Minerals are essential nutrients needed by the body, and though they are present in natural food ingredients, supplementation of dog foods is usually required to meet the nutrient requirement standards developed by the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO). The following table lists mineral sources which are commonly found in dog foods. Foods high in each mineral are also listed.
| Mineral |
Mineral Supplement Sources |
Food Sources |
Comments |
| Calcium (without phosphorous) |
Calcium carbonate
Limestone |
Poultry by-product meal, lamb meal, fish meal |
|
| Calcium and phosphorus |
Curacao phosphate
Defluorinated phosphate
Dicalcium phosphate*
Mono and tricalcium phosphate
Soft rock |
Bone meal |
|
| Phosphorus |
Phosphoric acid
Sodium tripolyphosphate |
Meats, eggs, milk products |
|
| Magnesium |
Magnesium oxide
Magnesium sulfate |
Bone meal, lamb meal, oilseed/protein supplements, wheat and oat bran, beet pulp, soymill run |
|
| Potassium |
Potassium citrate
Potassium chloride
Potassium sulfate |
Soybean meal, unrefined grains, sunflower hulls, rice and wheat bran, soymill run, yeast |
|
| Sodium and chloride |
Sodium chloride (salt)
Sodium acetate
Sodium tripolyphosphate
Calcium chloride
Potassium chloride
Choline chloride |
Fish, eggs, dried whey, poultry by-product meal, soy isolate |
|
| Iron |
Ferrous sulfate
Ferric ammonium citrate
Ferrous fumarate
Ferric chloride
Ferrous carbonate
Ferric oxide
Ferrous oxide |
Meats, beet pulp, peanut hulls, soymill run, dicalcium phosphate* |
The iron in iron oxide is in a form that cannot be readily used by the body |
| Copper |
Cupric carbonate
Cupric chloride
Cupric hydroxide
Cupric oxide
Cupric sulfate |
Meat, especially liver |
Absorption decreased in the presence of calcium, zinc, iron, and phytate; the copper in copper oxide is in a form that cannot be readily used by the body |
| Manganese |
Manganese carbonate
Manganous chloride
Manganous oxide
Manganese sulfate
Manganous sulfate |
Sources of fiber, dicalcium phosphate* |
|
| Zinc |
Zinc carbonate
Zinc chloride
Zinc oxide
Zinc sulfate |
Meats, sources of fiber, dicalcium phosphate* |
Absorption decreased in the presence of calcium, phosphate, copper, iron, cadmium, chromium, and phytate |
| Iodine |
Calcium iodate
Potassium iodide
Cuprous iodide
Iodized salt |
Fish, eggs, iodized salt, poultry by-products |
|
| Selenium |
Sodium selenite
Sodium selenate |
|
The selenium in foods is in a form that cannot be readily used by the body; selenium supplementation in dog food is generally needed |
| * Dicalcium phosphate is derived from bones and contains minerals other than calcium and phosphorous |
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References and Further Reading
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Gross, KL; Wedekind, KJ; Cowell, CS; Schoenherr, WD; Jewell, DE; Zicker, SC, et. al. Nutrients. In Hand, MS; Thatcher, CD; Remillard, RL; Roudebush, P. (eds) Small Animal Clinical Nutrition. Mark Morris Institute. Topeka, KS; 2000.
National Research Council. Nutrient Requirements of Dogs. Washington, DC. National Academy of Sciences; 1986.
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