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Post by bluemoose on Feb 1, 2011 16:10:22 GMT -5
I know eggshells have tons of calcium so they're like bone in that respect but can you really use eggshell as a complete replacement for bone when feeding raw? I realize it's useful for making soup when transitioning a ferret to raw rather than grinding bones but shouldn't bone be fed eventually? Doesn't bone have nutrients not found in eggshell? I also realize the benefit of bone to clean teeth but speaking just from a nutrient standpoint.
My ferrets and cat only eat whole prey and the dog eats prey model but never ground. I used soup for transitioning Remy and Tonks to whole prey but I just ground up rats and mice for that so there was bone in it. So sorry for noobish question. I'm still learning the finer points of ground prey model.
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Post by kainslie1 on Feb 1, 2011 16:27:41 GMT -5
No, You can't replace egg shells for bone. Like you said egg shells are JUST calcium, where as bones have trace minerals, iron, magneseium, potassium ect.
It's good for a short term substitute, or when you are feeding boneless or organ meals (instead of whole prey) but long term you will have some missing minerals =[
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Post by Deleted on Feb 1, 2011 16:32:00 GMT -5
I want to say no to this - eggshell is not a completely adequate supplement for bone. Eggshell is 95% calcium carbonate. A normal bone contains calcium, phosphorus, magnesium and trace minerals like copper , manganese and zinc. I'm not sure the exact mineral composition of an eggshell, but I don't think it is identical to that of a chicken wing bone (for example).
Deficiencies take a while to take effect, so for the interm, I'm sure eggshell is a fine supplement. However, I don't believe it's 100% balanced.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 1, 2011 16:34:59 GMT -5
Haha Kainslie, we said almost the exact same thing Great minds think alike =)
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Post by bluemoose on Feb 1, 2011 16:35:21 GMT -5
That's what I thought. It just seems like eggshell is promoted as a bone substitute and I think we should be careful not to give people the wrong idea.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 1, 2011 16:35:41 GMT -5
I think a bone meal powder would probably be more balanced and complete.
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Post by Heather on Feb 1, 2011 16:42:33 GMT -5
No, egg shell and bones are not interchangeable. Egg shell is great when you're switching, you've got a meat that doesn't have a bone possibility (beef, venison and such) or you've got a sicky fuzz who's eating baby food (I usually opt to make my own and boil down the bones anyway rather than use egg shell) You're going to miss out on a lot of the trace minerals and fats that are available in bone. It's not just about the calcium. Does that make sense ciao
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Post by kainslie1 on Feb 1, 2011 16:44:06 GMT -5
Haha Kainslie, we said almost the exact same thing Great minds think alike =) Hah, Yeah!! Except your spelling was a little better, I went back and read mine.. d*mn. LOL
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Post by bluemoose on Feb 1, 2011 16:47:41 GMT -5
Yes, it makes sense. It's what I always assumed. I'm just saying from reading posts here, it often sounds like eggshell and bone are the same thing nutrition wise. I think we should be careful when advising people to ensure that they know eggshell should only be used in place of bone temporarily.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 1, 2011 16:55:38 GMT -5
I agree - while it's great for transitioning, it shouldn't be a long-term supplement/
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Post by Heather on Feb 1, 2011 17:05:04 GMT -5
As long as you remember that egg shell is a "component" of a diet and not the key component to get calcium and minerals into your fuzz then you should be ok. It's like saying don't feed chicken...that's not the correct statement. It should be don't feed "just" chicken. As long as one remembers that there are many components to make a good diet all should be fine. ciao
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Post by Deleted on Feb 1, 2011 19:54:59 GMT -5
So as long as the diet is balanced and they do get bone in meats it's ok to use eggshell in meats and soups that don't contain bone. It's good for the month or two in which your transitioning to raw using soups until they are eating the bone in meats or whole prey. right?
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Post by bluemoose on Feb 1, 2011 20:07:18 GMT -5
I understand that eggshell in and of itself isn't bad. And as was stated, deficiencies don't crop up overnight. I completely understand the usefulness of eggshell in the switching process.
My point was just that from what I've read, some posts outside this thread make it sound like eggshell IS bone for the purposes of nutrition. I suspected that this wasn't true so I wanted to check and point out that if I read the posts this way, other people might do the same. And while deficiencies take a long time to appear, they can and do happen when a diet isn't balanced correctly.
But maybe I'm just being weird.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 1, 2011 20:07:24 GMT -5
Yes =)
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Post by Deleted on Feb 1, 2011 20:14:53 GMT -5
Thanks... we were having a hard time with mil's cat before he passed and would refuse to eat anything that had bone in it, even if it was double ground almost soupy like texture so I told her to add eggshell to it because the ground without bone that he was eating was literally going straight through him...the eggshell helped make is poo's somewhat more formed...
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