If you feed your cat on homemade foods, especially boneless meats, there is a chance that they are having more phosphorus while the available calcium may not be enough to meet this pet’s needs.
Calcium in cats has many vital roles including being part of bone and teeth structure, helping in nerve transmission, muscle functioning among other roles.
Furthermore, a deficiency is associated with several symptoms including muscle twitching, lethargy, panting, convulsions, stiffness, bone demineralization, bone loss (osteoporosis), lameness, lethargy, rickets (if there is no vitamin D, note that excess amounts will lead to vitamin D poisoning) among others.
Some of the ways of meeting your dog and cat’s calcium requirement is going for ground mineral limestone calcium carbonate, eggshell powder, a bone meal, or commercial calcium supplements for cats.
Why ground eggshells powder?
Eggshells have about 94-97% calcium carbonate that is easy to absorb making one eggshell to have about 750-800 mg. Additionally, it also has 27 other elements including iron, sulfur, copper, zinc, boron, magnesium, molybdenum, manganese among others.
According to the Feline Nutrition Foundation, “one teaspoon of eggshell powder contains about 1800 to 2200 mg of elemental calcium” and has low amounts of phosphorous.
Therefore, since it has a lesser amount of phosphorus, it is good for cats that have kidney issues as it won’t have to overwork it to get rid of the excess phosphorous and it makes it easy to balance these two minerals.
How to make eggshell powder
Instead of going for products such as Pet’s Friend Eggshellent Calcium available at amazon.com, you can make yours at home.
If you decide to make it at home, you deserve to know that the best source of eggshells should be from organically and naturally raised poultry as they will tend to have more nutrients and are safer.
Clean the egg using warm water. A dish rag will ensure all the dirt is removed before breaking and removing the egg. Do not remove the thin membrane on the inner side because it is nutrient-rich.
Since it is porous and often carries bacteria, put it in boiling for about two minutes to kill any bacteria. Also, you can consider using steam, and so on.
Ensure it completely dries. You can leave it overnight in the open on a clean surface or in a dehydrator. If you want, you can bake it for 10-15 minutes in your oven at temperatures of about 250-350 degrees F to make it dry and is more brittle.
The next step is grinding it thoroughly to avoid sharp edges that may cut your pet’s mouth. You can use a clean coffee grinder, mortar & pestle, your hands or rolling pin (but place it in a polythene bag or between papers).
Once ground, shifting will help remove any bigger pieces which you will afterward regrind.
Finally, store the ground eggshells in a jar with a lid and store it in a cool dry place preferably dark and ensure the powder is not exposed to moisture. Moisture can make molds to grow.
Serving it to your pet
The amount to give your pet will depend on the amount of meat your pet will be eating. Typical amounts are a teaspoon of the powder per one pound on meat and in that ratio.
For instance, if you are giving your cat half a pound of meat, half a teaspoon is enough to ensure this pet is not deficient in this vital mineral.