Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Calcium deficiency causing bone problems in adult and puppy dogs
By Becker, N et al.·Published in Tierarztliche Praxis. Ausgabe K, Kleintiere/Heimtiere·2012·Lehrstuhl fü·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: [Calcium deficiency: a problem in growing and adult dogs: two case reports].
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A 5-year-old dog with a history of food allergies was brought in with a condition called osteomalacia, which made his jaw feel rubbery due to a lack of calcium. Another case involved a puppy that suffered a femur fracture after a minor fall because it was fed a homemade diet lacking essential minerals and vitamins. In both cases, the dogs were found to have serious deficiencies in their diets, particularly calcium, even though their blood calcium levels appeared normal. After switching to a complete and balanced diet, both dogs recovered well.
People also search for: dog calcium deficiency symptoms · puppy fracture treatment · homemade dog food nutrition
Abstract
Two case reports demonstrate the consequences of a deficient calcium supply in dogs. The first case describes an adult dog with a history of food allergy. The dog had been fed with an unbalanced elimination diet (no minerals and vitamins supplemented) over many years and was referred with the diagnosis of osteomalacia (rubber jaw) for optimization of his ration. The second case refers to a puppy which was fed a homemade diet without supplementing the missing minerals and vitamins and suffered a femur fracture after moderate physical impact. In both cases, the computer-aided ration calculation showed a suboptimal to severely deficient supply for several minerals and vitamins, in particular calcium whereas serum calcium levels were normal. Both dogs recovered after being fed a complete and balanced diet. In conclusion, a survey of the feeding using ration calculation is essential especially in the case of potential nutrition-related skeletal disorders. Serum calcium levels cannot be used as a tool to diagnose nutritional calcium deficiency.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22526818/