puppy question - Page 1

I have a 9 week old puppy and i feed him royal canin. Someone recently told me that i should give my puppy calcium tablets. I am not sure if i should do this or not, so i would appreciate some advice. the puppy also gets goats milk once a day.

"Calcium The question of calcium supplementation while controversial among breeders, is fairly easy to answer: don't do it. It is not necessary to add extra calcium to your dog's diet. Not only is calcium an essential skeletal component, it is also necessary for blood coagulation, hormonal release and muscle contraction. The three biological systems involved in controlling the amount of calcium in the blood are bones, kidneys, and the intestine. Calcium is constantly being recycled in and out of living bone. In the adult dog, under balanced conditions, both accretion (calcium uptake) and resorption (calcium loss from bone) values vary from 0.1 to 0.2 mmol per kilogram of body weight per day. [A millimole is a minute measure of molecular weight.] For the rapidly growing puppy these values are at least 100 times higher. 10 Another difference between an adult dog and a puppy is their relative abilities to absorb calcium from the food they ingest. In the adult dog, the percentage of calcium assimilated from food varies from 0 to 90 percent, depending upon the composition of the food and its calcium content. 11 A 1985 study which examined the physical, biochemical and calcium metabolic changes in growing Great Danes, showed that young puppies do not have a mechanism to protect themselves against excessive calcium feeding. Under the influence of certain hormones, the calcium excess is routed to the bones. This results in severe pathological consequences for the patterning for the growing skeleton and the subsequent impairment of gait. Strongly correlated with high calcium intake is disturbed enchrondral ossification (growth plate anomalies) causing the clinical appearance of radius curvus syndrome and osteochondrosis (a disturbance of bone formation within the cartilage, occurring during periods of maximum growth). 12 Chronic, high calcium intake in large breed dogs has also been associated with hypercalcemia, elevation of the liver enzyme alkaline phosphatase, retardation of bone maturation, an increase in bone volume, a decrease in the number of bone resorption cells, and delayed maturation of cartilage. 13 We can safely conclude that calcium plays a significant role in skeletal disease. The giant breed dogs, because of their rapid and intense growth, are sentinels for nutritionally influenced diseases. These changes, while exaggerated in the giant breeds, are just as real-though they may be slower to surface and not as easily identified-in the smaller breeds." Source: http://siriusdog.com/articles/dysplasia-hip-dog-chd-ofa-pennhip-2.htm

Just say "NO", to the calcium. You did not say what formula of Royal Canin you are using, but hopefully it is the German Shepherd Formula 24.

Thanks for the advice. He is currently on maxi junior

I also feed royal canine (large breed pup 24) and have no need to add any calcium. It has been pretty good for my pups.