# Zinc supplement dose recommended by veterinarian - can anyone confirm?



## Wolfgeist (Dec 4, 2010)

I called my veterinarian this morning to get information on a recommended dose of zinc to supplement - Hunter is showing signs of low zinc. 

The supplement I have is zinc gluconate, 25mg. I was told to supplement as follows: 5mg per kg once a day. Hunter is 78lbs, so that is approximately 175 mg of zinc a day. 



Veterinarian told me to give the supplement with food due to the protein binding need of zinc. 



I am nervous about giving to much zinc, anyone have any opinions on this?


Thanks. :3


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## Elaine (Sep 10, 2006)

Seriously, you should only supplement the amount that isn't supplied in the diet. Too much Zn is bad as it can affect the absorption of other minerals. Too little also affects the absorption of other minerals and amongst other things, causes skin problems. 

My little guy just switched to an adult diet and is now getting 2.5 mg Zn daily, down from 47 mg on his puppy diet, and my big boys are getting 5mg daily.

I do give all my supplements with meals, partly so I remember to give them, and partly as most supplements are absorbed better with food.


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## kiya (May 3, 2010)

Can I ask why you want to give zinc?
I read an article, it was a while ago and I don't remember if it was related to seizures but it indicated a zinc deficiency, I even picked some up but my vet strongly advised against it.


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## Elaine (Sep 10, 2006)

Yes, why are you so interested in supplementing with Zn? Of all the minerals to choose from, why Zn?

This forum has got to be one of the worst places to go for nutritional info anyway. If you want actual nutritional info, you should go to K9Kitchen : dog diets raw cooked allergies disease

You can't get generic diets or random amounts of Zn to give, but you can learn how to formulate your own diet correctly - here's a hint, there's no percentage based diets there. You can get all kinds of real nutritional info there if that's what you really want.


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