Diet and dog characteristics affect major and trace elements in hair and blood of healthy dogs

Abstract

Obtaining correct amounts of essential elements, and avoiding toxic metals are key factors in dog health. Through analyzing major and trace elements in hair and blood of 50 healthy companion dogs using ICP-MS, we study their associations with dog characteristics and diet, hypothesizing that eating the same diet long-term results in strong correlations between hair and blood element concentrations, and that dog characteristics and diet affect element status. The correlation between hair and blood was significant for Hg (R = 0.601, p = 0.000) and Pb (R = 0.384, p = 0.010). The following associations were significant (p < 0.05): Dark hair had higher Ca and Mg compared to light hair. Females had higher hair Zn, blood Mn, and blood As compared to males. Blood Mn and Se increased, while blood Pb decreased with age. Raw diet fed dogs had higher hair Zn and Se compared to dry or mixed diet fed dogs, and lower blood Mn compared to dry diet fed dogs. Dry and mixed diet fed dogs had higher blood Cd compared to raw diet fed dogs. Mixed diet fed dogs had higher hair Ca and Mg compared to raw or dry diet fed dogs, and higher hair Pb compared to dry diet fed dogs. Wild game consumption was associated with higher blood Pb, and rice consumption with higher blood As. In conclusion, hair provides an alternative for assessing Hg and Pb exposure, and major and trace elements status is affected by hair color, sex, age, and diet.

Whole blood trace element and toxic metal concentration in dogs with idiopathic epilepsy and healthy dogs: A case-control study

“…Unfortunately, reference values for blood Cu in dogs have not been established. However, the mean blood Se concentration of the epileptic dogs in the current study (511.95 ng/g) was higher than that reported in our previous study on 50 healthy dogs (483.79 ng/g) ( 25 ) and in another study by Panda et al ( 30 ) (480 ng/g), although none of the epileptic dogs had Cu concentrations that were outside the range that were reported in these two studies. Our study also found that the Cu/Zn ratio, which in humans has been regarded as clinically more important than the concentrations of Cu or Zn alone ( 31 ), was significantly higher in epileptic compared to healthy dogs, which is consistent with what has been reported in serum of children with idiopathic seizures ( 28 ).…”

“…However, the mean blood Se concentration in epileptic dogs in the current study (488.53 ng/g) is clearly higher than that reported in our previous study on 50 clinically healthy dogs (388.14 ng/g). Twelve out of the 19 epileptic dogs also had blood Se concentrations that were higher than the maximum concentration reported in that study ( 25 ). As dogs commonly eat commercial diets with added Se, they are very unlikely to become deficient.…”

“… * Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level, ** at the 0.01 level and, *** at the 0.001 level (all 2-tailed). a Rosendahl et al ( 25 ), mean± SD (min-max). …”

“…Dogs older than 3 years of age that had no current or previous signs of epilepsy or other neurological disease and unremarkable clinical examination, complete blood count, and serum biochemistry profile served as controls. These dogs were from our previous study on hair and blood elements in healthy dogs where we recruited equal numbers of dogs eating dry and raw food to study the effect of diet on trace element status ( 25 ). Therefore, the raw fed dogs were excluded from both groups in this study.…”

Mineral and heavy metal content in dry dog foods with different main animal components

“…Thus, the mineral content of dog food needs to be frequently monitored 5 . Long-term use of the same diet results in correlations between the concentrations of the elements in the blood and in the hair coat 6 . Dark hair contains more Ca and Mg compared to fair hair.…”