Bone meal for dogs is packed with calcium, phosphorous, protein and minerals that dogs need for good health. Bone meal is made from the crushed bones and hooves of animals that have been slaughtered for food or other commercial uses. Adding bone meal to your dog's food supports his digestion, and helps keep him healthy.
What Bone Meal Is
Bone meal is made from the bones and hooves of slaughtered cattle and other animals. It's used in fertilizers, animal feed, adhesives like glue and gelatin.
Once upon a time, bone meal was widely used in the animal feed industry, and as a human nutritional supplement, until fears of bovine spongiform encephalitis (mad cow disease) stopped its widespread use in most large animal feeds and human dietary supplements. Dogs, however, aren't susceptible to mad cow disease, which means that your dog can safely eat bone meal and enjoy its benefits.
Benefits of Bone Meal for Dogs
Bone meal contains many nutrient minerals, including phosphorous, which can help your dog's body to better absorb other nutrients and aid digestion. Bone meal can help soothe difficult digestion in dogs with flatulence and diarrhea. It also contains calcium, which your dog needs for strong bones and teeth. In addition to minerals, bone meal contains a rich supply of fat and protein. You can mix bone meal into your dog's food as a beneficial dietary supplement.
Choose Bone Meal for Your Dog
Don't buy bone meal from the home and garden department. These bone meals contain toxic fertilizers which can poison your dog. Feed stores and pet stores carry bone meal that's intended for consumption by animals. Avoid bone meals that contain added vitamin D.
Making Bone Meal for Your Dog
If you have some extra time and want to save money, you can make your own bone meal for dogs at home. Poultry bones are a good choice, since they splinter and break easily. You've probably heard that you're not supposed to give chicken or other poultry bones to your dog; that's because they could easily splinter, injuring his digestive tract. If the bones are already ground up into bone meal, you don't have to worry about this.
To make bone meal at home, save the cooked bones from your chicken or turkey dinner. Chop them into small pieces while they are still soft and moist; this will make them easier to grind up. Dry the bones thoroughly before grinding them to powder in a spice grinder.
You don't have to use leftover bones from your meal. Procure beef and other bones from your local supermarket's butcher, and then follow the same process. Boil or steam raw bones to soften them before you cut them into smaller pieces.
If you don't want to be bothered grinding up bones, then simply boil them for several hours to extract all the nutrients. You can then feed your dog this liquid in the place of bone meal.