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Location: Larnaka, Cyprus
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 14,788
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If they are not sure what it is, I'd have thought they would take some samples, swabs or whatever to try to find out? If it were my dog I couldn't agree it 'wasn't bad enough to treat' - I am just wondering how bad it would have to get for them to consider it WAS bad enough to require some treatment?
Very interesting what SB said about the Zinc Deficiency in sled dogs. I'd never heard about it and am just looking it up.
It is believed to commonly affect huskies and northern breeds of dog because they evolved to survive on diets containing lots of fish and sea-creatures. The flesh of these animals would have been particularly high in naturally digestible forms of zinc (and also vitamin A which is important for zinc absorption)). Often the diets we feed or huskies and sled dogs do not provide enough zinc, or provide it in forms that are difficult to digest.
Obviously you have to find out what is causing this but, I was just wondering (and maybe SB knows) whether it would be harmful to give a Zinc supplement anyway?