Can dogs eat salt?
Dogs can eat salt in moderation. Any living thing needs to consume salt because salt is actually meant to provide living things with sodium chloride, and a lack of sodium chloride can lead to problems with nerve conduction in living things, muscle weakness, and so on.
Dogs don’t lose hair when they eat salt in moderation
Dogs eat salt as long as the amount of control, does not lead to hair loss, on the contrary, if the dog body lacks salt, there will be easy to fatigue and easy to cause growth stagnation, the skin is more likely to be dry, loss of appetite, neurological decline and other symptoms, long-term do not eat salt of the dog’s hair will become glossy, easy to fall off. Therefore, the dog is not unable to eat salt, but can not eat a lot of salt.
The Benefits of Salt for Dogs in Moderation
1, salt can stimulate salivary secretion, promote the role of other digestive enzymes, but also improve the flavor of the feed, promote appetite. So almost all dog food manufacturers will choose to add appropriate salt in the production. If the dog food salt is very high will lead to a lot of problems with the dog, so the dog food is best to choose a low-salt formula of dog food.
2, salt can maintain the physiological function of the dog, to maintain electrolyte balance. This is not only because salt contains sodium chloride, a small amount of iodine, calcium and some trace elements, and salt can also produce a slight stimulation of the gastrointestinal mucosa, with an increase in the secretion of gastric acid and enhance the role of digestion.
3, the intake of salt can help the dog to absorb a small amount of magnesium and calcium, these are essential nutrients in the dog’s body.
How much salt is appropriate for dogs
Usually, the amount of salt needed by dogs is about one-fifth of the amount needed by the human body. According to authoritative data, the amount of salt intake into the body of the dog should be 0.4-0.7mg/kg/day (i.e., according to the weight of one kilogram of the dog, the daily intake should be 0.4-0.7mg), and if the long-term consumption of dog food is the mainstay of the dog’s diet, because the food itself already contains an appropriate amount of salt, there is no need for additional supplementation of salt.
Adverse consequences of too much salt in dogs
1. Feeding too salty food for a long period of time will damage your dog’s stomach and kidneys and affect your dog’s health.
2, excessive intake of salt may cause dog skin disease.
3, excessive salt but insufficient hydration will cause salt poisoning in dogs.
4. Too much salt intake may cause your dog to lose hair.
5, too much salt in the body will lead to excessive water intake, causing dysentery, nephritis and hypertension and other diseases.