At least eleven minerals are present in a healthy dog’s body: Calcium, sodium chloride, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, zinc, potassium, and iodine.
Of many of these, only a trace in the yorkie’s daily meal is required and that trace is adequately found in meat, or in almost any other normal diet. There are a few that need to be remembered to add to your yorkie’s diet.
Sodium chloride (salt) is present in sufficient quantities in most meals, although, more to improve his food’s flavor than to contribute to the yorkie’s nutrition; a small amount of salt can be added to his meal.
The exact amount makes no material difference, since the unused portions are eliminated, largely in urine. If the brand of salt is iodized, it will meet the iodine requirements, which are very small. Iodine deficiency in dogs is rare; but food crops and meats grown in certain areas contain little or no iodine at all, and it is well to be on the safe side by using iodized salt.
A healthy dose of iron is usually found in meat and milk, but if the yorkie appears anemic or listless, the trace of iron needed can be supplied with one of the iron salts – ferrous sulfate, or oxide, or ferrous gluconate.
When more iron is ingested than can be utilized, it is stored in the dog’s liver. The liver of the new born yorkie puppy contains enough iron to supply antibodies up until weaning time. No iron is present in milk, which otherwise provides a completely balanced meal.
A diet with a reasonable content of red meat, especially of liver or kidney, is likely to be adequate in respect to its iron. However, yorkie bitches in whelp require more iron than any other dogs. It is recommended that the liver content of their diet be increased during pregnancy.
Calcium and phosphorus are the only minerals of which an insufficiency is a warranted source of anxiety. This may or may not be true of adult yorkies not employed for breeding purposes, but it does apply to yorkie bitches and to growing puppies.
If additional calcium is not supplied to a pregnant yorkie in her diet, she may not wholly provide her puppies their share of calcium.
Moreover, in giving birth to her puppies or shortly afterward, she is liable to go into eclampsia as a result of calcium deficiency.
