A mineral deficiency found to contribute to canine hip dysplasia?

Insufficient selenium intake can cause serious health problems, including Kashin-Beck disease, which is characterized by the degeneration of the articular cartilage between joints, thyroid disease and a variety of cancers.

We've read unpublished, yet well researched, reports linking selenium deficiency with hip dysplasia.

There is a wealth of data about farm animals which shows organic forms of selenium (selenomethionine) outperform sodium selenite.

One of the reasons for this is that natural forms of selenium can be stored in the body for later use, while selenite cannot.

Perhaps some dogs are not able to sufficiently use the inorganic forms of selenium found in most dry dog foods.

Therefore if your dog was unable to fully utilize sodium selenite, her puppies would be more likely to have joint problems.

Pottenger's classic study with cats shows that problems due to nutrient deficiency get worse with each generation.

Is the source of the selenium used in most dry dog foods one of the reasons many dogs, purebred and mixed-breed, have hip problems?

It may be one of the nutritional causes.

It's easy to correct this situation.

Whether you're feeding dry, canned, or the best frozen raw diets, you can easily ensure that your dog is getting enough selenium by adding Brazil nuts.

The selenium in broccoli and other vegetables will vary according to the amount of selenium in the soils.

Brazil nuts, on the other hand, are a reliable source of selenium. Of course, the fresher the nut, the better.

In our home tests with our dogs, freshly shelled Brazil nuts won over shelled nuts bought at natural food markets, in both flavor and fragrance.

We recommend that people add one-half of a crushed Brazil nut per day for every 50 pounds your dog weighs.

Since natural forms of selenium are stored in the body, you can easily add one crushed nut every other day, or, for toy dogs, ten pounds or less, one crushed nut per week is great!

Please remember, feed all foods in moderation.

A meal of just Brazil nuts is not healthy for any dog or any human.

May your Spot live a long, healthy life.

References

Milner, John A. "Nonnutritive Components in Foods as Modifiers on of the Cancer Process" Preventive Nutrition: The Comprehensive Guide for Health Professionals, 2nd edition, p 131. 2001.

Mary E. Reid, Anna J. Duffield-Lillico, Linda Garland, Bruce W. Turnbull, Larry C. Clark, and James R. Marshall, "Selenium Supplementation and Lung Cancer Incidence: An Update of the Nutritional Prevention of Cancer Trial," Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention. November 2002;

Patrick, Lyn, Selenium Biochemistry and Cancer; A Review of the Literature," Alternative Medicine Review, Volume 9, Number 3, 2004. 239 -- 258.

Schrauzer, G.N. "Selenomethionine: A Review of its Nutritional Significance, Metabolism and Toxicity," Journal of Nutrition, 130, 2000. 1653-1656

National Toxicology Program, http://ntp-server.niehs.nih.gov/ htdocs/ST-studies/TOX038.html

Hawkes, Alkan, and Oehler "Absorption, Distribution and Excretion of Selenium from Beef and Rice in Healthy North American Men," Jounral of Nutrition, November 2003. 3434.

Finley, J.W., Ip, C., Lisk, D.J., Davis, C.D., Hintze, K.J. and Whanger, "Cancer-protective properties of high-selenium broccoli" J Agricultural and Food Chemistry, Vol. 49, #5, 2679-2683, 2001.

Burk, R.F. & Levander, O.A. "Selenium," in Shils, M. et al. Eds. Nutrition in Health and Disease, 9th Edition. Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins, 1999. 265-276.

Parker, Jay, "Hip Dysplasia in Dogs: Why Seleniuim Deficiency Will Cause It." Unpublished manuscript.

Schrauzer, G.N. "Selenomethionine: A Review of its Nutritional Significance, Metabolism and Toxicity," Journal of Nutrition, 130, 2000. 1653-1656.

Pottenger, Francis. Pottenger's Cats A Study in Nutrition 1983. Dr. Pottenger compared four generations of cats fed cooked and four generations of cats fed the same diet, except raw. With the cooked diet, Dr. Pottenger found that each generation developed health problems at earlier ages than the preceding generation. The raw fed cats remained healthy. We now know that the cooked diets were deficient in taurine and thiamin.