The TRUTH about Vitamin C in Dogs and Cats
From: Dr Andrew Jones
Author: Veterinary Secrets Revealed
Website: https://shop.veterinarysecrets.com
Re: What is the TRUTH about Vitamin C?
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Good morning all.
A few readers commented on one of the articles I published last week
on Vitamin C as a supplement.
They had been told that Dogs and Cats DON’T need additional Vitamin
C or that the Vitamin C was harming their pet…
So what is the deal with Vitamin C???
Vitamin C is the body’s primary water-soluble antioxidant, which makes
it an important weapon in the immune system’s arsenal against bacteria
and viruses. It also helps protect unsaturated fatty acids, and the fat-
soluble vitamins A and E from being oxidized, therefore protecting their
potency.
A protective vitamin essential to over-all body health, vitamin C is
especially important for neutralizing free radicals. It also:
Helps in the production of collagen, and maintaining healthy skin
Promotes the healing of wounds, scar tissue, fractures
Strengthens blood vessels
Helps the body utilize iron and folic acid
Supports the thymus gland
Enhances T-cell production, increasing resistance to viral and
bacterial infections, and some allergies
BUT..In a few select diseases, you SHOULDN’T use Vitamin C
Most of the time, and for most pets, it is a GREAT supplement.
In fact my dog Lewis gets a combination supplement that
includes Vitamin C.
The one SPECIFIC case you shouldn’t use it is for
Calcium Oxalate Stones in dogs and cats.
These are an UNUSUAL type of crystal, which form
in acidic urine. If your pet is to ever have
oxalate stones, then you want to employ other
methods of healing.
I have written about these in my book,
https://shop.veterinarysecrets.com
But I feel that it is important that you are
ALL clear about this condition, and EXACTLY what you
should do if it happens.
Here are my TOP SOLUTIONS:
DIET
Prevention centers on creating a urinary environment with minimal
calcium and minimal oxalate as well as creating a urine pH that
is not conducive to calcium oxalate formation.
What to eat..
High Quality but Low Protein diet, as High Protein produces elevated
levels of oxalates.
There are specifically formulated veterinaru diets..I have one
in my clinic for dogs which is Vegetarian..IN this case ONLY I
advise using that diet.
What to Avoid..
OXALATES
Vegetables ~ beets, eggplant, leeks, sweet potatoes, okra, pepper
Greens ~ green beans or peppers, beets, celery, collards, eggplant,
parsley, spinach, Swiss chard, chives, endive, kale, leeks, okra,
rutagbega, summer squash, sweet potatoes, tomatoes
Legumes ~ beans, soy products including tofu
Grains ~ wheat germ
Nuts ~ all
Seeds ~ sesame and tahini
Fruit ~ berries, currants, concord grapes, figs, rhubarb, lemon,
lime, plums, tangerines.
WATER
Water intake is the most important factor in preventing kidney stones.
The additional fluid flushes the bladder,
and doesn’t allow these stones to form.
POTASSIUM CITRATE
By taking potassium citrate orally, citrate levels increase in the urine.
Calcium binds to citrate instead of to oxalate which is a desirable
event since calcium citrate tends to stay dissolved whereas calcium
oxalate tends to precipitate out as mineral deposit. Potassium citrate
also helps create an alkaline urine (in which calcium oxalate stones
have difficulty forming). Potassium citrate supplements are typically
given twice a day.l
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P.S. My children are already getting dressed up
for Halloween…And You’ll be oh pleasantly
FRIGHTENED with what I’m going to be REVEALING..
P.P.S. If you have specific topics you want me
to discuss, please send me off and email and I’ll
do my best to address it. I do appreciate your input
and that’s how I can make my newsletter even more
helpful to you and your pets.
It’s Your Pet. Heal Them At Home!
Best Wishes,
Dr Andrew Jones, DVM
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My Dachshund Toffee ,now weighing about 11 Kg, had earlier suffered spinal bone strain and had started to drag his rear legs and was unable to walk.I put him on 500mg vitamin C tablet daily over the past two years,and also got him to reduce his weightfrom 13 kg to 11kg.He started to walk after a month of his relapse and has been walking normally since then.
The question is:Should I stop the vitamin C tablet due to possibility of oxalates forming in his urine ??
Dogs CAN synthesize their own Vitamin C, that has been widely established. Vitamin is an essential vitamin (must be provided from an outside source) for primates, guinea pigs and a few fish. Dogs do not fall under any of these categories and can easily synthesize their own Vitamin C for their needs.
Excessive Vitamin C (i.e. supplements) can lead to kidney stones in dogs.
Surely as a doctor, you also know that an ailing dog can also have lowered production of Vit C. If you are not aware of this, then maybe you should refresh your training? I have used vit c on dogs and cats and have seen definite improvements. I doubt these results were co-incidences.
Hello Doc. I found your article quite helpful. Though I have one question. You said that vit c can lead to kidney stones in dogs. My dog has renal failure and he has been put with a special diet already. I’ve been giving him vit c for the last few days because he just got out of the vet after I saw puddles of blood that came from his butt. He looks like he’s been having a hard time pooping lately, I can just imagine there are still wounds in his intestines from the bleeding. The difference is that I’ve been giving him Fern C vitamin C. It’s alkaline based so it’s not acidic. I was wondering if this will only worsen my dog’s kidney. But I thought maybe it was okay to give him fern c since it’s not acidic and won’t give him kidney stone. Thank you in advance.
My new kittens have terrible colds. I have been putting ointment in their eyes daily. I think it is called something close to Genocin. They are better but still sneezing and have weepy eyes. Can I break up one of my Vit capsules (1,000 mg) and give it to them in food? Is this harmful? Thanks so much, Patty
My 14 year old, neuter male, has a cold. He has always been sneezer, but his right eye looks like he has a cold in it. Is it okay if I crush up a vitamin c tablet in his food. I will take him to the vet this coming week, but wanted to know if this would possibly help him in the meantime. Any help you could offer will be much appreciated.
thank you
I’m not too keen on the fact that you’re promoting yourself through the selling of veterinary secrets. I prefer when professionals remain professionals, rather than taking the cheesy fad book route.
People need to know that there are no easy and magical answers. Often veterinary care is overlooked due to cost, however, these are the costs of owning a pet. I recommend that your readers save the money from the possible purchase of your book and instead begin a savings account for their pet.
Wow! I bet your vet loves you…and so do the animal care/food companies. As a person who has used non-corporate approaches, I can most certainly say that they are effective and non-detrimental as opposed to veterinary supplied and recommended products. My worst experience with my pets were due to corporate veterinary recommendations. The side effects, which they purposely do not mention, unless asked, were nearly as bad as the malady. No more vaccines, boosters or steroids for my pets. You can do as you like, but your pets, not to mention your wallet, will likely be the poorer for it. As for your suspicious dislike of anything apparently not corporate, well, your motives are more than suspect, presenting absolutely NO proof or suspicion of related maladies. As well, no one has forced you to come here. You may leave at any time. I still remember the so-called ‘research on garlic vis a vis dogs. It was such a manipulated study as to be entirely worthless. The amount of garlic used in the ‘research’ if given to a human proportionally would likely have killed a human as well. I have used it, with ACV, for over 10 years on my dogs and they remain flea free. As you said there are no magical answers and that most emphatically includes your preferred pharmaceutical products. The one sure thing you can expect from pharmaceuticals? Side effects…and not good ones either. Perhaps YOU could show where some of his treatments mentioned were detrimental? You know, like you requested he show in relation to his recommendations? They won’t be forthcoming, will they? You won’t dare ask the same of your vet though, will you. You already know the answers you’ll get and they won’t be anything you would want to share. We’ve all been there, done that.
Perhaps you would consider posting some comments that weren’t bubbling about your book?
my cat does have kidney problems. so maybe c is not good for him. he drinks lots of water and urinates frequently. he had hyper thyroid and was losing so much weight that to save his life in 2008 i brought him for radioactive iodine injection after which he became quite fat. his ekg afterwards showed cardiomyopathy but hecompenatedwell. he got pemphigus and steroid helped him get rid of it. When pemphigus returned, i brought him to 3 different vets who refused to give him even minimal amount of steroid protection/ pemphigud kept spreading, but they still refused. when lymphoma in cranium was discovered oncologist prescribed steroid. everything healed. he was great. back to normal for 2 months. when i was advised to cut steroid dose to half per day, he had relapse. after relapse he recovered pretty well. But after the last chemo on Friday he got worse again. i don’t know what to do. he is due for another chemo next Friday. maybe i should just leave him be. i don’t want to hurt him anymore. i think the first misrake was perhaps an overdose of radioactive iodine brought all this on. he is only 13 yrs old.
I’m not too keen on the fact that you’re promoting yourself through the selling of veterinary secrets. I prefer when professionals remain professionals, rather than taking the cheesy fad book route.
WHILST PEOPLE ARE ENTITLED TO THEIR OPINION I HAVE FOUND ANDREW INFORMATIVE AND VERY HELPFUL AS MOST VETS ARE SO READY TO PEDDLE DRUGS WHICH CAN HAVE A DETRIMENTAL EFFECT ON PETS AND ONES BUDGET, AND YET LEAVES ONE LESS INFORMED.
KATIE GIVE THE GUY A BREAK, EVERYONE HAS TO EARN A LIVING AND SO WHAT IF ANDREW PROMOTES HIS BOOK HOW ELSE WOULD HE SURVIVE OR SUPPORT HIS FAMILY.
PEOPLE HAVE A CHOICE AND NO ONE IS HOLDING A GUN TO PEOPLES HEAD TO BUY THE BOOK.
MOST PEOPLE WHO VIEW THIS SITE WILL STRONGLY DISAGREE WITH YOUR COMMENTS AND MIGHT QUESTION YOUR MOTIVES FOR WRITING SUCH NEGATIVE COMMENTS.
KATIE HAVE YOU NOT THOUGHT PEOPLE ON VERY TIGHT BUDGETS MAY NOT HAVE THE RESOURCES TO VISIT A VET AND RELY ON FREE ADVICE. ULTIMATELY ITS ABOUT THE QUALITY OF HEALTHCARE FOR THE PET AND IF IT WORKS THEN ITS PERSONAL CHOICE. WELL DONE ANDREW AND KEEP WRITING
I think this persons goals are quite questionable. They give zero examples of anything deleterious, instead relying on the tried and true tactic of ad hominid attacks as opposed to any sort of ‘proof’ or logical argument. A sure sign of disinformation.
Katie
im glad he is promoting his book otherwise i wouldnt have found him and my 18 cats would be suffering because i CANT afford vet care for all my cats.
these cats were adandoned on my property,quite a few pregnant,and that is how i got 18 cats in a coupe of years.
everyone is fixed and had shots.
i pay a couple hundred a month to feed and litter them and its tuff.
the other opition is take them to the spca and they most likely will be put to sleep or let them loose to fend for themselves(or if i never took them in)
were they will starve,get sick,get wounds or get killed by a car or ate by a wild animal.that will be there fate.it is for every stray.
so for people like me and others that has love to give,a warm roof over their heads with all the food and water they need but dont have much money need people like DR M.
if it werent for people like me there would be much more starving homeless animals.
please go else were with your uneducated mouth.
your mamma should have taught you if you dont have anything nice to say dont say anything.
this is one of those times
i meant need people like Dr Andrew
and i am thankful for amazon.
uromax for cat crystals or urinary problems helped my cats.i would have never knew about it if it wasnt for amazon.
amazon promotes their site on tv ect to,so do most all business,what does that say about them?
i have had animals all my life,so far i met 2 vets in my 40 years of life,im 45 who acually cared about the animals and not the money,lately over the past 14 years i met 3 vets who care,and i went to a few because i had troulble finding a caring vet.one we went to should not be practicing.
right now i have no vet i will take however long it takes to find a good one,just like i would if i were looking for a doctor for my kids.
so far people like Dr Andrew and suppliments ect from amazon been helping me with my pets help.if there is an emergency we have a loving vet who is open 24/7 at the animal hospital
Hi Dr Andrew
I have 4 Scottish Deerhounds. I have gone over to raw diet as I am fed up with seeing all sorts of chemicals added to dry foods. Dry food to me is processed food. As with humans processed food is convenient but causes so many health problems ….. I understand everything is made up of chemical elements but dogs in the wild ate animal and vegetable matter. The food companies are obliged to state, by law what is in the foods but i know there are some food stuffs that do not need to be disclosed….they’re the ones i’m afraid of.
I give commercially prepared raw food…meats with crushed bones, fruit and veg added added. Usually 85% meat and crushed bone 15% apple, carrot, butternut squash, sea kelp, salmon oil and in 2 of the meats,..chicken and lamb have 50mg/kg VitC. I also give a small chicken carcass, usually one per dog every other day. these carcasses are tiny and only the breast section. Are my dogs getting too much calcium. Their poos are rock hard, much paler and less of it. They do not seem to have any outward problem and all other signs and symptoms appear to be very normal. But am I interfering with their insides??? I also add, SOMETIMES, broccoli, cauliflower, peas (crushed) and sweetcorn ….all mixed frozen veg from supermarket, defrosted and blitzed in the blender then give 2 tablespoons each dog. extra fruit of apples and bananas and segments of satsumas. also they get natural yogurt when I have it… 2 big spoons each I weigh my dogs regularly and feel for condition and alter any quantities according to weight/exercise ..(had to do same for horses)
My worry now is … am I giving too much protein.. too much Calcium too much Vit C?
MY 2 adults are 5yrs old. My 2 pups are 6 month sold.
helga
Hi Again
My above questioning was in response to your Vit C article and the oxylates/urine. Because raw food fans have to try to balance foods I have to find something that is balanced and hopefully safe.