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Is hip dysplasia caused by diet? NO!
That is basically the most important thing to remember about diet and its effects on hip and/or dysplasia.
More details!
No independent veterinarian study to date2 has demonstrated a link between diet and the appearance of dysplasia.. Pay attention. This is important! Several studies have shown that if a dog is a carrier of the defective gene that causes dysplasia, environmental factors such as too much exercise, extra wieght, diet) may have an impact on how quickly the disease spreads.
So, if your dog has dysplasia, diet may have an aggravating effect; if the dog does not have dysplasia, diet won't make any difference.
You'll notice that I refer to independant studies. It's true that studies funded by feed companies have produced different results. Others claim that dysplasia is caused by diet because it's a cheaper alternative to carrying out all the necessary medical tests to eradicate the disease once and for all from their breeding program.
For example, we've noticed with our dogs that using Eukanuba Large Breed dog food we've only had one case of hip dysplasia and one case of elbow dysplasia out of 260 pups in 10 years ( > 0.7%). Despite this, we can't conclude that diet has anything to do with it. However, our breeding program includes rigorous medical tests. We've also noticed a significant reduction in the level of juvenial *** since we started using Eukanuba dog food.
Please, you can't believe what everyone says (including us) and find out for yourself relying of course of studies conducted by independent organizations!
2 Source: Journal of American Veterinary Medical Association, JAVMA. |
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