Pet Vitamins are Essential for Your Dog's Health

Vitamins for Pets - How Essential Are They?

A vitamin supplement for pets is essential to your pet's wellbeing unless you're already feeding your pet its natural raw diet in precisely the proportions it would eat in the wild. If not, your pet is, to a greater or lesser extent, deficient in vitamins which it needs for optimal health. Certainly, your pet may get by without them, but if you want to ensure a long and healthy life for your pet, your pet needs a vitamin supplement. Vitamins can also be of enormous assistance if your pet already has an illness or health problem of some kind.

Just like humans, almost all pets do benefit from a vitamin supplement. And just as there has been considerable controversy in the medical fraternity over whether humans need extra vitamins, so too do many vets dispute the need for nutritional supplements for pets.

The argument usually goes something like this: "The majority of commercial petfoods contain added vitamins. So even though your pet's diet may be inadequate, the vitamins added to pet food compensates for this."

Wrong! Many human breakfast cereals contain added vitamins - they're sprayed on after the processing. And it has been established that you would ingest more vitamins by eating the packaging than you do by eating the cereal inside. It's a gimmick. A gimmick to get you to buy the cereal and feel comfortable in the "knowledge" that you're getting some vitamins even if you don't eat plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables. But guess what? It doesn't compensate. Even the fruit and vegetables we buy today have very little in them by way of vitamins and minerals, by comparison to what they should ideally contain. Unless you're buying organic fruit and veges direct from the farm and eating them the same day, you're not optimising your vitamin intake from fresh food.

This is why many of us now routinely supplement our diet with vitamin tablets, even when we eat a balanced diet. If we don't, we're likely to be vitamin deficient to some degree. That's why cancer, heart disease, and other degenerative conditions are at an all time high, and are still on the increase. A hundred years ago these conditions were unknown.

It's the same for our pets. In fact, they're generally in a worse position than us in relation to an adequate intake of vitamins. That's because, contrary to what many of the so-called "authorities" will have you believe, the garbage that's sold to us as pet food is causing your pet irreparable harm. So the fact that it may have some "added vitamins" is just a complete gimmick, and absolutely worthless from your pet's health's point of view.

It's vital that you feed your pet something as close to its natural diet as possible, and in most cases that's still not enough. Supplementation is essential.

Your pet's natural diet is exclusively raw food. Is that what you're feeding your pet? Or do you opt for the convenience of commercial pet food some or all of the time? Unless you can replicate what your pet would eat in the wild, you owe it to your pet to give a vitamin supplement. And who can replicate exactly what they'd eat in the wild? In exactly the same proportions?

No one. So you know what that means? You do need to give your pet a vitamin supplement.

For information on vitamins for pets, go to:

http://www.HealthyHappyDogs.com/Vitamins

Vitamins for pets have produced remarkable results in animals with specific health concerns such as allergies or other skin irritations, dull coat, lack of energy, as well as much more serious problems like cataracts, epileptic seizures, tumors and leukemia.

Naturally, you should ALWAYS consult your vet with ALL health concerns, but if your pet does have a serious health problem, ask your vet whether a vitamin supplement could help. And if your pet is already reasonably healthy, keep him/her that way by giving a vitamin supplement. It can't do any harm! And you could well be ensuring that your pet has a longer life practically overflowing with health!

To read some truly amazing stories, go to: http://www.HealthyHappyDogs.com/HPTestimonials or for general information on healthy pet vitamins, go to: http://www.HealthyHappyDogs.com/Vitamins

(c) 2005, Brigitte Smith, Healthy Happy Dogs

Brigitte Smith is a dog lover with a special interest in holistic dog health. Her site, Healthy Happy Dogs, has pages and pages of information on improving your dog's health naturally. Brigitte is the author of several reports, articles, and the Healthy Happy Dogs newsletter

For your special FREE report - "How to Improve Your Dog's Health Within 30 Days - Maybe Even Lengthen Your Dog's Life!", Click Here: http://www.HealthyHappyDogs.com

Super Vitamins For Pet Immunity

Vitamins for pet immunity help fight disease and minimize the effects of environmental toxins. In this article, you'll learn what to look for in a good supplement and other steps that you can take to boost your pet's immune system and ensure a long and healthy life.

Chemicals, environmental stressors and food that is not as nutritious as it used to be are three reasons that pets need a daily vitamins for pet health. Like us, their immunity can be compromised by exposure to hazards on a daily basis. Pets intuitively know that they need extra vitamins,herbs and minerals which is why you will often see them chewing on house plants, plants in the backyard and eating soil. Since by doing this, they're also get a mouthful of organisms that may not be good for them, it's better for you to give them a quality supplement. Before we talk about what to look for in a good supplement, let's talk about the importance of good food.

Food is our medicine and it is the fundamental building block of good health. You can't dispense super vitamins for pet immunity and expect them to make up for the lack of nutrients in a diet that is primarily made up of junk food. If your pet eats a commercial brand of kibble, then this is likely what you are feeding them. Check the label on the food that you usually feed your pet. Do you see chemicals listed and other ingredient names that you can't pronounce? Does it list meat byproducts instead of real meat? Are their food dyes and preservatives? How about cheap grains?

If you're feeding your dog a diet made up of chemicals, then your pet needs supplements to begin the healing process caused by all that junk. Daily vitamins for pet health are a good idea even if you're feeding your pet organic kibble because soils depleted in minerals mean that food is not as nutritious as it once was. Since immunity begins in the gut, eating good quality food and taking supplements is the starting point, the foundation of good health.

So what should you look for in a good supplement? The supplement should contain vitamins, minerals and herbs that build pet immunity. For instance, vitamins A, C, E and minerals like Selenium.The formulation should also contain antioxidants that fight off disease like Mistletoe and Milk Thistle. In addition to being the best vitamins for pet immunity, these ingredients will eliminate toxins from the liver and destroy the free radicals that cause diseases like cancer. If your dog or cat is overweight, once the liver has been detoxified by the supplement, your dog's weight will normalize as the liver regains its ability to metabolize fat.

In addition to giving your pet a daily supplement and good food, also make sure that you provide lots of fresh clean water which also helps to rid toxins from the body. These three simple steps along with daily exercise are the prescription for a long and healthy life. Remember to throw in daily doses of love and affection. You'd be surprised how quickly taking these steps will improve the quality of your pet's life.

Laura Ramirez is an avid researcher of products that help restore health and vitality to pets and people and keep their immune system strong and functioning properly. To learn more about her findings, go to http://www.pet-health-supplements.com.

Important Vitamins For Pet Health

There is not necessarily one magic vitamin for pet immunity rather a group of vitamins that when implemented can be very effective in promoting health and wellness. Most veterinarian and natural health experts agree that without a doubt nutrient deficiency is the most frequent initial cause of a depressed immune system. For years it was thought that only malnutrition could weaken a pet's immune defense system but now research has revealed that a deficiency in any one vitamin or mineral can negatively impact the immune systems ability to do its job.

Vitamins fall into two categories, those that are fat soluble and those that are water soluble. What this means is that fat soluble vitamins can be stored whereas water soluble cannot. Common sense leads us to the conclusion that a deficiency in a water soluble vitamin for pet immunity is much more likely, especially in the short term. Fat soluble vitamins important for pet health are vitamins A, E, K, and to a slightly lesser extent D. Water soluble vitamins important for pet health are vitamins C, biotin, and all B complex vitamins including B6 and B12. Let's take a closer look at three of these.

*Vitamin A - Vitamin A is a very important vitamin for pet immunity. Primary it plays a role in maintaining the surface of the skin, respiratory tract, gastrointestinal tract, and other body tissues as well as their secretions. These surface buffers are considered the first line of immune defense against microorganisms. In addition vitamin A has been shown to boost and/or stimulate numerous immune mechanisms, including induction of anti tumor activity, enhancement of white blood cell function, and increased antibody response.

*Vitamin C - Most people recognize the benefits of vitamin C as a primary vitamin for pet immunity. But what is often overlooked is the fact that it is water soluble, which means continually supplementation is needed to reap its benefits. Among the proven ways that vitamin C has been shown to help with immunity is it improves white blood cell response to threats, increases certain agents in the blood that fight off viral infections and cancer, and improves the linings of mucous membranes. A very important point to remember is that vitamin C levels are rapidly exhausted during the stress of an infection.

*Vitamin E - A vitamin E deficiency normally results in significant impairment of immune defenses, especially in older dog and cats. It has shown to be effective both as a preventative tool as well as to prop up an already compromised immune system. 

In summary, we have just scratched the surface on important vitamins for pet health and would encourage you to do some additional research, especially in the area of the B vitamins, to learn more about vitamins for pet immunity. Additionally, many pet owners have found success in combining vitamins for pet health with natural homeopathic remedies containing astragalus and echinacea. This powerful one two punch can be a potent tool in both preventing illness and reducing recovery time when sickness does strike.  

R.D. Hawkins is an enthusiastic advocate for the use of natural pet health products and natural living with over 10 years experience in the field.
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