First off, what is iodine & why should I care about it? Iodine is a trace mineral, it is essential & necessary for many functions in the body but most notably the thyroid. Iodine is essential for healthy thyroid function. Low levels can even contribute to behavioral issues like sudden aggression. Here's the thing though, too little iodine in the diet...causes problems. Too much iodine in the diet...again, causes problems. Both scenarios will likely lead to thyroid gland disfunction. If you feed a commercial diet (kibble/canned), then iodine has likely been added in sufficient amounts in the form of : potassium iodide, potassium iodate, sodium iodide, or calcium iodide,. Do not add more.
Here's the deal. MOST homemade diets are low in iodine if specific foods are not fed to include iodine. For example if you feed a strict prey model diet (80/10/5/5) with nothing else added, your probably, no, your going to be low. The exception is if you feed whole prey, meaning you feed whole animals in their entirety. If you are regularly feeding whole prey to your dog/cat then iodine isn't going to be an issue....it's in there! Not surprisingly, the thyroid gland in an animal is rich with, you guessed it, iodine! Now understandably most people aren't doing this. So, if you don't feed whole animals where can you get iodine in adequate amounts into your diet? The most iodine rich foods come from the sea. Seaweeds, fish, shrimp & oysters are good sources. Also a large chicken egg contains somewhere around 24mcg, actual amount is of course dependent on the hens diet. Now things like shrimp aren't going to hurt your pet if they eat them but it's not something you want included regularly or in the daily diet. Fish, well the amounts can vary quite a bit and well there are a lot of factors...is the fish whole? Is it an iodine rich species such as cod which contains 90mcg in a 3oz portion. With fish it can turn into a bit of a guessing game. Don't get me wrong you should feed fish, just don't rely on it solely for iodine. So what's left & easy.....seaweed. Seaweed, specifically Kelp! Kelp is the food where we can turn to easily & naturally meet iodine needs. Kelp is a large brown seaweed that is most notably rich in iodine. (Side note: Do NOT add kelp if your pet knowingly suffers with thyroid problems, consult a holistic vet.) You can easily add kelp to your homemade diets with the use of a quality, measurable kelp powder. Now, if your wondering how do you know what your dogs iodine requirement is? Do a quick math calculation once & then write the number down so you don't have to do it again: You take your dogs weight in kilograms to the power of .75 (the ^ button on your calculator), this number is your dogs metabolic weight. Now you multiply this number by 29.6. The result is your individual dogs iodine needs. Or if you prefer based on calories: Recommended allowance per 1000kcal is as follows: Adult dog & puppies: 220mcg Adult cat: 350mcg Kitten: 450mcg FYI: The Now brand I have recommended is 450mcg in one scoop. Now this is important. Don't assume your diet has zero iodine in it, as discussed earlier foods like fish & eggs have measurable amounts and meat has some (very minimal), so take this into consideration when dosing kelp. For example if your dogs requirement is 300mcg iodine you don't need to feed this all in kelp if the meal has oysters or fish & egg in it. Just scale the amount back a bit. Your better off to not over do it! As important as fulfilling nutritional needs is don't let it become too technical, or stressful. Nothing in nature needs "perfect" measurable amounts of anything in every meal of every day. It just doesn't work like that, despite what some people will lead you to believe. Having the knowledge to know where & what may be coming up short in your dog or cats diet gives you the power to intelligently make some additions or changes in how you feed. Ultimately giving them a better shot at longer, healthier lives with you! Sources: NRC Nutrient Requirements of Dogs and Cats 2006 USDA database food search , FDA.gov tyroid/safety
8 Comments
A
3/6/2019 12:57:33 pm
Great article! I bought the kelp you linked and was wondering how you measure the kelp? My cats would need between a fifth to a seventh of a scoop per day but the scoop is already so tiny I have no idea how I would measure such a small amount. Maybe use a mg scale?
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3/6/2019 03:47:19 pm
Hi, Thank you! So if you portion out meals daily & are trying to add kelp to this, that scoop is very tiny so its nearly impossible to add the exact amount daily to meals. What I do with my cats when I am not adding it to a batch recipe, is if 1/7 of the scoop is the daily requirement, that makes the full scoop your weekly requirement. So it is perfectly fine to add half a scoop 2 times a week. Hope that helps.
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Cassidie Wunsche
12/2/2020 05:45:29 pm
How did you calculate your cats daily intake? Is it the formal above = daily intake ?
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7/11/2020 07:05:52 am
Thank you very much for sharing about thanks giving day globble globble puppies like Turkey too, it’s difficult for me to get such kind of information most of the time always… I really hope I can work on your tips and it works for me too, I am happy to come across your article.
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Cassidie Wunsche
12/2/2020 05:44:12 pm
Hi! Thanks for the informative article! I’m looking at a kelp supplement on amazon now for my kitten. She 8lb and I’m confused as to how to get her daily intake. It’s 425mcg per 1000kcal for a kitten , but I’m not sure how how to measure kcals or every what that is 🤣 I need help!
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Hope
8/3/2021 02:45:30 pm
Hi! Is the number I calculated based off my dogs weight the daily amount he needs or the weekly? For example, the number I got after I completed the formula was 18757. Would that number be in grams or mcg? Thank you!
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Samantha Tello
11/30/2021 06:36:32 pm
Is the calculated amount the daily intake then?
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AuthorErin Christy Archives
December 2019
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