Mal- and overnutrition in puppies with or without clinical disorders of skeletal development

To quantify the impact on skeletal development of mistakes in the feeding regime of puppies, 90 cases from the last 3.5 years of the authors' nutrition consultation practice were reviewed. Symptoms of disorders of skeletal development were found in 79% of the puppies. The complete nutritional history was established to check and evaluate the food rations. A possible overfeeding with energy was proved by comparing the actual growth rate with the recommendation for each breed and age. The results demonstrate that an excessive growth rate is the most common problem in afflicted puppies (66%), followed by a distinct over supplementation with calcium (61%), a calcium supply below the recommendations was observed in 20% of the cases.