Shark cartilage dog treat ingredients good for relieving arthritis, Ok 4 pancreatitis & diabetes.
And as you will see, while shark cartilage dog treats are amazing for relieving arthritis, because they are low fat and no carbs, they are ok for dogs to take that have pancreatitis and diabetes.
With a little research it is easy to see that its because of the wide variety of sharks used (most of them from the northern hemisphere) – and that most ingredients are cited from labels on very expensive over refined bottles of shark cartilage powder.
We sell shark cartilage powder too, but its just the sticks that ground down, not the over-processed far from natural pharmaceutical concoctions.
The reason I started tracking down the shark cartilage composition was that I got alerted to the missing information recently when someone said their dog had diabetes and they were not sure if shark cartilage was safe for dogs with this disease. I had always believed that shark cartilage had low carbs/ sugar levels, but without hard proof, I have been unwilling to state this. Now we have ‘proof’.
The DPI Queensland (ref 1) says they uncovered OUR shark cartilage ingredients during their ” project .. in collaboration with Pacific Export Services Queensland Pty Ltd'” So as you can imagine, they were very careful in what they revealed.
Before we get to the ingredients it should be reiterated that the sharks caught for restaurant and cafe use in Southern Melbourne are primarily the gummy shark. And part of the wastage of that trade along with things like skeleton and offal is the Shark cartilage that people eventually worked out was so incredibly good for dogs.
THE DPI said that “General proximate analyses include determinations of the protein, fat, moisture, carbohydrate and ash components.” They say proximate because of the various subspecies of the gummy shark (4) that colonise spots from Perth to Sydney. However the percentages give those people with dogs with special needs some assurance of the safety of using shark cartilage, at least regarding the fat and sugar levels.
Shark cartilage ingredients include:
Shark cartilage will routinely have a fat level of less than 2%
The moisture content (is typically) less than 7% (preferably less than 4 % )
The ash content is usually less than 50%, comprising mainly calcium and phosphorus.
The protein content would generally be expected to be at least 40%.
The simple carbohydrate (sugar) determination should be negligible, indicating that the product has not been “cut” with a filler (e.g. dextrose).
NOTE due to the potentially different shark varieties caught in Queensland and different drying methods, it is possible that OUR shark cartilage values may vary slightly, but since this is a NATUAL non farmed resource, that is to be expected.
The great news is that these values are all that we expected in these products.
And this is why they are exceptional.
Shark cartilage dog treats for pain relief and joint support
Shark cartilage is the cheapest per gram, most effective joint support products for dogs. It is the chondritin and Glucosamine that are the two main active ingredients in this relief and joint support. Pharmaceutical companies often reduce shark cartilage down into the two main components, however the other six or so active ingredients are likely to have supportive nature to the two main natural chemicals.
But if you feed any substantial amount of treats you generally need to consider reducing the dog food calorie intake to ensure that your dog doesn’t gain weight. Shark cartilage has the perfect combination of high levels of active ingredients, LOW FAT (2%), NO CARBS (so suitable for diabetic dogs), HIGH ASH content (which means an inert non fattening material essentially a filler like fibre), and relatively high protein, which from an animal source is always better than from a vegetable source,
Why whole shark cartilage dog treats?
As mentioned in the previous paragraph. They won’t make your dog fat
They will provide pain relief and joint support
They provide great chewing for small and medium dogs, strengthening gums and cleaning teeth.
For these very reasons, if your dog has strong enough jaw pressure to eat them, you should always try and give your dogs whole shark cartilage. If you have a large dog, we have shark cartilag wide products too.
WHY powdered shark cartilage dog treats?
The actual main reference article was based on the Queensland government industry support group from assessing the value of assisting commercial groups in producing shark cartilage powder. This is because they believed that it would have a bigger market – potentially even human consumption, at much cheaper cost than pharmaceutical produced similar products.
Shark cartilage powder can be sprinkled over dog food of any type, and as long as the dog doesn’t mind the slight fish smell of the product, it will just blend into the food mix.
We source varieties in super fine and small grain, but both are very small particles acceptable to all dogs eating.
What can shark cartilage do?
shark cartilage extracts are believed to have : anti-angiogenic properties (reduction of the area of blood vessels observed in vivo on experimentally induced tumours), tumour regressive activity in vivo as well as demonstrating a direct inhibitory effect on tumour cell lines. ” REF 2
Shark Sustainability
Sharks are caught under quota in Australia.
Sharks are mainly caught for restaurant and cafe ‘flake’ flesh trade.
The fin is then often exported to Asian countries. To put this into perspective “In 2015, more than 3,000 kilograms of shark fins were exported to Hong Kong, while just over 300kg were exported to Singapore from Australia.”
The shark cartilage in the fin would be discarded if it wasn’t recycled for dog treats.
Gummy shark levels in Southern Australia – The site ( fish .gov .au ) says under Stock Status …
“…. These results indicate that the three populations examined (Bass Strait, South Australia and Tasmania) are unlikely to be recruitment overfished” The stock assessment gave a recommended biological catch of 2010 tonnes (t) however; this was above the historical average catch for the fishery. As a result, the Commonwealth Shark Resource Assessment Group recommended retaining the (lower) 2013–14 total allowable catch (TAC) of 1836 t for the 2014–15 to 2016–17 seasons, as a 3-year (multi-year) TAC9. Total combined commercial catch (state and Commonwealth) for the three subpopulations in 2015 was 1780 t. This level of fishing pressure is unlikely to cause this part of the biological stock to become recruitment overfished”.
It would appear that the government employs considerable resources to ensure that these fish do not become over-fished and endangered. Constant monitoring and reporting ensures this.
Reference
REF 1 Development of a Process to Manufacture Powdered Shark Cartilage by Dr Craig Davis Centre for Food Technology DPI Queensland department of Primary Industry
REF 2 Extracts of shark cartilage having an anti-angiogenic activity and an effect on tumor regression; process of making thereof – by Eric Dupont, Paul Brazeau, Christi Juneau (1994)