Ingredient & nutrient profile
Calcium
An essential mineral whose amount and balance matter. An ingredient list cannot show whether a recipe supplies appropriate calcium for a growing puppy or an adult cat.
What it contributes
Dogs and cats need calcium as part of an appropriately balanced diet. Calcium and phosphorus work together in skeletal nutrition. Their relationship is one reason that assessing a whole recipe is more useful than judging an isolated ingredient. [1]
Read it in context
Requirements depend on species and life stage. A food intended for growth needs assessment for that purpose; an adult maintenance profile cannot simply be carried over to a puppy or kitten. The same principle applies to raw, cooked and other formats. [2]
What the evidence shows
Pedrinelli and colleagues prepared and analysed 100 online recipes intended for adult dogs or cats. They identified nutritional inadequacies, including problems with calcium supply and calcium-to-phosphorus balance. These were laboratory measurements of selected recipes, not a feeding trial demonstrating illness in animals. They do not show that every homemade or raw diet is inadequate. [3]
Before changing the diet
Do not add a calcium source to an otherwise complete diet on the assumption that extra must be helpful. Changes should be evaluated as part of the entire formulation, especially during growth. A calcium-to-phosphorus ratio alone is insufficient: the actual amounts supplied also matter.
Questions worth asking
Ask for calcium and phosphorus values expressed on a comparable basis, ideally relative to energy intake, and confirmation of the intended species and life stage. For a homemade diet, ask a suitably qualified veterinary nutritionist to assess the full recipe, including supplements and feeding quantity.
Explore the study
Study links follow your species selection. A shared nutrient profile may discuss more than one species.
No matching studies.
The linked clinical study concerns another species. No equivalent study is currently linked here for your selection.
References and review scope
- FEDIAF: nutritional requirements
- FEDIAF 2025 nutritional guidelines, species and life-stage tables
- Pedrinelli et al. (2019), original study
This is an initial, source-linked overview, not a systematic review or a product endorsement. FEDIAF is the European pet-food industry federation; its guidelines provide formulation context rather than an independent clinical trial. Study-specific access limitations are stated above.
Research on this ingredient
Cat
High inorganic phosphorus diets and feline kidney measurements
One study with 1 reviewed arm or dose connection(s).
Arm high-phosphorus-low-calcium-ratio
High inorganic phosphorus diets and feline kidney measurements
Multi ingredient · cat. Two studies involving 48 and 50 healthy adult cats.
Tested form: Diets with higher total/inorganic phosphorus and lower calcium:phosphorus ratios; exact calcium source and amount not reported in the reviewed abstract. Dose: Lower calcium:phosphorus ratio; exact calcium amount not reported in the abstract (Dietary mineral ratio). Duration: The first study stopped after four weeks; duration of the second study not reported in the abstract. Comparator: Lower-phosphorus control foods.
Measured finding: The first study stopped after four weeks because of adverse kidney findings. In the second, mean filtration did not change, but ultrasound changes occurred in 36% of test cats; stones in both groups complicated interpretation.
Limitations: Phosphorus amount, source, and calcium ratio changed together. A universal safe limit cannot be isolated from these comparisons.
This ingredient was part of a combined formulation; the study does not isolate its contribution.
Phosphorus source and calcium balance: a 30-week cat study
One study with 1 reviewed arm or dose connection(s).
Arm calcium-phosphorus-balance
Phosphorus source and calcium balance: a 30-week cat study
Multi ingredient · cat. 75 healthy adult cats, 25 per group.
Tested form: Complete foods with calcium:phosphorus ratios above one; exact calcium source and inclusion not reported in the reviewed abstract. Dose: Calcium:phosphorus ratios above one; exact calcium amount not reported (Dietary mineral ratio). Duration: Seven months. Comparator: Lower-phosphorus control food.
Measured finding: The abstract reports no adverse kidney, bone, or general-health effects. Several mineral and biochemical measurements changed.
Limitations: Results depend on phosphate source, calcium balance, population, and duration. They do not establish safety for all formulations or cats with kidney disease.
This ingredient was part of a combined formulation; the study does not isolate its contribution.
Products listing or mentioning this ingredient
No reviewed product connections are available for display in the current recipe context. This does not establish that products exclude this ingredient.