Secondary phosphorus deficiency might aggravate effects on skeletal development

What is it about?

The review of results published in the literature and own results led to the hypothesis that phosphorus is an important co-factor that can alleviate or aggravate the development of skeletal problems caused by calcium excess in growing dogs.

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Why is it important?

In the literature calcium excess during growth is made responsible for developmental orthopedic diseases in dogs of large and giant breeds. However, the findings are not always consistent and reports exist where a calcium excess with normal calcium to phosphorus ratio (calcium and phosphorus intake increased) did not cause clinical signs in puppies. High amounts of calcium in the diet are known to reduce the availability of phosphorus and therefore might cause a secondary phosphorus deficiency when only the calcium concentration in the diet is increased (causing a wide calcium to phosphorus ration above 2:1).