How can an ideal diet (high protein) cause liver failure? Where to people get this notion from? Let me guess! Some well meaning prescription food pushing Vet or worse, some kibble company label! Or how about just somebody who wants to make money selling "cook books" for dogs!
You know what may have spawned this? Some sort of bizarre equivocation
of human biology with dog biology. I *have* heard from reputable
sources that *HUMANS* can get serious liver/kidney problems if they go
on extremely high to all-protein diets (this came up with all the
recently high-protein low-carb diets). How much you want to bet that
some quick-thinking pet food marketer started spreading that as being
applicable to dogs and cats as a way to try and keep people from
questioning the high grain content of most commercial pet foods?
A Yorkshire Terrier is not an individual species, he's a dog! A small dog, yes, needing less amount of food but non the less has the same nutritional requirements as any other breed! If a dog got "sick" on high protein kibble that was probably due to the fact that carnevoirs were not designed by nature to eat grains or vegetables, fruits or dairy, or cooked meat for that matter!
I have looked into it and base my assertions on facts rather than the nonsense that has been passed down on the breeds lists. Studies show that reducing protein in large and small breeds (or any growing puppy) is harmful, in fact is detrimental to growth and health...... pedigreebreeder.com.au"Protein nutrition is obviously still not completely understood, however it is an essential part of every dog's diet. You can't give too much protein inyour dog's diet; however quality not quantity makes the difference." purina.com "Dietary protein requirements are much higher for growing puppies than for fully grown dogs. In addition to supplying the protein needed to support protein turnover and normal cellular metabolism, protein is needed to build growing muscles and other tissues." "Research at the Purina Pet Care Center and at other facilities has shown that puppies fed inadequate protein do not grow as well and are more susceptible to health problems than those fed nutritionally complete diets.At the Pet Care Center, English setter puppies that were fed a low-protein diet showed stunted growth compared to puppies fed higher levels of protein.However, when the protein level was increased in the puppies at the Pet CareCenter, the deficiency was corrected." The research also confirmed that dietary protein did not have detrimental effects on liver and kidney functioning." So the conclusion of the above referenced research stresses the need for high quality protein to achieve the best growth and immune systems. No proof was found that protein amounts affect skeletal growth in any adverse,except when using too little or too poor quality. Additionally, while protein does not cause orthopedic problems, other nutrients can.
www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu "In addition to excessive calcium intake, researchers have shown that over nutrition can also initiate these disturbances in skeletal maturation and growth. An excess protein intake, without an excess of other nutrients revealed NOT to influence skeletal maturation and growth in growing