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by Wendy Volhard |
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What do the following have in common?
Sally, a two year old Cocker Spaniel with beautiful, melting, brown eyes, was presented to me at a seminar with
these symptoms. Her owner, a conscientious young woman was quite distraught. She had been carefully following her
veterinarian's recommendation as to diet, and provided an Although there seemed to be no apparent reason for Sally's problems, my immediate thought was that Sally was
deficient in B-complex vitamins. Vitamin B complex acts as a co-enzyme promoting biochemical reactions to change
carbohydrates into glucose providing energy to the body. It is Commercial dog food contains this complex, but it is fragile, being destroyed by heat, light and air. During processing dog food reaches temperatures beyond 118 degrees F. that kill or alter many vitamins, minerals and amino acids. The amount of complex actually available to the dog through such foods therefore is minimal. Many of the B-vitamins are also destroyed when exposed to light and air. So if an owner leaves food available for the dog for any length of time, any B-complex vitamins that are left, are destroyed. It is crucial therefore that the B-complex vitamins are added as a supplement both to commercial and home made diets. This complex is available naturally in liver, milk, eggs, brewers yeast, wheat bran, wheat germ, kelp, molasses, kidney and heart, but even diets containing these, often fall short of providing today's dog with enough Vitamin B to counteract environmental stresses. Being a water soluble vitamin, it needs to be fed twice a day. Vegetarian diets for dogs are notoriously low in Vitamin B and it is critical that the Complex be added to these diets. You can tell if your dog has this deficiency by looking at the following list ...
The B-complex vitamins work more efficiently if there is sufficient Vitamin C in the diet and both are important
for protein and fat absorption. If your dog has chronic ear problems, kidney, liver or When feeding your dog either naturally or using commercial diets, add 1 mg of B-Complex for every one pound the dog weighs. For example, if you have a 25 lb. dog, you would add 25 mg. B-Complex twice a day, and for a 50 lb. dog, 50 mg. B-complex twice a day. Vitamin C can be added as follows: for every 25 lb. of dog add 500 mg. So a 75 lb. dog would get 1,500 mg. and a 100 lb. dog would get 2,000 mg or 2 grams. This is also fed twice a day. The B vitamins can be bought as single components. It is possible to buy B-1, B6, B12, etc. Many people use these vitamins without using the whole complex. None of these are found naturally. Foods containing B vitamins contain several of them, and there is no known food in which they are isolated. So if you decide to feed extra B6, for example, it should always be fed along with a complex tablet. No one part of the vitamin should be isolated for more than one month without re-evaluation. B-Complex vitamins should also be fed at any time antibiotics are used. Most antibiotics destroy the B-vitamins in the intestinal tract, often resulting in diarrhea. Providing enough Vitamin B complex will help your dog stay healthy and young and will allow him to deal with daily stresses and strains. Sally, the Cocker Spaniel is now a happy dog. Her teeth are clean, her breath doesn't smell, she is shedding
naturally twice a year, the spots on her tummy have disappeared, and her pigmentation has
References In associaton with Amazon.com, the following items can be ordered through their website and our new Westie World book shop. Click on the link to read more about this book. The Holistic Guide for a Healthy Dog Staying Healthy with Nutrition Nutrient Requirement of Dogs, Rev. Ed.
(Nutrient Requirements of Domestic Animals)
Wendy Volhard
Copyright © 1997 Wendy Volhard |
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