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My 11 1/2 week old Great Dane has developed knuckling in her front legs. An X-ray confirmed that the bones are growing unevenly. I have read that this could be caused partly by diet. She just arrived from Germany last Friday,June 21, so she was on a different dog food. Her legs were showing slight signs of knuckling when she arrived, but have worsened. Unfortunately, I had to switch dog foods again, and I know that this could contribute to the problem. She is now eating Nutro natural large breed puppy food. No supplements. Is this food balanced enough for protein, calcium, and phosphorus? Do you have experience in nutrition for this malady? I am disparate to clear this problem up before it leads to a permanent lameness. Thank you.
The best general recommendation I can make with knowing the specifics of your case, is to suggest you feed a Large Breed puppy formulation with about 1% calcium and 350-375 kcal/cup and slow the growth rate down keeping the dog at a BCS of 3-4 until it reaches 12-15 months of age. The origin of the problem is genetics, diet can only make it better or worse.

Hill's Science Diet has changed most of the formulas for their Science Diet line. Most of these new products contain brewers rice and or brown rice. Now I'm scared to feed any of the Science Diet foods or any dog foods that use rice as an ingredient because of arsenic in the rice. Am I overreacting? Should I use grain free or a diet that still uses corn as the starch? Iams still has a few that use corn. My dog is a little overweight and finding a weight loss diet without rice seems to be very hard. He is also allergic to wheat. Thank you.
"Am I overreacting?" The short answer is yes ... the reason is that recently the level of arsenic was measured in rice ... it had not been measured previously, and the feds do not have a reference range for rice so the media compared it to the reference range in drinking water which is not valid. They are working a determining a safe vs toxic Ar range. In the meantime, the odds are b/c Ar has been in rice (normally taken up from the soil) since the beginning of time, the current levels are what they have always been. Given we do not have an epidemic of Ar toxic in any species eating the rice, the newly discovered levels are presumed to be safe.Am I overreacting? The short answer is yes ... the reason is that recently the level of arsenic (As) was measured in rice ... it had not been measured previously, and the feds do not have a reference range for rice so the media compared it to the reference range in drinking water which is interesting but not valid. They are working a determining a safe vs. toxic As range. In the meantime, the odds are b/c As has been in rice (normally taken up from the soil) since the beginning of time, the current levels are what they have always been. Given we do not have an epidemic of As poisoning in any species eating the rice, the newly discovered levels are presumed to be safe. Actually some metabolic reactions in the body use As so like most things in life, moderation is the key. I am fairly certain the levels of As in the any pet food using rice today is the same level it is have been since pet foods have been made. I would not drive myself crazy looking for a no rice dog food.

hi, one of my rescue pugs has diabetes, on 6 units of insulin per day, and is on RC diabetic diet. he now is being operated on for urinary stones. this would now be a conflict in diets, one being for diabetes, one for crystals such as the RC SO. is there some kind of combination diet made or is one diet to be used over the other and maybe special supplements to be given to offset the conflict? thanks.
It depends on the composition of the stones removed. They should be cultured and analyzed before deciding on the diet and options.

Our dog Gus was diagnosed first with hypothyroidism, and is currently on Levothyroxine 0.3 mg. Gus was also diagnosed with hypocalcimia and further testing to determine treatment options is in progress. Meanwhile, I am trying to make sure treats do not contain calcium. Dog food labels do not seem to include information about calcium. He has been given Eukanuba and Beneful combination at meals (twice daily). Am I to assume the dog foods do not contain calcium if it is not showing on the label? Thanks for your help.
No .... every dog food product claiming to be complete and balanced contains calcium.

Hi. My 11.5yo Golden Retriever was just diagnosed with beginning stages of liver failure. She was put on 10mg of Enalapril, 18mg of a baby aspirin (shes 77lbs) and an Omega-3 capsule daily. My vet is also recommending a low protein diet and recommended Hills Science Prescription k/d. I have also been reading about other low protein diets like Royal Canin Renal Health. Do you recommend any specific foods over another? She is perfectly healthy otherwise and has no other signs of kidney issues (incontinence, thirst, edema etc). Thanks for you help
There is no real difference in the canine renal diets in terms of nutrient profile (k/d, NF, MP) but there is a difference in ingredients used and so probably taste.
Most Ret will eat most anything, so I would not think taste differences would matter in your case at this point in the disease process. I would start with the renal diet most convenient for you to get ...

Hi...my husband and i have a labradoodle and he is 1 year and 1 month old. We initially had him on raw food diet and then switched to half raw/half kibble. How long would it take to ween him off the raw and get him on 100% kibble diet? thank you.
It really depends on the ingredients used in the raw diet vs. the new kibble.
If there were no carbohydrates in the raw diet but there are present in the new kibble product, I would suggest changing the diet 25% once per week.

week 1 25% new food + 75% old food
week 2 50% / 50%
week 3 75% / 25%

I have a 8 year old Dachshund and he is allergic to several types of grasses,weeds, trees,molds, dust mites, flies, and wool. He is beginning allergy shots. He takes 2 Benedryl and 2 levothyroxine 0.3mg.a day.I feed him a diet of chicken. brown rice or barley and carrots. I will switch up the protein to lean pork or 93/7 lean hamburger with brown rice and carrots. is he getting all the nutrition he needs? Do you have suggestions for a healthy diet I can prepare at home? Thanks
Sorry no it does not appear that your homemade diet is nutritionally complete or balanced.
We are most willing to formulate a HM diet for your pet. You may begin the consultation process yourself online at any time.

my one year old llewellin setter is so fussy and is not eating enough. I feed her a high quality kibble and supplement with various meats and offal and egg,.and vegetables today I gave her goats milk, a little in her food and she ate it today. She is energetic but I am worried that she is not eating enough. should I give her brown rice. she is on a grain free kibble because she had allergies.
Appetite is not a good measure - the best measure is body weight and body condition. What does your vet think about her BW and BCS?

I have a 4month old french bulldog, Lincoln. We live in Los Angeles and every pet store RAVES about raw diet. When i first got him the breeder had him on a raw diet at 9weeks old! i don't like this, but also was concerned with commercial brand wet food/kibble. I opted to make his food at home. He gets raw veggies and either chicken or lean beef, lentils and quioa and warm water all added to the food processor to make an easy to eat mush. i avg about two cups (considering the water) twice a day. He's energetic and happy, but i can see his ribs. I wonder if he's getting what he needs for proper French Bulldog puppy growth! he's also started having bad breath and a little vomiting (to which he immediately swallows again and is fine) Stools look ok, he's going often but suddenly not very much he's been treated for giardia (unless he got it AGAIN!) i also considered that fact that he got a deer shank from the pet store, a cube portion of it "broke off" it really just seemed like he ate all that connected the pieces together, nothing sharp... but he swallowed that about two weeks ago, i kinda hoped it was ok and his body would work it all out since it didn't seem to be blocking anything.
You could have the dog looked at by a local vet who could probably put your mind at ease about deer shank. I do not recommend feeding raw diets but you could do a homemade diet however I do puppies on an indivdiual basis because it involves proper growth rate.

If you are interested in a nutritionally complete and balanced hmd diet, please go back to the www.petdiets.com web site, click on the "Nutrition Consultation” - “for owners” and complete the information. We work as a specialty consultant to your veterinarian. Your primary care veterinarian is a vital partner in the care of your pet and must provide us with the most recent or relevant medical records (fax 800-649-2043, post or email petdiets@att.net).

Why does my dog eat dirt & grass? I feed her Purina One Beyond & add a multi-vitamin/mineral supplement. She is about 2 yrs. old & we've had her 7 months. She was heavily infested with worms upon adoption, but now tests negative. We can't take our eyes off her when outdoors because of this problem.
Given the diet you are feeding her, it is not due to a nutritional deficiency or toxicity and may be behavioral.Some dogs eat grass and then vomit which has been associated with a gastritis.