There is a lot of ignorance about thyroid problems in dogs or about iodine, which is mostly collected on the web. To explain: The most common malfunction is hypofunction, hypothyroidism.
Types of hypothyroidism:
- Primary hypothyroidism: Destruction or atrophy of thyroid tissue
- secondary hypothyroidism: destruction, malformation or suppression of the pituitary gland
- tertiary hypothyroidism: malformation or acquired damage to the hypothalamus
- Congenital hypothyroidism: congenital defect associated, for example, with a disorder of iodine uptake or iodine utilization
An over- or undersupply of iodine can only affect the thyroid gland in the case of long-term and excessive intake. The main cause of iodine oversupply is often the long-term feeding of industrially produced dry or wet food. Unfortunately, over 90% of all dog foods contain artificial vitamins and minerals in often far too high amounts, which can be found as additives or under the label “nutritional additives”, including iodine. These are often used to compensate for the poor nutritional quality of the food in order to make the product still sellable. In addition, many ready-to-eat foods contain preservatives, attractants and other additives, not all of which need to be declared. This applies to 98% of all dry food, which is basically not suitable for dogs. Dry food was invented by the feed industry in the post-war period and is still advertised as “healthy” with a lot of money.
Many people like it convenient and easy and that is why dry food has persisted until today. Unfortunately, the ignorance of dog owners, false promises of the manufacturers, advertising and little regulation support this trend. If you inform yourself, you will learn that dry food, but also many wet foods, are unhealthy for your dog. For example, a high quality food does not need any additives, a little vitamin D is fine, but that’s it.
You can use WHITE dental plus without hesitation because it has a low iodine content of 120mg/kg. One scoop contains only 0.75 grams and you should feed one scoop daily for every 10 kg of dog weight. For very small dogs around 2 kg, it is sufficient to add one scoop to the food every other day. WHITE dental plus is a popular BARF ingredient and is safe for the time of treatment if fed in a species-appropriate and high-quality diet. However, as we don’t know what else you feed your dog and many dog owners are unfortunately not sufficiently informed, we recommend that you carry out the treatment in stages and take a break of 2 weeks after every 6 to 8 weeks. If you offer your dog a sensible diet, this recommendation does not apply, as iodine is vital for the dog.
If your dog already suffers from a thyroid dysfunction, this does not automatically mean that he has to do without iodine. However, the amount is crucial. Please ask your vet, who ideally has completed additional training as a nutritionist. This additional training is usually not part of the veterinary degree. If your vet does not have this qualification, please consult another vet or a veterinary practitioner. However, we would like to point out that WHITE dental plus is not suitable for dogs with a thyroid disease until this has been clarified with a veterinarian.
