Ingredient Breakdown — Copper Proteinate
Coco here, singing along with one of my favorite songs(“…bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens!”)…and what you should know about the ingredient copper.
What is it?
Copper is *yet another metal*, because apparently I’m doomed to write about metals for-EVER! It’s soft and malleable (which means you can push on it and mold it and it won’t crack, unlike me), and it’s kind of orange and pink at the same time (which is kinda what it looks like when Big Squishie barfs up something he shouldn’t have eaten).
Why does Balanced Blends use it?
Copper is one of those super important trace minerals that’s used for all kinds of things — connective tissues, making blood cells, even hair color! So it’s gotta be in our food.
If dogs don’t have enough of it, their hair color may change, and nobody wants a prematurely grey doggo. They can also have problems with their bones (and I’m not talking about the ones humans give them to chomp on).
If cats don’t have enough, well, we can’t make more cats (and we know that’s a travesty!) It can also affect how much weight we gain when we’re kittens.
What are its other uses?
Humans:
Oh, cat, humans use copper for SO. MANY. THINGS. Are you ready for this?
-jewelry
-coins
-art
-roofing (it turns GREEN — yuck!)
-fungicide
-wires
-stuff like doorknobs in hospitals, because it kills a bunch of microbes that you don’t want in a hospital
(And that’s the SHORT list, because I don’t have the attention span for a long list!)
Pets:
Yeah, I think I made it pretty clear why we need copper.
Where is it sourced?
A bunch of copper comes from Chile, then the United States, then Indonesia, and then Peru.
Any issues with its use?
So yeah, copper is important, and pets need it just like we need naps, so I better go take care of that need…
