# Calcium/phosphorus ratio?



## rosemaryninja (Sep 28, 2007)

How do I maintain a good calcium/phosphorus ratio in Spunky's raw diet?

Will regular raw bones (she usually gets pork, chicken, beef, lamb and various kinds of fish) do the trick for me? 

I've read that when feeding certain bones, I should supplement with egg shell powder or bone dust to maintain this ratio. When should I supplement with this?


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## mydogspot (Mar 25, 2008)

I found all of my calcium/phos. info. on www.dogfoodproject.com 

I'm feeding one of my dog a very limited home prepared diet due to allergies so this was a huge issue for me too.


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## briteday (Feb 10, 2007)

I'll keep looking for the chart that I have somewhere on various species and the calciumhosphorus ratios. But in the meanwhile remember to do poop patro on occasion. If the stool is very chalky white all the time your dogs are probably getting a bit too much calcium (bone) and you can cut back. If the stools are runny or dark then they are getting too much phosphorus (meat). I don't adjust if it is just a one time occurrence. But you are looking for trends. Especially if your dog is really constipated and then passes white stools. Too much bone. If you are feeding any muscle meat without bone here's a guideline that I found to help you add calcium to the meat to correctly proportion the C ratio...

Add 800 to 1000 mg calcium per pound of food fed. You can use ground eggshell at the rate of 1/2 teaspoon per pound of food, or any other form of calcium is fine, including calcium carbonate, calcium lactate, calcium citrate and vegetable calcium, such as Animal Essentials Natural Calcium. If you use bone meal, add an amount that provides 1000 to 1200 mg calcium (more is needed than when using plain calcium due to the amount of phosphorus in the bone meal). Do not use supplements that contain vitamin D, as the amount will be too high. These guidelines are for adult dogs only.


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