I have always said that raw feeding is not difficult. I have also said that other homemade feeding, like porridge, is a bit more demanding. It’s not because of vitamins and minerals, but because of the lack of meat.
Some problems arise from attitudes when people start using human foods. It’s easy to fall into the belief that a dog eats like a human.
The real core of the problems, however, comes from online disinformation, assumptions, especially Americans have excelled in this field. Instructions on how to do things totally wrong are much easier to find and in greater quantities than useful advice.
I have also comforted that you shouldn’t lose sleep over your own ignorance. A dog’s body protects itself very effectively against the owner’s various craziness and whims. You can’t cause major damage unless you deliberately try to do everything wrong—and also succeed in your foolishness.
The difference is in two things.
When an unskilled person knows their ignorance, they rarely, if ever, do things seriously wrong. Usually, nothing essential needs to be changed, and adjustments focus on emphasis and quantities. This is because to know that you don’t know, you must know something. Additionally, honesty with oneself is required. The foundation is solid, and the rest can be figured out by asking.
The only difficulty is figuring out if the advisor knows what they’re talking about. There is an infallible measure for that. The more miracles and claims that non-medicine doesn’t know, and a holistic view, the advisor never knows or understands.
When an unskilled person firmly believes they know because it was said on YouTube and some random person on Facebook said the same, then they are in the unshakable world of assumptions and beliefs. In that case, dog feeding is usually totally off track, but it’s not corrected because the rest of the world is wrong.
The wrongness arises because miracles are not promised, and things are difficult. So difficult that learning is skipped because multiplication was boring in school, and everyone knows that such is never needed in life. Then you can be sure that things will go wrong with the dog, and the fault is never with the incompetent owner. The fault is with everyone else.
In Canada, at the Ontario Veterinary College, a 6-month-old giant schnauzer female was brought in with major problems walking and even living (Moran et al. 2018). The female had had vague limping and pain since four months old, which only worsened over time. Around five months old, it was taken to a vet and got antibiotics for a possible urinary tract infection. The condition worsened, and movement significantly deteriorated, so at six months old, it was brought to the university. At that point, the puppy had pain all over, a poor sense of position, and cramps.
X-rays and MRI found damaged vertebrae and other bone changes. The growth plates were healthy. Additionally, the female still had a urinary tract infection, which included e. coli.
Alternative Feeding
In addition to tests, the vet asked about feeding. The puppy had been switched to homemade food at about two months old, which in North American dog-keeping culture corresponds to the same as raw feeding here in Finland —except it is not raw feeding. The owner had found instructions for homemade dog food on a site selling alternative dog food and switched to it, slightly adapting the instructions.
The giant schnauzer puppy had eaten from weaning to six months old daily:
- about 900 g minced meat
- about 4 3/4 dl grated carrots
- about 2 1/4 dl beans
- about 2 1/4 dl broccoli
- 2 – 3 teaspoons of sunflower oil
- 2 red apples (color matters…)
- 3 eggs
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 7 – 9 1/2 dl brown rice flour
- about 1 dl oat bran
Everything was mixed and baked into muffins. The dog was fed four times a day.
Basic feeding always needs its supplements, also this time. In addition to food, it got:
- about 1 – 2 1/4 dl cooked organic white rice, apple, and carrot
- one capsule of cod liver oil
- 1 teaspoon bone meal
The puppy weighed 20 kg and was in normal body condition according to the vet, but muscle condition was weak.
Consequences of Feeding
Blood tests showed elevated creatine kinase, which fits the dog’s feeding and condition. Creatine kinase rises in muscle injuries, but its elevation is also associated with malnutrition. Phosphorus was low and total calcium at the lower limit, but other values were within limits, except for vitamin D, which was clearly deficient.
Ionized calcium, which describes the usable calcium in the blood, was elevated. Also, parathyroid hormone produced by the parathyroid gland was close to the upper limit. This is interpreted as secondary hyperparathyroidism due to nutrition. Truly, it’s not actual hyperactivity, but just activity.
Because the food does not provide enough calcium, the kidneys command the parathyroid gland to secrete more parathyroid hormone. It increases the release of calcium from the bones so that cells get enough calcium—it shows as ionized calcium in tests. At the same time, parathyroid hormone tells the kidneys not to waste calcium in the urine and asks them to make more active vitamin D so that any calcium possibly in the food can be effectively absorbed. This is called active calcium absorption.
The D-vitamin modified by the kidneys starts bone building because it has captured calcium from the food, and the bone deficit can now be corrected. When calcium levels are sufficient, vitamin D tells the parathyroid gland that enough calcium release is enough and forces it to reduce parathyroid hormone secretion.
The problem was emerging because this time there were no more significant stores of vitamin D. The female had a severe vitamin D deficiency. At the same time, the food was practically without calcium—remember, we’re talking about a giant schnauzer puppy on the brink of rapid growth. Vitamin D did not have calcium to take to the bones. At the same time, there wasn’t enough vitamin D to lower the parathyroid hormone levels.
The parathyroid gland only increased its pace and secreted even more parathyroid hormone, which continuously broke down more and more bone. It had to be done because without calcium, cells would stop functioning and the body’s very precise pH would start to wander, which would be fatal.
Because the owner didn’t know and trusted a shady website, the growing puppy was without vitamin D and calcium, leaving marks on its bones and joints. At the same time, the calcium imbalance, together with possible other neurological problems, caused severe muscle issues.
Nutritional Analysis
In North America, there is a database/calculation program for dog feeding on sale. It has exactly the same problems as Poochie Revival made (Finnish) Excel template, i.e., the nutritional values of foods are taken from human databases. The difference is that Katiskan’s template has a poor user interface, but it’s free. The doctor had used a more comfortably designed but significantly expensive ready-made software. The end result is the same, and it showed quite a few deficiencies compared to NRC’s recommendations.
The food was decided to be sent for analysis. Exactly the same foodstuff could not be obtained for examination because the owner could not provide brand names, but the amounts and actual composition were as reported.
According to the laboratory, the food contained
- protein 18.4% DM
- calcium 0.1% DM (NRC: 1.2%)
- phosphorus 0.4% DM (NRC: 1%)
- vitamin D less than 0.25 µg/100 g DM, which was the detection limit (AAFCO: 1.25 µg/100 g DM)
The analysis confirms the symptoms and blood test results. The feeding was deficient and badly so. The veterinarian recommended considering euthanasia, but the owner wanted to try and switched the dog to Royal Canin Maxi Puppy food. The owner was instructed on how important it is to feed according to recommendations and not to deviate from them.
The analysis is ugly, but because the veterinarian didn’t know percentage calculations or understand feeding, they didn’t know how it was wrong. They mistakenly focused on dry matter percentages and wrote their case report. The good side was, of course, that the dog’s feeding was changed. The bad side was that the feeding was not supplemented during the recovery period as it should have been. More extensive customer service might have included guiding the owner to compose their desired feeding style correctly instead of food analyses, but that was again not an option. Frankly speaking—a decent computer software goes completely to waste, a bit like using a programmable calculator for multiplication.
What Was Actually Obtained
If the protein amount were considered as if it were obtained from meat, it would correspond to 8.5% protein in very poor-quality meat, with a lot of cartilage ground in. Of course, percentages must always be converted to consumed grams to know what was actually obtained. It’s difficult to guess the total grams of food, but since there was about 900 grams of meat, let’s bundle the whole package into a kilo. In reality, the daily portion has certainly been closer to 1.5 kilos, if not more.
Then the puppy would have received
- a total of 85 grams of protein
- from 30/20 dry food with a 300 g portion, it would have received 90 grams
Practically, there was no difference.
It’s impossible to estimate the amount of fat, but it couldn’t have been high. However, it wasn’t addressed because the weight was normal, so calories were still coming in.
The situation with calcium was dire:
- it received about 40 mg from its food
- with 1.2% calcium, 300 g dry food would provide 1800 mg, which would also be the requirement
It’s impossible to calculate vitamin D, but let’s guess.
- 3 eggs would provide 3.42 µg
- cod liver oil capsule provides 7.5 µg
- With NRC’s requirement, about 4.25 µg would be needed, and the food provided 10.92 µg
According to NRC, the puppy didn’t have a vitamin D deficiency through food, but it actually received more than twice the dose. Still, according to the blood test, it had a severe vitamin D deficiency. The analysis indicated that the dose contained at most 1 µg, as amounts smaller than that cannot be reported by the analysis.
There are two options. In the analysis, the food wasn’t mixed well enough, or Finnish values for eggs are higher than Canadian reality. Either way, this encountered the weaknesses of food calculations—the amounts are always guesses.
Vitamin D intake wasn’t the bitch’s real problem. Its deficiency was a consequence of calcium deficiency. Vitamin D stores last about two months without supplementation. When the storage form is converted to active, it’s in a way used up, and what remains is excreted with urine. Continuous calcium deficiency urged parathormone to whip the kidneys into making more and more active vitamin D, which was also constantly excreted through metabolism. Eventually, the situation was that even if there had been enough vitamin D in the food, it was no longer sufficient to maintain the stores, let alone replenish them.
With Poochie Relevation’s tips, the puppy would have been given 21 µg of vitamin D per day. It wouldn’t have saved the situation because calcium wouldn’t have magically appeared from nowhere. On the other hand, with tips from here, the puppy would also have received at least a tablespoon of calcium daily, which would have provided 4800 mg of calcium instead of the 40 mg from bone meal.
Phosphorus was on the deficient side in both blood tests and food analysis. The question mark comes from the fact that the true phosphorus requirement for dogs is unknown. The recommendation is calculated from the calcium and phosphorus ratio Ca/P. It’s entirely different from the physiological need for phosphorus. Additionally, the amounts come into play.
- 900 g minced meat gives about 1800 mg phosphorus
- the grain portion has provided at least 1200 mg phosphorus
- 300 g dry food with 1% phosphorus gives 3000 mg
Truly realized feeding gave exactly the same amount of phosphorus as would have been obtained with dry food. Additionally, a little thought should be given to the fact that NRC assumes 70% of the phosphorus amount comes from inorganic sources, i.e., practically supplements, and assumes 50% absorption. This causes the fact that regardless of the analysis, the puppy actually received more phosphorus than the recommendations ask for.
The Ca/P ratio would be an easy explanation, and the veterinarian was satisfied with it. Truly, no study takes a stand on the significance of the Ca/P ratio, but they have studied the significance of absolute grams:
- what happens when too much or too little calcium is given
- what happens when too much or too little phosphorus is given
Let’s make this an attitude question: NRC’s recommendations cannot be met with a meat-based diet without a large amount of bone, which overdoses calcium. NRC’s recommendations can only be met with mineral supplements.
The fact that the blood test showed too low phosphorus has nothing to do with intake. It describes a situation caused by too high parathormone activity due to calcium deficiency.
The dog’s problems revolve around one factor all the time: calcium deficiency.
What Was Not Obtained
Anyone who has done even a little raw feeding has already noticed the other deficiencies. The food lacks organs, so vitamin A deficiency is a given, even though carrots were used. At the same time, the entire trace element intake is deficient, and zinc, the foundation of the entire enzyme function, was largely missing. The puppy also had a significant deficiency in several B-group vitamins, which have an important role in both nerve function and muscle function.
This should be left to mature in the mind. The blood test only showed a vitamin D deficiency, which wasn’t actually even a deficiency. Calcium deficiency has only been visible over a long period. Even though the food comprehensively lacked all trace elements needed for blood cell formation, the veterinarian didn’t comment on, for example, low hemoglobin. Hemoglobin was where it was wanted, despite the deficiencies.
The blood test told the consequences when something is broken in the body. The actual reason for the breakdown had to be narrowed down by calculating the feeding, and it’s still possible that the puppy had some other disease. Nutrition was just one candidate among others, and there were a bunch of other diagnostic options, such as spinal cord inflammation or intervertebral disc inflammation.
A blood test practically never tells whether feeding is good or bad. It tells about the body’s current functioning. Two completely different things.
Some of the phosphorus was in phytates. Especially in brans, there is a high phytic acid content. Phytic acid is the storage form of phosphorus in plants, and phytate is its salt form. It is poorly digestible by everyone except cattle, which is why some of the otherwise essential phosphorus remains unused. The problem with phytate is that it interferes with others. It combines with amino acids, making them unabsorbable. The real risk comes from it kind of chelating minerals like calcium and preventing their utilization.
The food was, however, baked, so some of the phytates were eliminated. The portion of brans and grains containing phytates was relatively low compared to the whole food, so phytates do not pose a realistic risk in themselves. The fact that the puppy was fed an overall absurd amount of food four times a day wasted more nutrients than phytates or any inhibitors could capture. One thing is certain: that giant schnauzer puppy was naturally very food-hungry.
Outcome
The dog received a course of antibiotics and was switched to dry food. The puppy was brought for a check-up two months later. It was happy and lively, and most of the neurological symptoms had disappeared. However, it still had slight coordination problems. According to the owner, the change in feeding started to show after three weeks.
Apparently, no more blood tests were taken, nor were there any images taken, or the veterinarian didn’t consider it essential to mention such little details in the case report, even though they had concluded in their diagnosis that the problems were caused by nutritional deficiencies.
A year later, the female was practically healthy but tired easily. Additionally, it had a hunchback-like back. Whether the easy tiring was due to the puppyhood problems or everything else is a question mark.
Conclusion
Whether the puppy’s problems were truly due to nutritional deficiencies or if the underlying cause was, for example, bacterial, remained completely open. The true cause was not found. It is at least certain that poorly executed food, lacking calcium and a bunch of other protective nutrients, did not improve the situation.
It’s about accumulating factors all the time. When there are too many factors, things go wrong. There are countless dogs in the world that live on exactly the same food, or at least with severe calcium deficiency, but they do not show visible problems. Then the owner is firmly convinced that everything is fine because they don’t see anything wrong with the dog. Still, the dog’s muscle system may be constantly on the verge of breaking down, or the skeleton is in such poor condition that even a small bump causes a fracture.
The dog may get seriously sick with diarrhea more easily because its immunity is low due to zinc, vitamin D, and vitamin A deficiency. Or, as in the case of the giant schnauzer, it gets an infection in the spine, and the body has no tools to repair the damage. Even then, the owner thinks the root cause is not in poor feeding but somewhere else.
We are in a situation where the owner is betting on their dog’s health that nothing will happen. And all just because they don’t care or believe shady websites on the internet.
Go in front of a mirror and ask yourself and answer honestly: what is the real reason you don’t care. The correct answer is not that it’s difficult, laborious, and expensive. It’s easy and quick, and in reality, all alternative nonsense is expensive—and useless.
When you feel like you don’t know and it’s hard to find information among the bullshit, don’t stay alone. Book a phone appointment.
