Many commercial dog foods do not offer the dog nutritional requirements that your pet needs to thrive. Cheap dry dog food is often composed of mostly grains and carbohydrates that dogs can't easily digest. Look at the labels and make sure the main ingredients come from quality protein sources like chicken, lamb and turkey, and not meat by-products or nonspecific bone and meat meal.
Nutritional Vitamins For Your Dog
Good ingredients mean that your dog is getting the best vitamins and minerals from the best sources.
Vitamins that can help your dog live a long and healthy life can be found in dog food and supplements if you know what to look for.
- Vitamin A: important for vision, muscles, regulating appetite, and a healthy coat and skin; found in fish liver oil, carrots, leafy green vegetables, yellow fruit, and as beta-carotene in synthetic form
- Vitamin E: an antioxidant and needed for reproduction; look for alpha-tocopherol in vitamin supplements
- Vitamin B complex: comes from a variety of vitamins including thiamin, niacin, riboflavin, folic acid, B12, and biotin; maintains energy and metabolism levels, supports immune, nervous, and digestive systems; found in meats, organs and vegetables
- Vitamin C: when administered as ester-C or calcium ascorbate helps improve immunity and may be beneficial for dogs with joint problems
Vitamins A and E are fat soluble and should not be given in excessive amounts as this could be toxic. Vitamins B complex and C are water soluble and not known to be toxic, though vitamin C in great excess may cause kidney stones and diarrhea.