What vitamins and supplements should I get for my pet?

Vitamins and supplements help to supply the necessary nutrients for your pet’s health, but which vitamins are essential for your beloved fur friend? Here’s a list of some of the most important supplements your pets should be receiving:

As a good pet owner, a well-balanced meal should always be served for your beloved fluffy friend. However, there are many other ways to ensure your pet gets the nutrition they need as well, such as vitamins and supplements that help to boost your pet’s health. If you’re unsure on what sort of vitamins your pet needs, however, here’s a quick list of the necessary nutrients and supplements your furry pal should get!

Vitamin A

Vitamin A is well-known to be able to protect one’s eyesight, and that’s no exception for our animal friends. While it does help to maintain your pet’s sight, which is particularly essential for cats’ night vision, it also helps to support the immune system, improve cell functions, and growth.

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Vitamin B

Vitamin B is an important vitamin for your pets too, with many benefits that can help boost their health and nutrition. Here are just some of the pros that comes with ingesting food and supplements with Vitamin B:

Vitamin B1/Thiamine: This vitamin helps with energy and carbohydrate metabolism. As dogs and cats can’t generate thiamine on their own, their diet should definitely contain a sufficient amount of the vitamin.

Vitamin B2/Riboflavin: This vitamin helps with enzyme function, as well as ensure that your pet has a healthy coat and skin, along with the growth and development of muscles.

Vitamin B5/Pantothenic acid: It helps in the oxidation of glucose and fatty acids, thus providing energy to your beloved pet. A deficiency in this vitamin may lead to detrimental effects on your pet’s liver and intestinal functions, so be sure that your fur friend has a sufficient amount of vitamin in their meals and supplements!

Vitamin B6: An extremely important vitamin, it helps with glucose generation as well as red blood cell and nervous system function. It also assists in fatty acids, amino acids, and carbohydrate metabolism, making it an essential vitamin to have in your pet’s diet.

Vitamin B9/Folic acid: Obtained from poultry, eggs, and meat, this particular vitamin helps in amino acid and nucleotide metabolism, boosting growth and development especially in younger animals.

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Vitamin D

Known as the “sunshine vitamin”, Vitamin D is essential for your pet’s bone growth and maintenance, helping to regulate the balance of minerals such as calcium and phosphorus in their body. Dairy products are a good source of Vitamin D so be sure to stock some up for your pet, as a deficiency can affect their muscles and bones, and may even lead to congestive heart failure in some.

Essential Fatty Acids

Fatty acids are important for your pets too, especially Omega-6 and Omega-3 fatty acids. These help to keep your beloved fluffy pal’s coats shiny and healthy and ensures proper eye and brain development in younger pets, as well as protect your fur pal’s immune system.

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Joint Supplements

For aging pets, arthritis is one of the many problems to look out for. As such, joint supplements such as ARTHRIX® and VetActiv8 Joint Health can help with the long-term maintenance of age-related or hereditary joint problems, making their movements and actions much more comfortable!

Over-ingesting vitamins

However, you should take note not to overfeed your pets with these vitamins and supplements, as many of them can have counterproductive effects and may even be toxic in large doses.

One such example would be Vitamin A, which in high doses can result in loss of appetite, lethargy, dehydration, and joint pain. An overdose on Vitamin C can also cause overly acidic urine, possibly causing bloody urine or a urinary blockage.

As such, be sure to check with your veterinarian before putting your pet on any vitamins or supplements! They can help determine the healthy doses you should feed your pet, as well as test for any allergies they might have. 

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At the end of the day, make sure your pet’s got a well-balanced diet that provides them with the necessary vitamins first before using supplements to boost their nutrition. This way, your pet will be able to get the sufficient amount of vitamins needed to keep them healthy and strong!