Importance of Vita C, Pls help. - Page 1

I have read a nice brief article about the importance of Vita C for dog's bones, muscles, cartilages especially the ears which represents the nightmare of dog's lovers , according to the article Vita C assists in the full absorption of the other vitamins especially Calcium & minerals by the dog's body.

Can you please help me with your knowledge. Please specify the recommended dosage per day & for how long?

Thanks for your kind cooperation in this respect

Vitamin C is a very important vitamin for many things human and dog alike but I could not give you a specific dose because it would vary from one product to the other.
I let my dogs have carrot sticks to chew and they like them for the most part, and it's natural which is something I like.
A little can never hurt, but too much can't help.
Mega doses of anything is not something I believe in.
Supplements should have dosing instructions.

I read it is advisable to start off at 250mg twice a day(with food), up until 6 months, than increase to 500mg.  If your dog gets loose stools, cut back accordingly.

My pup is on 500 2X daily with no problems.

Thanks Moalem Moons (Moalem is Professor as I told you before), but carrot will be half digested & it urges the dog to pick it back from his stool & eat it .

Is there any further natural source of Vita C that dogs would like to eat.

Tarek,

The supplementation of Vitamin C in a normal dog is not necessary. However, in most dogs, giving it in small amounts probably will not hurt and if you are supplementing with calcium in a form that the dog can use (yogurt or cottage cheese for example), it may help.  A pup normally would get around 250 mg twice a day but the Ester C variety is better tolerated. Vitamin C can make the dog's stomach upset. Dogs make their own vitamin C. Humans do not.

 If your dog eats a quality diet, it gets all the vitamins and minerals in that diet that it needs. IF you really want to supplement, then choose a pet vitamin, like Pet Tabs, but I don't know if you can get this in your country. Giving an excess of vitamin C can cause kidney stones and calcium oxalate crystals, diarrhea,  and both liver and kidney problems. There are many people who say that Vitamin C can help with this and that, including strengthening ear cartilage, but there are no real scientific studies behind such statements. In the U.S., dog food is required to have all the ingredients in it known to be critical for animal health. I do not know what food you feed, but if it is imported, it probably is fine.

I am also PMing you with some articles that you might find of interest. Also, is your pup still teething? If so, this will often delay the ears standing.
Regards.

I start my dogs on them young, as pups. 
They have replaced the raw hide crap I used to use.
They gnaw on them more than chomp them up, even as adults.
I've never seen them eat poop here and can't recall seeing chunks in the stool.
It's up to you, I would just warn against too much of any supplement.

Moons.

If you want the dogs to take longer eating the carrots, get big juice carrots and freeze them. Takes longer to chew, so therefore is probably ground up better. I've never seen my dogs eat poop based on chunks of carrot, though. The only dog I ever had eat poop ended up dying of stomach cancer--seems fitting, somehow. Not that I'm suggesting that your dog has stomach cancer...but maybe it has some kind of upset.

Actually, dogs can't even digest cellulose, so unless you are pulping the carrots very small, which means they give no chewing pleasure, the dogs aren't really getting the nutrients from them. Just fun. 

I do give vit C usually, but not with this litter for some reason. I will when they start eating real food. Should have been giving it to their mom all along. If you get crystalline Sodium Ascorbate, it's non acidic and they don't get upset stomachs.

NOTE: the reason I give it even though they can produce it is that the amount they produce is very small, and in today's artificial world, they need more.

VM,

The statement that what a canine produces of Vitamin C is small is not correct. Actually dogs produce about the equivalent of 500 mg per day, depending on age and size and other factors. 

Interesting. I read that it was closer to 40 mg. But what concerns me is the unnatural state of all food production nowadays, which I think decreases the Vit C intake and increases the need for it.

"Vitamin C is a very important vitamin for many things human and dog alike....I let my dogs have carrot sticks to chew"

Carrots have nothing to do with Vitamin C.