How much vitamin E does your dog need?
Vitamin E requirements depend on various factors, such as your dog's age, activity level, state of health and diet. As a rule of thumb, a dog's vitamin E requirement is at least 0.6 mg vitamin E per kilogram of body weight. It can also be slightly higher for particularly active dogs, older or sick animals. According to Professor Meyer ("Ernährung des Hundes"), 3 mg of vitamin E per kilogram are assumed for racing dogs.
What are the consequences of a vitamin E deficiency?
A lack of vitamin E can lead to various problems that can affect your dog's health and well-being. The possible symptoms include
- Decreased fertility
- Growth disorders
- Muscle weakness and breakdown
- Skin and coat problems
- Eye diseases
- Susceptibility to infections
- Damage to nerve and gland tissue
- Promotion of inflammation and cancer
A vitamin E deficiency can have various causes, such as an unbalanced or poor-quality diet, impaired absorption or utilization of vitamin E in the intestine or an increased need due to stress or illness.
How can you prevent a vitamin E deficiency?
The best way to prevent a vitamin E deficiency is to provide your dog with a balanced, high-quality diet that contains all the important nutrients. Vitamin E is a fat-soluble vitamin that is mainly found in vegetable oils, nuts and vegetables. Animal sources such as egg yolk, milk, meat, fish and cheese also contain smaller amounts of vitamin E.
If you feed your dog dry food, you should make sure that it has been preserved with natural vitamin E and not with synthetic preservatives such as BHT (E321), BHA (E320) or etoxiquin, which can be harmful to health. You should also not store the food for too long or heat it too much, as this can destroy the vitamin E.
If you give your dog fresh or raw food, you can also add a high-quality oil with a high vitamin E content, for example wheat germ oil, linseed oil or hemp oil. Special supplements with pure vitamin E are also available. The dosage depends on your dog's weight and should not be exceeded, otherwise there is a risk of overdosing.
Although an overdose of vitamin E is rare, it is possible. It can lead to liver damage and impair blood clotting. You should therefore always consult a vet before giving your dog extra vitamin E.