Vitamin C and older dogs

[chivas]

I read something interesting while back (and cant remember WHere, but i think it was Whole Dog Journal} about Vitamin C for older dogs helping their cognizant ( I KNOW i misspelled that) abilities. Well i tried 500mg daily on my 33lbs 15 yr old mixed breed and he was gone from pacing at night and getting lost in the yard to acting like he did 2 years ago which was totally normal. Maybe be a good FYI for anyone with an older dog.
Kim

[rottnkidd]

Hi Kim - Great news! Here's an article by Catherine O'Driscoll
(author of "Who Killed the Darling Buds of May/What Vets Don't Tell You About Vaccines")
The article is on the benefits of Vit C for dogs -
http://members.aol.com/abywood/www/vit_c.htm
Best wishes-
kathy

[Sharon Marples]

Excellent article. Everyone of our dogs is fed 2000 mg of Vitamin C per day, 1000 with each meal. We start them at 500 mg a day when they are weaned and gradually increase it (about 250 mg every other week) until they are up to that dose.

When we are on the road showing or if our dogs have to have surgery, that amount is upped to help with the stress of travel or surgery. For the busy show season, our show dogs are kept on 1500 - 2000 mg per meal.

We've had many, many dogs reach the double digits in their lifetimes, I can't say that Vitamin C helped them to get there, but I certainly don't think it ever had a negative effect on them! I'm a firm believer in it. Since it is a water soluble so you can't give your dog too much, his own system will throw it off. If you give them too much before their system is adjusted to it, it may cause some diarrhea, but you can back off on the doseage until they become normal and then proceed with upping the dose as their system adjusts to it.

Sharon Marples

[Rott-Wiley]

I supplement with vitamin C, and B complex every meal for my dogs. I just don't over dose them. I believe they do help improve my dogs diet.

[mmgy]

I had Delilah (12 3/4) on an antioxidant cocktail primarily for her cancer.........recently we put Homer (14 1/2) on it, for old-age reasons. I'll let you know how it works. Here's what's in it:

"Each 880 mg capsule contains 2,500 IU Vitamin A, 3,750 IU Beta-Carotene, 250 mg Vitamin C, 75 IU Vitamin E, 2.5 mg Pyridoxal 5-Phosphate, 10 mg Pyridoxine HCl, 18.75 mg Magnesium, 0.5 mg Manganese, 1.25 mg Copper, 7.5 mg Zinc, 0.025 mg Selenium, 0.0125 mg Molybdenum, 25 mg L-Cysteine (Enteric Coated) , 25 mg DL-Methionine (Enteric Coated), 20 mg Alpha Lipoic Acid, 12.5 mg L-Glutathione (Enteric Coated), 12.5 mg L-Lysine HCl, 1,250 Units Super Oxide Dismutase (SOD) (Enteric Coated), 1,250 Units Glutathione Paroxidase (Enteric Coated), 5,000 Units Catalase (Enteric Coated), 2.5 mg Coenzyme Q10."

[chivas]

Well, I have always been a firm believer in Vitamin C after my Chivas was given it (8000mg daily) to help her battle osteo. She was only given 1 month to live at diagnosis and at the time probably had the cancer for 6 months, yet she lived on another 5 months. Did the Vitamin C help? I have no idea, she was on alot of other things too, but i like to think it did help her. I miss her terribly.
Kim

[Sharon Marples]

mmgy,

How many of those pills are you giving a day? The Vit C and Vit E dosage seems very low to me. Our dogs get anywhere from 2000 - 4000 units of Vit C a day and they get 400 units of Vit E a day.

Just curious,
Sharon

[mmgy]

Sorry, I guess that does matter! I believe it's one per 20 lb. of body weight. We use it in addition to a multivitamin, which increases the total daily vitamin C. We have used vit C&E separately like you in the past...........for these two particular cases, I like the more complete profile in the cocktail.

[mmgy]

Update:

It's been nearly two months. In the few weeks before we started Homer on the Cell Advance, he had been getting up in the night on occasion, wandering around, or having to go out and often not making it. I remembered reading---among other places----on Hill's Prescription website about that b/d "brain diet" they've "invented" for seniors. (Their logic is good, why's the food so crappy????:p):D Well, since we started him on it, he hasn't gotten up in the night ONE SINGLE TIME. Since he's relatively healthy, I'm thinking that he's good proof that antioxidants can help an old dog mentally. And he doesn't have to eat junk to be that way. Go Homer!!!