Supplementation with calcium has also been implicated. More recently studies with dogs have clearly demonstrated the adverse effects of high or unrestricted levels of nutrient intake on growth rate and on the development of degenerative skeletal diseases such as hip dysplasia and osteochondritis. Dr. George Lust and B. Sheff of Cornell did studies on sixty Labrador Retriever puppies. All of the restricted intake pups developed normal hips. This study ties in well with related findings in other species.
Joint problems are common in meat animals fed high nutrient diets for maximal gowth and weight gain.
In the case of meat animals, they end up in the slaughter house, so it doesn't matter. Many of these beautiful young animals suffer from bone and joint problems as a result, and are unsound by the time they reach the prime of life. A 1979 study on wildlife energetics, supervised by Dr. William Mautz, a wildlife biologist, at the University of New Hampshire Wildlife Research facility in Brentwood, NH, using white tailed deer had similar results. They also suffered from bone and joint problems such as osteochondritis, hip and elbow dysplasia and stress fractures. The group fed marginally were smaller, took longer to reach sexual maturity, but suffered no bone or joint problems.