Malene S. Hansen Posted December 18, 2011 Report Share Posted December 18, 2011 Wonderful to hear. 250 mg is an extremely high dosage, so we must lower it soon, otherwise she can become ill from too much zinc. Do you remember to give your dog extra vitamin b6, so that he absorbs the zinc properly? We give vitamin b and sometimes copper As well, because High doses of zinc Can give copper diffiency. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VanIslandSibe Posted January 7, 2012 Report Share Posted January 7, 2012 Hi there, I am brand new to this forum. This is my first post. I actually signed up because of this thread, but I will be posting here alot now. I have an 11 month old male sibe, Kojee. I noticed about a month ago that he started getting red, itchy patches around his muzzle. Like most of you I took him to the vet and they gave me antibiotics and steroid cream with absolutely no results. I did my own research and discovered ZRD. The pink scabs have now started around the corners of his nose and he paws at it. It breaks my heart to watch him in discomfort! But I feel hopeful after hearing your stories. After reading this thread I am now almost sure it must be ZRD. I could not afford to have a biopsy done right away so I am trying zinc. I am confused as to what is the proper supplement to give as everyone seems to throw out different dosages of zinc. I bought some chelated zinc tablets (25mg) and have been giving him two a day but by the sounds of it everyone is using zinc gluconate and in much higher doses. The 8 oz bottles of nutrazinc are sold out so I cant try that. Ontop of the chelated zinc I am giving him fish oils, sardines, and am going to try some liver or kelp but am not sure where to get kelp. Will this be enough zinc to resolve the ZRD? When should I except to see an improvement? Can I cause harm by giving too much zinc? Also the vet said it may be autoimmune disease which would be horrible. Does anyone know anything about that? Thanks again for opening my eyes to ZRD! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kissu & Aara Posted January 7, 2012 Report Share Posted January 7, 2012 I think that's too much zinc. I don't know how much is dangerous, but too much zinc leads to zinc poisoning which causes organ failure. As Val suggested to me, I feed Kissu frozen liver cubes. 1 a day. Been doing that for over a week and I think I'm seeing slight improvements. Also watch his calcium intake, if you haven't read about that. Calcium cancels zinc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VanIslandSibe Posted January 7, 2012 Report Share Posted January 7, 2012 Yes I have almost eliminated calcium from his diet. I was feeding him alot of knuckle bones which he was chewing constantly which is what I think started it but I have stopped that since his sores showed up. I have read that it is pretty hard to give a dog too much zinc and that it usually will just cause upset stomach or diarrhea but theres so many different opinions out there. I am giving him 50mg total of zinc tablets/day but some people are giving 100-200 mg? Thats the only reason why I thought maybe I wasnt giving him enough. He is pretty big too, almost 60 pounds and is only 11 months old. Also I do not know what the difference is between chelated zinc and zinc gluconate as far as zinc percentage but apparently chelated zinc is bonded to amino acids which help the body absorb the zinc. Hes only been on the zinc for a couple days now so I will provide an update soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malene S. Hansen Posted January 7, 2012 Report Share Posted January 7, 2012 Our new veterinarian has a book about ZRD (an American book actually). The correct dosage to keep ZRD down is 10 mg zinc sulfate per kilo dog. Our dog weighs 25 kilos, and therefore she must have 250 mg zinc sulfate each day. Now the hard part comes. Zinc is made in different forms. Zinc sulfate contains about 23% zinc. Zinc sulfate is tough on the stummack, so it is hardly ever used for dogs. Zinc gluconate (often called chelated zinc) contains about 14% zinc. Therefore, if the dog must eat 250 mg of zinc sulfate every day, you myst give a higher dosage if you give the dog zinc gluconate. I hope you understand. I'm Danish :-) We have given Lúa 250-300 mg zink gluconate every day the last 6 weeks, and now she is soar free! I prefer that she is healthy now, instead of living with soars till she becomes very old. We give her copper supplement and B6 vitamin on the side. B6 is necessary for the body, otherwise it cannot take the zinc in properly. Extra zinc intake can give copper deficiency, and therefore we give copper every other day. Best regards from Malene Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle Melsom Posted January 7, 2012 Report Share Posted January 7, 2012 Sounds like alot of math Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VanIslandSibe Posted January 9, 2012 Report Share Posted January 9, 2012 Well I guess I need to up Kojee's dose of zinc then. That sounds like an awful lot of zinc to give a dog though. I think maybe I'll try 50-100 mg of zinc gluconate and a little piece of liver. What do you use as a B6 vitamin and copper supplement? I've been giving him a salmon and cod oil capsule every day because they are rich in Vitamin A. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhodi Posted January 26, 2012 Report Share Posted January 26, 2012 Hi all - I'm new to this and I'm finding your posts helpful. I'm at my wits end as to what to do for my poor pup. He appears to have similar lesions to what you are describing. His nose is now all pink, his belly is pink, he has a little lession on his nose and paws and now the fur on his elbows is disappearing...he is attacking himself, itching all over - could this be ZRD. I've tried everything. The vet keeps saying it isn't and I need to get him allergy tested - Is itchiness a sign of ZRD? Please help. Thank you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VanIslandSibe Posted January 26, 2012 Report Share Posted January 26, 2012 It sounds to me like it could be ZRD. I've only had Kojee on zinc for 2 weeks now and he still hasnt gotten better so I'm still not sure thats what he has but Im pretty sure it is and he has pink spots on his nose. They feel sort of dried out and crusty to the touch. He also got a couple of sores on his paws. His eyes got a little red on the eyelids and his muzzle turned red and lost some fur. It seems like it definitely itches as he paws at it. So I would say it could be ZRD. However I haven't heard of many cases where the belly goes red, thats usually an allergy thing. But it probably can be caused by ZRD as well. Either way, by the sounds of it all huskies should have some type of zinc supplement as it can only help their skin/fur so I would put him on zinc regardless. But like I said, I have had my boy on zinc for over 2 weeks now and have still not seen much improvement. Pictures would be the best way for us to help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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