When To Give Supplements To A Dog
Most dog foods provide only the bare minimum when it comes to basic nutritional requirements. That’s why we always recommend feeding your pet high-quality freeze-dried dog food. Even still, supplementation may be beneficial for supporting your dog’s overall health.1
Unlike humans, dogs’ bodies produce vitamin C. However, if a dog becomes ill or is stressed for long periods of time, his or her supply of this essential vitamin can quickly become depleted. Physical stress (such as digestive problems, herding, hunting, injuries, or illnesses) and emotional stress (relocation, training, weaning, etc.) can both cause a shortage of vitamin C.2
Vitamin C is critical to the health of both humans and dogs.
That’s because it acts as an antioxidant, helping protect the body against the damaging effects of oxidation. While oxidation is important to the proper functioning of the body, it can also cause problems.
For example, oxidation creates harmful molecules known as free radicals. These molecules can do a great deal of damage to cells and can also weaken the immune system. Antioxidants such as vitamin C, help support the body’s natural defense against free radical damage.3,4
Vitamin supplements for homemade dog food diets
If you feed your dog homemade food, your veterinarian might recommend that you supplement the dogâs diet with vitamins and mineral supplements. Or, they might advise you to add certain fruits and vegetables to your dogâs diet to get those same nutrients. Before you feed your dog âpeople food,â familiarize yourself with foods that dogs should avoid and foods that are safe to add to your dogâs diet.
Ongoing medical ailments and symptoms, such as those associated with arthritis or age, can be suppressed with the help of certain vitamin supplements. Likewise, there are certain diseases that prevent dogs from fully absorbing nutrients, so a supplement can help them absorb or make up for nutrient malabsorption. Ask your veterinarian what supplement might be right for your dog.
Here is a list of vitamins that dogs need, as well as sources where these vitamins occur naturally. Most, if not all, of these vitamins can be found in high quality dog food:
A dogâs vitamin requirements depend on their breed and mix, their activity level, their overall health, and their age. If your veterinarian suspects a vitamin deficiency in your dog, theyâll likely order a blood test to measure vitamin levels, and then treat it accordingly.
Donât buy into the myth that your body or your dogâs body âuses the vitamins it needs and pees out what it doesnât need.â If a vitamin isnât water soluble, it can build up in your dog’s liver and cause vitamin toxicity. For example, if a dog ingests too much vitamin A in a single setting â say he gets hold of a bottle of vitamin A pills â that could lead to poisoning and you should take your dog to the vet immediately. On the other hand, if you give your dog too many human supplements over time, you can make your dog sick. Symptoms of vitamin overdose include diarrhea, lethargy, stomach upset.
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Grocery stores and pharmacies are stocked with row upon row of human vitamins. With so many options for us, it is completely logical that we wonder if dog vitamins are the right choice for our pets, too.
But do dogs actually need vitamins? Are there any risks? Which vitamins should you give your dog? Here are some answers.
Vitamins are organic compounds that are necessary to sustain life. Most are found naturally in food. Animals’ bodies need vitamins for growth and maintenance.
You are probably familiar with most of the vitamins human and animal bodies need:
Dogs need these vitamins, too, although it is very important that we realize they may need them in different amounts than people do.
Vitamin A, in case you’ve ever wondered, is the vitamin in carrots that is responsible for that good vision your parents promised you. This fat-soluble vitamin is also responsible for growth, fetal development, immune function, and cell function. There are eye care supplements for dogs that include Vitamin A.
The B vitamins are a group of important vitamins that play a role in your dog’s health.
Vitamin C is an important antioxidant. It scavenges potentially harmful free radicals in the body and can help reduce inflammation and cognitive aging. Dogs can actually synthesize vitamin C on their own in their livers, but in some cases supplementation may offer health benefits.
Vitamin D, or the “sunshine vitamin,” allows your dog’s body to balance minerals like phosphorous and calcium for healthy bone growth. Without it, your dog would not be able to develop properly or maintain healthy muscles and bones.
Vitamin E is one of your dog’s defenses against oxidative damage. This fat-soluble vitamin is also essential for cell function and fat metabolism. Deficiencies can lead to eye and muscle degeneration and reproductive problems.
Vitamin K is a fat-soluble vitamin instrumental in activating your dog’s blood’s ability to clot. Ingestion of certain rat and mouse poisons inhibit dogs’ ability to use the vitamin K in their bodies, which leads to hemorrhaging and death if not treated.
Choline is a necessary component of the phospholipid cell membrane. It supports healthy brain and liver function, and is occasionally used as part of a treatment plan for pets with epilepsy.
Your dog gets his vitamins from dog food. Commercial dog food diets labeled “complete and balanced” are specially formulated to contain all of the vitamins, minerals, and nutrients your dog needs.
Foods catered toward different life stages, like puppy food, adult dog food, and senior dog food, contain different levels of certain vitamins, depending on the requirements of that life stage. This is especially important for large breed puppy foods, as these breeds can develop diseases, such as hip dysplasia, if their food contains vitamins and minerals, like calcium, that make them grow too quickly.
Dogs fed an appropriate commercial diet should not require vitamin supplements unless recommended otherwise by a veterinarian. Dogs fed a homemade diet, on the other hand, may require supplements to ensure that they are getting enough vitamins with their meals. However, these vitamins should be given to match the diet, according to veterinary nutritionist Susan Wynn, DVM. Simply feeding these dogs a vitamin with dinner is not enough.
Can I give my Dog Human Vitamins?
You know those multi-vitamins you take every morning (or should take every morning)? Can’t you just slide one of those to your pooch once a day and skip the hassle of researching and buying specialized pet supplements? It’s easy—but it’s rarely a good idea. We floated this thought to a community of experienced pet owners, veterinarians, and wellness specialists. Here’s what they had to say on the topic:
[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.21.1″ custom_padding=”|30px||30px” custom_margin=”50px|||” z_index_tablet=”500″][et_pb_column type=”1_4″][et_pb_team_member admin_label=”Dr. Jim D. Carlson” _builder_version=”3.21.1″ body_font_size=”12″ text_orientation=”center” header_text_align=”center” body_text_align=”center” name=”Dr. Jim D. Carlson” _url=”https://petminerals.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Dr.-Jim-D.-Carlson.jpg” z_index_tablet=”500″ body_line_height=”1.6em” position=”Holistic Veterinarian”]
Jim D. Carlson, DVM CVA CVTP, owner and holistic veterinarian at Riverside Animal Clinic & Holistic Center of McHenry, Illinois.
Human vitamins are not dog vitamins and should not be used as a replacement unless recommended by your veterinarian with a specific quantity and duration. Since dog foods contain all of the essential daily requirements, most dog vitamins only contain about 20 percent of the daily requirement to avoid overdosing your dog. Human vitamins will provide 100 percent of the daily requirement, so if your dog is eating its dog food and taking a human vitamin, it will be receiving more than the daily recommended amount of vitamins and supplements.
Prenatal vitamins can be especially toxic because of the levels of iron contained in the product and may create iron toxicity which can be dangerous to your dog. Signs of iron toxicity include: vomiting, diarrhea, bloody diarrhea, lethargy, and shock among others. Other vitamins that are potentially toxic are vitamins D and B, which could have similar symptoms to iron toxicity.
Accidental ingestion is the most common cause of vitamin toxicity but prolonged over-supplementing is just as problematic to the unknowing pet owner and is often overlooked when considering reasons for their pet’s sickness with their veterinarian.
Proper storage of vitamins is important in the home. Some human vitamins are chewy and gummy and smell great so a pet is attracted to the bottle. With more vitamins and supplements being sold in a candy-like form, there is a chance that pets will be more attracted to their fun shape and texture. Remember to put away your vitamins, pick up any pills or gummies that fall on the floor and keep bottles in upper cabinets.
When choosing vitamins for your dog, consult with your veterinarian and then choose only those supplements approved by your veterinarian or the National Animal Supplement Council, which provides a seal of approval on the product label. Only use the vitamins for a recommended period of time and for specific reasons to avoid overdosing and creating health problems.
There are several issues with giving dogs human vitamin supplements. The biggest problem is one of vitamin D. Dogs require vitamin D, or D3, cholecalciferol, because they don’t make their own in their skin from the sun like humans do. There has not been a lot of research on vitamin D requirements for dogs. We know that not enough of it is bad and too much of it is worse.
Although dogs require vitamin D, too much vitamin D is toxic for dogs, and most human multivitamins have too much. The current recommendation for dogs is 500IU per kilo of food. The lowest amount of vitamin D in a multivitamin commonly available for humans is 400IU in a very few children’s vitamins.
Vitamin D is fat soluble. That means that it’s stored in the body, and an overdose is not readily excreted and not easy to treat. Furthermore, the amount of vitamin D required varies by the dog’s A) sex, B) age, C) activity level, and D) breed. Arctic working dogs, for example, require more than a French Bulldog whose chief activity is snoring.
If you’re feeding your dog a quality dog food, then the dog is likely getting enough vitamin D. If you’re making homemade food, then the dog is likely not getting enough without supplementation. However, if you’re making homemade food, there’s a good chance the food is also lacking in the amino acid, taurine, required by dogs.
So, the only reason to supplement would be if you are not buying commercially prepared food. And if you’re making your own food, then you need to worry about more than just vitamin D. You need to worry about the ratio of calcium to phosphorus and a long list of other vitamins and minerals not necessarily in the correct ratios for dogs.
A child’s multivitamin with vitamin D not exceeding 400IU is a good temporary solution while you investigate a better one with a licensed veterinary nutritionist. If you’re going to make homemade dog food, then be sure to buy an accurate and precise laboratory-grade scale for measuring supplements. This kind of scale will easily cost north of $200.
You will have no choice and have to use some human vitamin supplements to fill out the nutritional requirements for the dog, because if you are measuring and adding the vitamins one by one, you won’t be able to buy them all marketed just for dogs. It will also be cheaper to buy the human versions in some cases, but now we’re not talking about multivitamins—we’re talking about individual vitamins and minerals such as iron, magnesium, vitamin E and so forth. In this case, the human versions will often be all there is to choose from.
Cynthia White is a long-form business writer and editor with more than 20 years of experience and a BA in English. She has been a stockbroker, a physician’s assistant, and was a marketing executive for 15 years. She has three special-needs bulldogs and is very active in bulldog rescue.
[/et_pb_team_member][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.19.3″ custom_padding=”|30px||30px”][et_pb_column type=”1_4″][et_pb_team_member admin_label=”Dr. Jennifer Coates” _builder_version=”3.21.1″ body_font_size=”12″ text_orientation=”center” header_text_align=”center” body_text_align=”center” name=”Dr. Jennifer Coates” z_index_tablet=”500″ body_line_height=”1.6em” _url=”https://petminerals.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Dr.-Jennifer-Coates.jpg”]
Dr. Jennifer Coates was valedictorian of her graduating class at the VA-MD Regional College of Veterinary Medicine and has practiced in Virginia, Wyoming, and Colorado.
Dogs can take some human vitamin supplements but others can be quite dangerous due to physiological and dosing differences between people and dogs. It’s very important to talk to your veterinarian before giving any pet a new vitamin supplement. As long as your dog is healthy and eating a nutritionally complete and balanced, life-stage appropriate commercial pet food that conforms to AAFCO (Association of American Feed Control Officials) standards, vitamin supplementation should not be necessary.
Adding extra vitamins may result in the development of toxicities. If you feed your dog a home-prepared food, vitamin supplements are necessary, but the amounts and types need to be determined based on the other ingredients included in the diet. Work closely with your veterinarian or a veterinary nutritionist if you feed a home-prepared diet to your dog. Pets with specific health problems may benefit from a vitamin supplement (vitamin K for certain forms of rodenticide poisoning, for example), but a veterinarian familiar with the specifics of the case will need to prescribe the correct product and dose.
Most pet foods contain enough nutrients that ensure your dog won’t need a multivitamin in the first place. With this in mind, the concentration of human vitamin supplements contains the daily requirement for humans, not for dogs. Especially if they’re already meeting requirements naturally in their diet, you might be ‘nourishing ‘ them with more than their body can handle. That being said, some supplements may be beneficial for your dog but it’s always best to run it past a vet before taking matters into your own hands.
Nate Masterson is a certified health expert and head of natural product development for Maple Holistics, a company dedicated to cruelty-free and sustainable personal care products.
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