Just like people, dogs need vitamins too if they are going to lead strong, healthy lives. The next time you find yourself at the pet store, you should shop around for the best combination of vitamins that boost the health of your pooch. You may want to talk to your veterinarian about what vitamins are best for the breed, age, and gender of your dog, but you can also find that information online from reputable sources.
Are Vitamin Supplements Necessary?
This depends on the food that they consume during the day. Most dog food does not have the full range of vitamins that your dog needs. However, most dog food brands will have portions of what is needed, so you will need to read the label carefully.
You can provide additional snacks and treats for your dog, but remember that dogs cannot consume certain foods, so you are better off providing supplements if the dog food they consume does not have all of what they need.
Top Seven Vitamins
What follows are seven essential vitamins that your dog needs daily to help live a healthy, active lifestyle.
Vitamin A: This vitamin assists in helping your dog to grow strong, improve their immune system, the function of their cells, and fetal development as well if they are female dogs.
Vitamin B: This group of vitamins offers several advantages to improve the health of your dog.
- B6: Promotes better function of nervous system, red blood cells, and maintenance of glucose
- Folic Acid: Helps with synthesis of mitochondrial protein and nucleotide metabolism
- Niacin: Along with Riboflavin and B12 provides better function for enzymes
- Thiamine: Regulates energy levels, metabolizes carbohydrates, and more
Vitamin C: It is true that dogs can synthesize Vitamin C to a certain degree. But adding more will help maintain cognitive development, reduce inflammation, and keep away the harmful free radicals which prematurely age your dog.
Vitamin D: The vitamin that humans can derive from sunshine, dogs because of their fur will need what Vitamin D offers to help grow healthy and strong bones. This is because Vitamin D contains calcium, so be sure not to exceed 100% of their daily requirement.
Vitamin E: This fat-soluble vitamin helps improve cell function and metabolizes fat. However, it is the absence of the vitamin that becomes most noticeable, so be sure they consume 100% of their daily requirement.
Vitamin K: This helps protect your dog by resisting any poisons that may be consumed by the proper clotting of the blood.
Again, be sure that you do not exceed 100% of their daily requirement for any of the vitamins that they need to consume. While the over-consumption of most vitamins by a small amount may do no harm, there are certain vitamins such as Vitamin D that need to stay at 100% because of the calcium content.
Purchasing vitamin supplements can help boost the health of your pooch all for a low price. Just be sure to get the right amount needed for the best results.