Soft, Flaking Nails in Dogs, Supplements that Help

 

Dogs can benefit from several nutrients to strengthen their nails:

1.       Feed well balanced diet including Omega 3 fatty acids. Sardines, salmon, fresh ground flax or hemp seed.

2.       Provide zinc in food: oysters, cod, tuna, beef liver, beef, lamb, peanuts, sesame seeds, alfalfa, celery, eggs & lima beans. If using zinc supplements, it’s easy to overdose and too much zinc interferes with absorption of other minerals your dog needs.

3.       Provide biotin, which is a B vitamin in food: green leafy veggies such as Swiss chard, peanuts, raw egg yolk, and liver.

4.       Give gelatin. Gelatin is the collagen from cattle, pigs, chickens and horses. It comes from their bones, organs, tracheas, skin & hooves. Or, give your dog bones, bovine tracheas, to chew.

5.       If giving whole foods, fish oils & ground flax has not improved your dog’s nails within 2-3 months, I recommend feeding more raw or home-cooked foods and add enzymes so the nutrients are optimally available.

6.       If whole foods and enzymes have not improved your pet’s nails, then consider supplements.  Omega 3 fatty acid from fish is given at 180 mg EPA/10 lb of body weight/day. Biotin supplementation is 25 mg/dog or about 5 mcg/kg/day. Zinc gluconate 5mg/kg daily or zinc methionine 4 mg/kg daily.

Keep your dog’s nails trimmed short as long nails may splinter. Easiest to trim nails after a bath when they’re soft. I recommend bathing dogs once a week and it’s easy to check their nails after the bath. Trimming once a month is usually enough and the front nails grow more quickly than do nails on rear feet. And yes, I really do recommend bathing dogs once a week.

If your dog has a good diet, short nails and the nails continue to split, have nails evaluated for fungal disease or lupus onchodystrophy.