German Shepherd dog

There are Dog products...there are human products...  My understanding is that Ester C is basically Calcium Ascorbate.  There is a huge difference in price from buying the "dog" as opposed to the "human".

The health food store I shop carries the Calcium Ascorbate powder.  each 1/2 rounded Tsp. equals:

2150 mg Vitamin C (as calcium ascorbate) 

245 mg Calcium (as calcium ascorbate.

A popular Dog product contains;

per TABLESPOON  (recommened dosage 1/4 tablespoon)

3945 Vit. C

96 Calcium

My questions are:  If you are supplimenting your dog with Ester C (calcium ascorbate) - do you buy dog or human?...  What

ratio's are you using.?  Do you notice a difference?  Are you using this as a preventitive or suppor?    What are your general opinions on it?  Look forward to reading your answers/opinions.  Thanks.

P.S.  I am not using any product right now.  Just researching...

I use human grade ester c, 500mg, maybe 3-4 times a week. I use it for maintenance. But a quite a few years ago I had a female that at 7 years old began to limp. Its a long story so lets just say she had a bad elbow that was enlarged from arthritis. I had an idiot orthopedic surgeon that said she would improve greatly with an operation that I could look up but forgot the name of now, basically they took out a piece of the bone and it was suppose to allow the elbow to fuse correctly. Wrong, works on young dogs but not over a year or so of age. She was left with a limp that tore my guts out. I was told in the beginning the healing would be quick and left with "it takes time". I got a second opinion and was told it was stupid thing to do at her age and would never be right.  I guess I made this longer than intended so I will just say I found a site that talked about ester c for joints. I put her on 2000 mg a day. In two weeks she had hardly a limp and I was able to back off to about 1000mg for maintenance. I have tried it again on my current old girl w/o the success though.

I had an old dog that improved immensely with Ester-C.

From the research I have done, Ester-C stays in the system so much longer than the other form. Dogs produce their own vitamin C but all dogs produce different amounts. So, the theory is that some dogs don't need any additional vitamin C and some dogs need quite alot and some dogs need just a moderate amount supplemented.

According to what I have read, you can determine the dosage by "bowel tolerance". If you start with a dog that normally has firm healthy stools and you give say 250mg of Ester-C and there is no change, you can increase another 250 and so on. If for example, you go to 1000mg and the dog gets loose stool, backup to 750mg where the dog had good "tolerance".

Try googling "Ester-C dogs". There is a research scientist who lives on the Peninsula south of San Francisco, CA who did this research on dogs and joint health and hips. It is fascinating.

There is controversy about displasia-is it nature or nurtur/environment or heredity or is it both. The fact that some dogs make more vitamin C than others would be heredity. The fact that wolves in the wild eat their prey raw and fresh and consume the vitamin C from the organs and blood stream would be environment.

I am an accountant, not a scientist or nutritionist. My solution (?) is to feed raw/frozen raw but not fresh (I don't bring home live rabbits and chickens and let them have at it!). I also give about 500mg per day of Ester-C to make up for the loss of C content from time and freezing. The Vitamin Shoppe has good prices on Ester-C which is pateneted and only sold by one brand.

I would love to know more on this subject-don't be shy, speak up and share.

Michele and Pharaoh vom Banach

From what I have read, it is a very different form on the molecular level and was a different enough molecule to get a patent. It is supposed to stay in the system all day and the normal vitamin C passes though the system and into the urine very, very quickly.

This applies to humans, as well, trying to shorten the course of the common cold. The blood level of vitamin C must be maintained or it will not work. Taking a megadose of normal vitamin C in the moring is a joke because you will have flushed it down the toilet before afternoon. Just like when the doctor gives you an antibiotic and a strict schedule like every 4 or six hours. That means set your alarm clock to wake up for that dose exactly when it is due. Otherwise, the level goes down in the blood and the infection goes wild again and maybe some of the germs become resistant to the medication.

So, if you are trying to shorten the course of a cold, you either keep taking many small doses of vitamin C all day AND all night or it won't work OR take a form of vitamin C that is timed release or a different form of the molecule that stays around all day like Ester-C. 

Also, there is another vitamin C that is called Vitamin C-Ester and that is not the same at all. From the research I have read, Ester-C is the only form that stays in the blood stream for all day.

Just google it , and decide for yourself, before you waste your money.

Michele and Pharaoh vom Banach

Thanks Pharaoh

Vitamin C is effective in any format, as the acid in a dog's stomach is far higher than human's the arguement for Ester C should not arise.

As in anything, some dogs seem to get on with some forms better than others the same way as humans tolerate some forms of iron and not others.