Vitamins & Minerals for Pets, Calcium & Phosphorus

Vitamins and Minerals Can Be Dangerous for Pets – Calcium & Phosphorus
In a previous blog we discussed why iron, zinc, and vitamin C supplements can be harmful. Let’s explore other minerals included in multivitamin and mineral supplements that also have the potential to cause harm.

Calcium and Phosphorus--in Excess
Calcium and phosphorus are two minerals that all pets need, but they can cause serious health problems when given in supplements. Even when vitamin and mineral supplements are formulated specifically for pets, they are seldom ideal because the proportion of individual ingredients is not likely to match your particular pet’s ability to absorb and excrete them. For example, if you provide a vitamin and mineral supplement that has a little too much phosphorus for your pet, it will cause calcium deficiency and weak bones. If you provide a supplement that has a little too much calcium for growing puppies or kittens, it increases the likelihood that they will have bone irregularities and arthritis as adults. Bone pain and arthritis are chronic problems that take the joy out of exercise and playing with the family.

Milk Fever Is Caused By Calcium Supplements
Another example of harm that can come from supplements is milk fever that is caused by calcium supplements. Milk fever develops if we give calcium supplements to pregnant dogs and cats. When bitches and queens receive calcium supplements, their absorption of calcium decrease in order to maintain a normal calcium and phosphorus ratio. When these pets deliver their young and begin nursing, they suddenly need an increased amount of calcium but the mechanisms for increasing absorption have been turned off and are slow to turn back on. Nursing dogs and cats that cannot switch calcium absorption into high gear quickly develop milk fever or eclampsia due to hypocalcemia. The nursing mother with milk fever has muscle trembling, seizures, and irregular heart rhythms. Without emergency care, these nursing bitches and queens die because the brain, heart, and muscles don’t have the calcium they need.

More on the Dangers of Supplements To Come
In future blogs, we’ll cover other vitamins and minerals that cause problems when given in supplements. For most pets, it’s wiser to give whole foods than to give multivitamin and mineral supplements.

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Vitamins & Minerals for Pets, Iron, Copper, Zinc, & Vitamin C

Vitamins & Minerals Can Be Dangerous for Pets - Iron, Copper, Zinc, & Vitamin CIt's easy to worry that you're not feeding your pet well, but providing a multivitamin can do more harm than good. Vitamins and minerals interact in complex ways, and even multivitamins formulated for pets are not necessarily good for them.

Iron, Copper, & Vitamin C
Let's say your pet is anemic and you want to give it iron and vitamin C to build up red blood cells and correct the anemia. You pick out a multivitamin with iron and vitamin C that advertises to help increase pets' energy and build up the blood. While it's true that vitamin C and iron help build red blood cells, too much vitamin C and iron makes it difficult for your pet to absorb the copper it needs. Copper is just as important for building red blood cells as iron and vitamin C are.

Zinc
Similar problems occur when supplementing with zinc: zinc decreases copper absorption and makes it difficult for your pet to make red blood cells.

To make matters worse, supplementing with iron, zinc, or copper causes chronic liver disease in some dogs. Often this is because dogs have a genetic enzyme deficiency that prevents them from moving minerals out of their body. For these dogs the liver swells as it becomes overwhelmed with copper, iron, and other minerals. These dogs experience liver pain throughout life, and most die at a young age.

More On The Dangers of Supplements To Come
In future blogs, we’ll cover other vitamins and minerals that cause problems when given in supplements. For most dogs, it’s wiser to give whole foods than to give multivitamin and mineral supplements.

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Dog Breed Tests

Dog Breed Tests, the Benefits of Knowing a Dog's Breed

Knowing a dog’s breed is fun, and it’s helpful medically because different breeds are predisposed to develop different health problems. For example, Yorkshire Terriers are inclined to develop liver problems, and Rottweilers are inclined to develop bone cancer.

Crazy Breed Test Results

To identify the genetics of adopted dogs, many families are paying $60-80 for breed tests through their veterinary clinics. While these tests may be useful, in some cases they aren’t. The dog pictured above was declaired to be a Rottweiler -- even though the testing agency had the dog’s photo. The family said they thought this was so funny, and they love telling the story so much, that they never even asked for their money back.

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Copper Supplements for Dogs

Dog Breeds and the Danger of Copper Supplements
We’re discussing medications and how they affect dogs of different breeds. We looked at the tranquilizer Acepromazine and the heart medication Pimobendan and which breeds should not have these medications. Now, let’s look at supplements that contain copper because some breeds should not have these supplements.

Copper Is Found In Balance With Other Minerals In Nature
In nature, there are small amounts—but a wide variety—of minerals contained in meat and plants. Some of the minerals actually compete for absorption so that a large amount of one mineral, such as copper, is never absorbed. In supplements, this competition and balance is lost because an arbitrarily chosen amount of mineral is added and not all minerals and vitamins that naturally occur are included. Thus, feeding a vitamin and mineral supplement rather than a whole food supplement can encourage an imbalance. Imbalances make dogs sick, especially if the minerals from the supplements are stored in the liver. One of the lethal mineral imbalances is caused by copper.

Dog Breeds That Should Not Have Copper Supplements
Although all dogs need copper, there are some breeds that lack the enzymes to move copper from the liver to the cells. If supplements containing copper are given, the rate at which the liver swells with copper is quite rapid. Eventually the liver is so full of copper that the liver fails. Because liver activities are essential for maintaining life, liver failure causes death.

Among the breeds especially prone to develop copper hepatopathy (hepato=liver & pathy=disease or pathology) are the Bedlington Terrier, Skye Terrier, Westie, and Doberman Pinscher. New information suggests several other breeds, including the Cocker Spaniel and Labrador Retriever, may also have genetic inclination to develop copper storage disease and hepatopathy. To protect your pet, don’t give vitamin and mineral supplements—only whole food supplements.

Health Problems Suggesting Liver Failure--These Dogs Should Not Have Copper Supplements
Take precautions to decease copper in the food if your dog
· has any tendency to liver disease, such as cancer or hepatiis,
· is on medications that stress the liver, such as prednisone,
· has a history of elevated liver enzymes (SAP, ALT, or ALP) or
· has jaundice.

Avoiding High Sources of Copper
To decrease copper in the food and water don’t use copper pots for preparing dog food and don’t give water that has run through copper pipes. Avoid high copper foods including brewers yeast, organ meats, dried beans, and avocado. Instead feed low-copper foods, such as white meat from chicken and turkey, beef, eggs, oats and rice.

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Pimobendan Medication for Dogs

Dog Breeds and Medication Differences, Pimobendan
We’re looking at how dog breeds react differently to medications. In a previous blog we discussed the tranquilizer, Acepromazine. Now, let’s look at the new cardiac medication, Pimobendan.

Different breeds of dogs:
· benefit from Pimobendan early in their disease
· should not have Pimobendan early in their disease process
· should never have it.

What Pimobendan Does
Pimobendan is prescribed for heart disease before heart failure develops because it strengthens the force of the heart’s contraction and it has dilates blood vessels so the heart doesn’t need to pump as hard to circulate the blood.

Which Dog Breeds Should Have Pimobendan
The dog breeds that benefit from Pimobendan when they have just been diagnosed with heart disease have large, floppy hearts that don’t contract efficiently. This is called dilated cardiomyopathy or DCM. The tendency to develop a large, floppy heart (DCM) is usually inherited by large and giant dogs, including the Afghan, Boxer, Borzoi, Doberman Pinscher, German Shepherd, Great Dane, Irish Wolfhound, Newfoundland, Old English Sheepdog, Saint Bernard, and Scottish Deerhound. For most breeds, males are twice as likely to become ill as females.

Which Dog Breeds Should Not Have Pimobendan
Dog breeds that should not be given Pimobendan until their heart disease has progressed are small and medium-sized breeds with faulty mitral valves (endocardiosis): Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Cocker Spaniel, Chihuahua, Dachshund, Miniature Pinscher, Miniature and Toy Poodle, Pomeranian, Maltese, Miniature Schnauzer, Shih Tzu, Whippet, and Yorkshire Terrier. When these breeds have early heart disease they actually develop heart failure faster when given Pimobendan than when not given it.

A dog breed that may not benefit from Pimobendan at any time is the English Cocker Spaniel. Spaniels are prone to develop a dilated heart because of low taurine levels in the heart muscle. The heart taurine levels are low even when the blood taurine levels are normal. Spaniels can be given taurine, Lasix, and other medications for heart disease rather than Pimobendan.

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Acepromazine, Dog Medication

Dog breeds and medication differences: Acepromazine
There is such a big difference between dog breeds that we shouldn’t be surprised there are differences in how breeds respond to medications. For example, the tranquilizing drug acepromazine (Ace), which is prescribed for anxiety, may calm some Labradors, but it doesn’t seem to do much for Jack Russells, Westies, Scotties, and other terriers. On the other hand, Ace has such a strong effect that it is not a good drug for Greyhounds, Mastiffs, Irish Wolfhounds, Great Danes, and other large-breed dogs. Knowing which medications are helpful and which are harmful for your pets makes it easier to take good care of them.

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