to carry out smoothly. If the cells and tissues constitute the body due to the absorption of a large number of water, in order to have a certain form, hardness and elasticity; nutrient absorption and transportation, metabolism product discharge, need to be dissolved in the water to be carried out; water has a high specific heat, and therefore absorb more heat, the body metabolism process heat, through the water to the skin or the lungs to disseminate, with the role of regulating the temperature, and so on. And there is no special ability to store water in the dog's body, water loss will cause death faster than fasting can. When the water in the dog's body is reduced by 8%, severe thirst will occur, appetite is reduced, digestion is slowed down, and resistance to infectious diseases is lowered due to the dryness of the mucous membranes. Prolonged under-watering will result in thickening of the blood, causing circulatory disorders. When 20% of body weight is depleted due to but water, death may result. Therefore, dogs must be provided with sufficient water. Under normal conditions, adult dogs need about 100 milliliters of water per kilogram of body weight per day, and puppies need 150 milliliters of water per kilogram of body weight per day. The amount of water consumed should be increased during the hot season, after exercise or when feeding drier feeds. In practice, water can be supplied throughout the day and can be drunk freely.

(B) protein

-- Protein is the basis of the dog's life activities, is the body in addition to the water content of the most material, accounting for about half of the dog's dry weight. Various tissues and organs in the body, involved in the material metabolism of various enzymes, so that the body is free from disease, such as antibodies are composed of protein. In the repair of trauma, replacement of aging, damaged cells and tissues, also need protein. Therefore, protein is the most important nutrient for dogs. The basic substances that make up protein are amino acids, of which there are about 20 kinds. Proteins in feed must be degraded into amino acids before they can be absorbed and utilized by the body. Amino acids can be divided into essential amino acids and non-essential amino acids. Essential amino acids are amino acids that cannot be synthesized in the body or the synthesis speed is slow and the amount of synthesis cannot meet the growth needs and must be supplied by the food. There are 9 essential amino acids in dogs. Non-essential amino acids are amino acids that can be synthesized in the body to meet the needs of the dog, but do not necessarily have to be added to the feed. However, non-essential amino acids are converted from other amino acids, if there is a lack of non-essential amino acids in the feed, it is necessary to synthesize them with essential amino acids, which increases the consumption and demand of essential amino acids, so the importance of non-essential amino acids should not be taken lightly. Evaluation of feed protein should not only look at its quantity, but also look at the composition of various amino acids. Insufficient supply of protein or certain essential amino acids will make the protein metabolism in the dog become negatively balanced, resulting in decreased appetite, slow growth, weight loss, reduced protein content in the blood, the formation of antibodies is affected, so that immunity is reduced. In male dogs, semen quality decreases and sperm count decreases. Female dogs have abnormal oestrus and do not conceive, and even if they do conceive, the fetus is often stillborn or teratogenic due to poor development. However, overfeeding protein not only causes waste, but also causes metabolic disorders in the body, so that the heart, liver, digestive tract, central nervous system dysfunction, sexual function decline, and in severe cases, acidosis. In general, adult dogs need about 48 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day, while the growth period of puppies need about 9.6 grams.

(C) fat

-- Fat is one of the important sources of energy required by the body. Each gram of fat, when fully oxidized, produces 39.3 kilojoules of calories, which is higher than both carbohydrates and proteins. The amount of fat in a dog's body is about 10-20% of its body weight. Fat is also the main component of the composition of cells and tissues, and is a solvent for fat-soluble vitamins, promoting the absorption and utilization of vitamins, stored in the subcutaneous fat layer has a thermal insulation effect. Fat into the body gradually degraded to fatty acids and absorbed by the body. Most of the fatty acids can be synthesized in the body, but some fatty acids can not be synthesized in the body or synthesis of insufficient, must be supplemented from the food, known as essential fatty acids, such as linoleic acid, arachidonic acid, etc.. When the lack of feed, can cause serious digestive disorders, as well as central nervous system dysfunction, lethargy and weakness, rough coat, lack of libido, testicular dysplasia or female dogs in heat abnormalities and other phenomena. But too much fat storage, will cause fat, will also affect the normal physiological functions of the dog, especially on the reproductive activities of the greatest impact. Puppies daily fat 1.1 grams per kilogram of body weight, adult dogs daily fat according to the feed dry matter, to contain 12 ~ 14% appropriate.

(D) carbohydrates

-- carbohydrates in the body is mainly used to supply heat, maintain body temperature, as well as a variety of organ activity and exercise in the source of energy. Excess carbohydrates can be converted to fat and stored in the body. When a dog is low on carbohydrates, body fat or even protein is used to supply calories. As a result, the dog will lose weight and will not be able to grow and reproduce properly. Adult dogs need daily carbohydrates can account for 75% of the feed, puppies need daily carbohydrates for about 17.6 grams per kilogram of body weight.

(E) vitamins

-- Vitamins are indispensable nutrients for the growth and health of animals, although the amount is very small, but it is responsible for regulating the physiological functions of the important role. Vitamins enhance the function of the nervous system, blood vessels, muscles and other systems, and are involved in the composition of enzyme systems. If deficiencies occur, essential enzymes cannot be synthesized in the body, thus disrupting the entire metabolic process, and the dog will fail and die. Hypervitaminosis can also occur when there is too much vitamin in the feed. Dogs can only synthesize a small portion of vitamins, most of the vitamins need to be obtained from the feed There are many types of vitamins, which can be divided into two categories according to their solubility. Vitamins that can be dissolved in water are called water-soluble vitamins, including B vitamins, choline, inositol, vitamin C and so on. Vitamins that are soluble in fat are called fat-soluble vitamins, including vitamin A, vitamin D, vitamin E, and vitamin K. Vitamins that are soluble in fat are called fat-soluble vitamins. Water-soluble vitamins generally do not occur overdose, even if excessive intake, the excess will be quickly excreted; while fat-soluble vitamins, except vitamin E, are more likely to occur overdose. Therefore, when matching the feed, we should pay special attention to the supply of fat-soluble vitamins.

(F) inorganic salts

-- Inorganic salts do not produce energy, but they are the animal body tissues and cells, especially the main components of the bone road, is to maintain the acid-base balance and osmotic pressure of the basic substances, and is also the main ingredient of many enzymes, hormones and vitamins in the promotion of metabolism, blood coagulation. Nerve regulation and maintain the normal activity of the heart, have an important role. The main inorganic salts needed by dogs are: calcium, phosphorus, iron, copper, cobalt, potassium, sodium, chlorine, iodine, zinc, magnesium, manganese, sunlight, fluorine and so on. If the supply of inorganic salts is insufficient, it will cause a variety of diseases such as stunting, and some serious lack of inorganic salts will directly lead to death.