Expert: Jana Connell RVT, CVT - 1/4/2010

Question
On your first response you wrote: "Blue Buffalo foods are okay but there is no calcium/phosphorus ratio listed on the bags and that is what gets the large breeds into trouble with their joints. It should be a percentage under .7 % so I would write to them if I were you and ask them".  My additional question is; did you really mean a ratio? I would like to know what should be the max percentage of each of the calcium and phosphorus ingredients. The latest large bag of Blue Life Protection formula I have on hand lists the calcium as 1.0 % min, and the phosphorus as 0.9% min. This lets the max amount open, and the real ratio in this case would be 1.0/.9 = 1.1111. Is this too much of either ingredient? I hope you can expand your initial response to clarify what the percentage of these ingredients should be. Thanks again.

Ken

Answer
You hit the nail on the head Ken when you stated that it leaves the maximum amounts open and that is how these companies get away with excess nutrients that can be very harmful to your dog. In the Hill's brand (Science Diet) Large breed adult formula the nutrients are listed in dry matter weight- that is, with all the moisture removed, this is what is left. It is the only TRUE way to calculate nutrients.
In their food the calcium and phosphorus are as follows:
Calcium           0.78
Phosphorus   0.70
This is expressed as a percentage. Hills did a three year study on the effects of nutrients to the joints and bones of large breed dogs back in the late eighties, early 90s and this diet was the cumulative result of that study. This was years ahead of the other companies who soon came up with their own style of large breed foods.

I meant that the ratio has to be balanced but the nutrients should be listed on the bags and they are not with Blue Buffalo Foods.

Not so with Science Diet. Everything is listed and if not, it's on the website.
http://www.hillspet.com/products/science-diet/sd-canine-adult-large-breed-dry.ht...
If you feel your dog does well on this brand I am not suggesting you to switch but I know from my 30 yrs of feeding this food and selling it that our clients have never had a problem with it and their dogs have lived very long and healthy lives.

My own Great Dane that I adopted at 5 yrs (she was abandoned) lived longer than most of them thanks to Science Diet- and that was before they had the large breed. She ate the adult and lived to be almost 11 yrs old.That is old for a GD.

I hope this answers your questions Ken. Feel free to write back if you have more.