The Importance of Vitamin E
Vitamin E plays a critical role in your dog's health and shortages of this very important vitamin can cause serious dog health problems. Vitamin E, an antioxidant, destroys the free radicals in your dog's body which can otherwise cause major problems for your dog's health.
Vitamin E plays a particularly important role in skin health and fertility, and is also important for proper functioning of the immune system. Deficiency in Vitamin E can cause major health problems.
Deficiencies in Vitamin E can cause significant dog health problems including:
Muscle wastage, Eye problems such as retinal degradation, Impaired immune system, Reduced fertility in dogs and bitches
In commercial pet foods, vitamin E is used to prevent the oxidation of fatty acids in the food which leads to rancidity. It accomplishes this by "neutralizing" the free radicals which cause rancidity. However, during this process, vitamin E is used up. For this reason, feeding a diet that has been improperly prepared or stored can lead to a vitamin E deficiency.
Adding oils or oily fish to your dog's diet also increases the requirement for Vitamin E. Omega 3 & 6 oils are particularly good for your dog's health, but it is extremely important to add Vitamin E at the same time. Examples of oils that increase the vitamin E requirement include:
Sunflower oil
Evening Primrose oil
Linseed oil
Fish oils such as cod liver oil or salmon oil, and oily fish
Olive oil
If these oils are added to your dog's diet without adding extra Vitamin E, it will cause Vitamin E deficiency and could lead to health problems. The effects of Vitamin E deficiency are not always immediately obvious, but scientific studies have shown that adding oils to the diet without Vitamin E can lead to deficiency within 15 weeks.
The following provides more general information on dog vitamins, the exact amounts of Vitamin E required depend upon the levels and precise mix of polyunsaturated omega 3&6 oils being added. If you know the precise fatty acid analysis of the oil, it is possible to calculate the exact requirement for vitamin E.
It also depends on the quality of the oil being added. Poorer quality oils with increased levels of oxidation will contain higher levels of free radicals so will require more vitamin E.
For example, feeding your dog poor quality flax oil intended for horses or cheap fish oil will require more vitamin E than a higher quality one intended for humans, but both will still require high levels of vitamin E to prevent deficiency.
Vitamin E plays a critical role in your dog's health and shortages of this very important vitamin can cause serious dog health problems. Vitamin E, an antioxidant, destroys the free radicals in your dog's body which can otherwise cause major problems for your dog's health.
Vitamin E plays a particularly important role in skin health and fertility, and is also important for proper functioning of the immune system. Deficiency in Vitamin E can cause major health problems.
Deficiencies in Vitamin E can cause significant dog health problems including:
Muscle wastage, Eye problems such as retinal degradation, Impaired immune system, Reduced fertility in dogs and bitches
In commercial pet foods, vitamin E is used to prevent the oxidation of fatty acids in the food which leads to rancidity. It accomplishes this by "neutralizing" the free radicals which cause rancidity. However, during this process, vitamin E is used up. For this reason, feeding a diet that has been improperly prepared or stored can lead to a vitamin E deficiency.
Adding oils or oily fish to your dog's diet also increases the requirement for Vitamin E. Omega 3 & 6 oils are particularly good for your dog's health, but it is extremely important to add Vitamin E at the same time. Examples of oils that increase the vitamin E requirement include:
Sunflower oil
Evening Primrose oil
Linseed oil
Fish oils such as cod liver oil or salmon oil, and oily fish
Olive oil
If these oils are added to your dog's diet without adding extra Vitamin E, it will cause Vitamin E deficiency and could lead to health problems. The effects of Vitamin E deficiency are not always immediately obvious, but scientific studies have shown that adding oils to the diet without Vitamin E can lead to deficiency within 15 weeks.
The following provides more general information on dog vitamins, the exact amounts of Vitamin E required depend upon the levels and precise mix of polyunsaturated omega 3&6 oils being added. If you know the precise fatty acid analysis of the oil, it is possible to calculate the exact requirement for vitamin E.
It also depends on the quality of the oil being added. Poorer quality oils with increased levels of oxidation will contain higher levels of free radicals so will require more vitamin E.
For example, feeding your dog poor quality flax oil intended for horses or cheap fish oil will require more vitamin E than a higher quality one intended for humans, but both will still require high levels of vitamin E to prevent deficiency.
