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In short, many people do give their dogs Vitamin C for a number of health reasons. Some dogs have trouble with Vit C as ascorbic acid and do better with other buffered forms such as Ester C.
Combining Vit C with bioflavinoids helps dogs with allergies and a specific form of bioflavinoid, quercetin, is especially good at reducing allergic reactions in dogs. I used that for Chance for his allergies.
What is particularly interesting is that dogs (and other animals), unlike humans, are capable to a certain extent of manufacturing their own Vit C and tend to have variable levels of circulating Vit C in their blood. In humans we know Vit C to be more or less a water soluble vitamin and must replace it daily through our diet. See this article for an interesting report about the use of Vit C in dogs:
Benefits of Vitamin C to Your Dog
http://www.whole-dog-journal.com/issues/1_7/features/5309-1.html
The criteria you can use for dosage is to start at a moderate dosage and raise it slowly about 100 milligrams at a time until it results in loose stools, then back down from that dose. A dog the size of a Giant Schnauzer would do well with 1000 milligrams a day.
I have always recommended using vitamins and supplements manufactured for humans rather than dogs because there is more scrutiny of the quality of these versus the abject lack of attention paid to the manufacture of canine supplements. Pick a company that takes pride in the purity of their product. I like Nature Made and there are a few others that provide the best quality.
So both my dogs get a daily B-50, fish oil capsules plus a daily Vit E. Cassie also gets CO Q10, turmeric (curcumin), and a human grade Glucosamine Chondroitin Complex that includes MSM, herbal blend, more turmeric, Boswellia serrata and hyaluronic acid. This is expensive but I have always felt it was worth it, or at least I hoped it was….
At Cassie’s appointment with the surgeon to prepare for her upcoming knee surgery, he asked me if I used any supplement for her for arthritis. I told him what I use and he was very pleased with what I was giving her, I guess this is a highly recommended complex of glucosamine chondroitin. I started it two years ago on her and he said that has helped her a lot and to keep using it.
my best, patrice
I agree with Sheena. There is an unevenness in the knowledge base for the profession.
In addition, I am always concerned when attending vets do not attempt to rule out the treatable causes of sudden anemia that may not be directly related to autoimmune hemolytic anemia. Many of these things are clear textbook conditions that would be found even in “The 5 Minute Veterinary Consult.”
The initial workup can be pretty simple, it shouldn’t take a lot of time and it certainly doesn’t need to cost the owner a lot of money.
A particular area of concern to me is the disconnect that vets seem to have understanding the relationship of certain tick diseases causing hemolytic anemia or other blood diseases. Now-a-days there are very few places in the world that have escaped the onward march of ticks due to warming climates. And our shrinking world, due to the ease of travel, helps move those tick populations around even more. A SNAP 4DX+ test is so easy and inexpensive. But yet I have seen many dogs become extremely ill and some of them die from these diseases. That test was one of the first things I requested for Chance when he was ill.
As with many health conditions, it is often grassroots efforts and support groups that draw attention to the expectation that doctors should look more closely at diagnosis and treatment protocols.
my best
patrice
Vally,
Thank you so much for writing this. I think this is well stated. I do need this kind of information as it will help me figure out how to get a new website seen easily by those people searching for help. So the more details everyone can write, the better prepared I will be.
Obviously my experiences were different with Chance. I was looking for information about canine bone marrow failure and splenectomies and there was very little I could find. I never found anything on the internet and it was only after I bought a veterinary hematology textbook did I find the kind of information I needed at all! Once I had that information I was able to research on the internet using very specific medical terms and find more things. Once I connected with Jean Dodds she gave me an excellent education which allowed me to do more targeted research on the internet. But without her pointing me in those directions, it would have taken forever.
Today when I search for information about his condition, it is still hard to find anything. Certainly nothing that matches Jean Dodds’ extensive knowledge. Yet this condition seems to be increasing in dogs. We have seen plenty of owners describe these mysterious findings from their vet of “no bone marrow” and “not making red blood cells.” I would obviously need to make sure that this topic is covered in detail in a way that others can understand.
If it weren’t for Chance, I would have never gone down this path and I would not have contributed to 7 years of posts on vetnet. Chance recovered from what the specialist thought was a fatal condition. But it took every ounce of my strength to make that happen, plus my knowledge of medicine.
I have been seriously considering using the domain name Second Chance AIHA Dogs. When I search google for second chance, I am amazed at all the non-profit organizations that come to the top of the list. This is where I would like to see our website come up rather than among a lot of commercial websites that sell questionable treatments.
My only reservation is that I know many dogs with these blood disorders do not get a second chance, they may not survive the first week. But then I thought to myself, I wonder how many of these dogs didn’t survive because of lack of knowledge, either by the vet or by the owner or a combination of the two? So wouldn’t it be nice to give those folks a strong helping hand to try for a second chance?
You know that I never want to tell owners that they can definitely save their dog’s life. I am not a vet and I don’t practice veterinary medicine in any way. But I am very knowledgeable about this condition and I would like to share that with others in a way that they understand. So perhaps we, as a group, can provide the possibility of a Second Chance to these frantic owners? Does that seem fair?
The forum will be on the same website, so once they find SecondChanceAIHADogs, they will also find the forum. What do you all think?
my best, patrice
Linda,
Please be careful:
“I have a recipe for Slippery Elm Cocktail, if you’d like it. I give it 15-30 minutes prior to eating AM and PM, mid-day and sometimes before bed. How often you use it is up to you, but I’d at least do twice a day.”
Don’t give this close to the time you are feeding or giving medicines. It *will block absorption* of food and medicine, just as sucralfate does, they are essentially the same thing, a mucous like bandage that coats the internal walls of the esophagus and stomach.
I would give at least a few hours on either side for this.
my best
patrice
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