Frequently Asked Questions: Nutrition and Orthopedic Diseases

Q

A

Is it better to feed an adult maintenance diet to fast growing puppies because of the lower protein content?

No - High protein diets have not be implicated as the cause of osteoarticular disease during growth in large breed puppies. Young fast growing dogs have a much higher requirement for protein for new tissue formation and development of their immune system than adult dogs. They need the high quality and quantity of protein in their daily diet. By eating an adult maintenance diet, they will not meet their protein requirements. Signs of protein deficiency can be poor body conformation and increased susceptibility to infections.

Is it ok to supplement with extra minerals for the development of strong bones?

No - Supplementation of commercially available balanced dog foods should be prevented. Adding minerals to the food will unbalance the diet and provide the dogs with excesses. Puppies less than 6 months of age are unable to protect themselves from an excess of calcium. During weaning at least 50% of the calcium is absorbed whatever the quantity ingested. This excess calcium intake will lead to decreased skeletal modeling (enostosis, wobbler syndrome, possibly HD) and osteochondrosis (OCD, radius curvus syndrome, elbow incongruity). During evolution dogs, living in a poor-calcium environment, did not develop a system to defend themselves against excessive calcium intake.

Is it appropriate to advise owners to add fat to their puppy's diet if the puppy is underweight?

By adding fat to the diet you will increase the caloric density. However, if the diet is already complete and balanced for a growing puppy by adding fat you are unbalancing the diet and may be creating nutritional deficiencies. Thus the puppy will now be consuming an unbalanced diet and over time may exhibit signs of nutritional deficiency. Instead, advise the owner to change to a more palatable, more energy dense puppy food tailored for the requirements of that puppy's life stage and size.

Since enostosis can be caused by high calcium intake, should I advise the owners of young puppies to feed an adult food instead?

No - Adult dog food per energy content has a higher calcium content and generally a lower caloric density than a puppy food. Puppies eat until they satisfy their energy requirements. Thus they need to ingest more of an adult maintenance diet to meet their energy requirements and in the process consume more calcium. Adult maintenance dog foods are not balanced in proteins and other nutrients to meet a growing dog's requirements. The best option is to recommend a diet tailored to meet the nutritional requirements of fast growing dogs.

In my practice I have many dogs from the same breeder with OCD in their elbow joints. Should I advise the owners to change diets?

OCD is a highly hereditary disease. The breeder should be counseled on selective breeding to reduce the incidence of this genetic disease in their dogs. To decrease the occurrence of OCD in animals at risk, feed an appropriate diet formulated for the dog's lifestage and breed. When both quality and quantity of the daily food is optimal, there is no reason to change diets.

What can I recommend to my clients with young dogs which are likely to develop hip dysplasia besides preventative surgery?

Research has shown that diet has both quantitatively and qualitatively, a significant effect on the development of HD. Owners of puppies at risk for HD should feed a high quality diet that has adequate energy and calcium for that breed and age; avoid energy and/or calcium and mineral excesses. The amount of food consumed should be limited to meet the energy requirements of the puppy and nothing more. In addition the training and activity schedules should be tailored to meet the vulnerability of young dogs' skeletons. Surgery might be indicated in certain cases based on strict criteria-joint laxity and conformation - to prevent HD from developing into a clinical disease