Ok... Using their own feeding charts, I decided to compare Evo and Solid Gold Wolf Cub... Just to see... I used cups as the unit because it was the only universal unit available without emailing and I was looking more for proportions to compare with than actual gram amounts...
100lb puppy, at 40lbs (40% of final body weight)
Evo
- 3.77 cups --> 0.107 cups of calcium --> 1.58 cups of protein --> 2024.45 kcal total
Wolf Cub
- 4.83 cups (average of range) --> 0.072 cups of calcium --> 1.26 cups of protein --> 1811.25 kcal total
First, why is the kcal/day more than 10% lower for the Wolf Cub than the Evo? (Isn't Evo's big selling point that you're supposed to feed less than everybody else?)
Second, despite the kcals being only 10% lower for the wolf cub, the calcium is 30% lower than that of Evo, while the protein is only 20% lower than the Evo.
Even if I opt to feed my hypothetical dog more of the Wolf cub to match the kcals/day of the evo, the calcium is still only at 0.08 cups, 25% lower than the evo still.
Anyway, my point is, a lot of large breed puppy owners consider wolf cub to be too high in calcium and unsafe for very large breed puppies, and it is significantly lower in amount than the Evo.
And with the links I posted
Here, it becomes obvious that a 30% difference, or even 25% difference if you feel the kcals need to be the same, might be harmful to a growing large breed dog.
IMO, it's best to err on the side of caution, because we know that an excess of calcium and other nutrients necessary for bone growth causes rapid bone formation leading to skeletal malformations and disorders.
Also I've heard of other studies that show that slowing down growth rate by slightly restricting certain nutrients required for bone construction doesn't stunt growth in dogs in the long term, rather it extends the growth over a longer period of time (I have to re-find those studies...
).
Anyway, all the info out there differs, but if I ever get a large breed puppy, I'll definitely be watching the Ca levels closely (among other things) until I see substantial research that says it doesn't matter.
