Whole Dogg is a veterinary-nutritionist-formulated whole-foods blend of vitamins and minerals to balance healthy, homemade diets.
Commercial pet food products contain premixed nutritional supplementation to meet AAFCO nutritional guidelines, but homemade recipes require addition of essential nutrients to meet all of a cat or dog's requirements. Whole Dogg focuses on natural sources to balance these requirements and provide all of the essential nutrients a dog or cat needs to thrive while eating a fresh homemade diet.
Whole Dogg was formulated by a board-certified veterinary nutritionist, making it one of the very few supplements in North America, and the only one in Canada, formulated by a credentialed professional.
Here are all the nutrients Whole Dogg provides:
Amino acids:
Whole Dogg provides commonly limiting essential amino acids (methionine, tryptophan and lysine) to help complete proteins in fresh, homemade foods.
Fatty acids:
DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) is a long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid that is in the anti-inflamamtory omega-3 family. Although not considered essential for adult dogs and cats, DHA is essential to support healthy nerve and eye development in growing puppies and kittens. The DHA in Whole Dogg comes from marine microalgae, a natural, sustainable resource.
Macrominerals:
Calcium and phosphorus are essential for bone health and development, as well as electrolyte balance and essential body functions. Potassium is the main electrolyte in the body and is in high demand in canine and feline nutritional requirements. Whole Dogg sources calcium from a natural mineral-accumulating seaweed while phosphorus is provided in mineral form and potassium as an organic salt.
Microminerals:
Iron, copper, manganese, and zinc are essential trace elements with critical bodily functions including production of red blood cells, maintenance of connective tissues and immune support. In Whole Dogg, these are all naturally derived organic compounds from fruit and vegetable extracts, making them highly bioavailable to the canine and feline body. Iodine plays a critical role in the creation of thyroid hormone and is provided naturally from kelp, while selenium is a major antioxidant component in the body and included in Whole Dogg naturally as a highly digestible purpose-cultured yeast.
Fat-soluble vitamins:
Vitamin A, vitamin D and vitamin E are all sourced from fruit and vegetable (and mushroom, in the case of vitamin D) extracts. Vitamin A is critical in the development and maintenance of vision, vitamin D plays an essential role in bone mineralization and mineral balance, while vitamin E is a natural antioxidant that helps protect tissues throughout the body.
Water-soluble vitamins:
The B vitamins (B1 - thiamin, B2 - riboflavin, B3 - niacin, B5 - pantothenic acid, B6 - pyridoxine, B-9 - folate, and B12 - cobalamin) are critical components of many processes throughout the body, most notable regarding energy metabolism. Whole Dogg provides all the B vitamins from natural, plant-based (and mushroom) extracts. Choline is another water-soluble vitamin-like nutrient, essential for metabolism of fatty acids. Whole Dogg provides choline in an easy-to-digest water-soluble salt.
Taurine and carnitine:
Although often lumped together with amino acids, taurine and carnitine are not strictly amino acids but are amino acid metabolites. For cats, taurine is a dietarily essential nutrient, while for dogs it is not. Carnitine is not dietarily essential for either animal, but works synergistically with taurine to help promote heart health and function. Both of these nutrients are added to Whole Dogg in order to not only meet feline needs but also promote and protect heart health in both dogs and cats.
Who is Whole Dogg for?
As a natural, whole-foods focused supplement, Whole Dogg provides highly-bioavailable plant-based sources of essential nutrients. This makes it a good hypoallergenic option as it contains no animal products that dogs and cats with allergies or sensitivities might react to. Using natural sources of nutrients also means that Whole Dogg's aroma is more gentle than the sometimes strong, unpleasant smell of synthetic vitamins. Whole Dogg's aroma is natural, seaweed-like odour predominantly from the calciferous seaweed and microlagae ingredients. This can help with acceptance from some dogs and cats who may be more discerning and prefer to avoid concentrated vitamins and minerals.
If you're not sure if Whole Dogg is right for your pet, please reach out to our team at info@wholedogg.com and our veterinary nutritionist will answer your questions!