Arthritis in dogs

[jvalsson]

I have read that vitamins and other food supplements can cause arthritis in animans especially dogs. Does anyone have any opinion on this?

[Chrisanne]

I have never heard that vitamins and supplements can cause arthritis in dogs, but i know there are some supplements that can be of great aid to a dog with arthritis.

Where did you hear that? I'm curious. I'd like to hear the fundamentals behind that idea.

[elfomatic]

I've never heard that personally. I always thought that vitamins were more beneficial under those circumstances.

[CTChin]

In growing puppies... especially giant breeds, if you over supplement with vitamins and overfeed you may do more harm than good.

[jvalsson]

As I'm a new Chihuahua owner I was reading a book by Marion Mondshine "Chihuahuas, A New Owner's guide to Chihuahuas", (ISBN 0-738-2801-5). There you can read (page 52) that some claim that orthopedic problems that afflict many breeds are entairy hereditary but many others feel they can be exacerbated by overuse of mineral and vitamin supplementation for puppies. Some breeders now look upon oversupplementation as a major contributor to many skeletal abnormalities found in purebreed dogs.

[Deja]

That is really interesting information. I know when I was raising Jack and Max I knew to switch to Adult food at 6 months because of exactly what you mentioned.

Rapid growth due to high supplimental additives in puppy food can cause or excerbate a potential joint problem in large and some medium breeds. I didn't know it was the case for small breeds too.

Something to think about, hrrm..... Thanks for the information! I'm going to look closer at that being that I have a Toy Breed puppy now.

[elfomatic]

Just remember all this you guys are bringing up is in reference to over-supplementation. Don't get confused and cut out vitamins altogether .. they really are beneficial when used properly.

[jvalsson]

I agree!

[Chinchilla_Girl]

Yes, just like too many vitamins are bad for people, the same thing applies to animals. There is such a thing as having too much of a good thing. Many backyard breeders of pitbulls and many other breed of dogs over supplement them as puppies to make them grow bigger, faster. Growing too fast in any breed isn't good because the skeletal structure of the animal has not had a chance to build up and grow with the rapidly growing muscular structure putting much weight and strain on bones and joints not yet developed enough to handle the stress. This can lead to Osteoarthritis in later years along with hip dysplasia. Granted most of these are hereditary, but show up even earlier than normal in an over supplemented animal. Again, this is not to say you should cut them out of the dog's diet completely. Personally, we do not give vitamins to a normal healthy dog. The food we buy for them has enough of everything they need. However, pregnant, nursing, sick or injured pits that we get in to our rescue DO indeed get the vitamins to help boost their immune systems and help them get back on track. Once they are well, they no longer need the vitamins.