Note for Pet Owners

This information is provided by Provet for educational purposes only.

You should seek the advice of your veterinarian if your pet is ill as only he or she can correctly advise on the diagnosis and recommend the treatment that is most appropriate for your pet.

Biotin is an essential water soluble vitamin which can be rendered unavailable by egg white !

Many clinical nutrition books discuss biotin (one of the water soluble vitamin B complex) as being  an essential nutrient which can be bound by avidin, which is found in raw egg white. This binding prevents it's absorption from the gastrointestinal tract. Fortunately cooking deactivates this effect of avidin, and egg yolk is so high in biotin content that biotin deficiency does not occur when whole raw eggs are fed. So, whilst biotin deficiency is a potential problem -  in reality it is unlikely to be seen in domesticated animals unless they are fed an extremely imbalanced ration that is predominantly egg white.

On the positive side - raw chicken egg white does of course have some nutritional value and contains the following :

• 88.3% water
• 9% protein
• Trace of fat
• Trace of carbohydrate
• Minerals - 
  • Sodium - 190mg/100g
  • Chlorine - 170mg/100g
  • Potassium - 150mg/100g
  • Phosphorus - 33mg/100g
  • Magnesium - 11mg/100g
  • Calcium - 5mg/100g
• Vitamins and vitamin precursors
  • Tryptophan (an amino acid and niacin precursor in dogs and other species but not cats, mink or fish)  - 2.6 mg/100g
  • Riboflavin - 0.43 mg/100g
  • Pantothenate 0.3 mg/100g
  • Folate - 13 mg/100g
  • Biotin - 7 mg/100g
  • Vitamin C - 0
  • Vitamin D -0
  • Vitamin E - 0
• No dietary fibre
• 36 kcal energy per 100g

Updated January 2016