Customized Multi-Vitamin and Supplementation for Your Dog's Individual Needs

558 Views 3 Replies 2 Participants Last post by MyBentley, Nov 3, 2009

Dallas Gold

Discussion Starter · Nov 2, 2009

I took 12.5 year old Barkley to his acupuncture appointment today. We were discussing that the energy fields she tested showed he was low on Vitamin A. I told her I had stopped giving Barkley a Pet Tab due to the lead contamination problem. She suggested I go to a compounding pharmacy that is near my house and get an appointment with the nutritionist for a consultation on both Barkley and Toby and have the pharmacy compound a custom made multi-vitamin and supplement for each of them based on their individual needs. The supplement would not have the preservative issues that plague so many of the pet products out there today.

I'm very intrigued by this suggestion and wanted to ask if anyone else on the GRF has done this for their dogs? If so, did you notice an improvement in your dog's overall health and well-being?

Our Barkley is arthritic and suffers from spondylosis and hip dysplasia. He is also hypothyroid, though I understand from the acupuncture vet the best cure for that is the standard prescription medication. In addition he suffers from environmental allergies. We are beginning to suspect our 6 year old Toby may have some digestive issues. Other than that and his hypothyroidism he is strong, athletic and healthy. It would be nice to custom cater vitamins and supplements to their individual needs. I may even ask the pharmacy to concoct a herbal calming medication (without chamomille which Barkley is allergic to) to help him through his thunderstorm anxiety.

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MyBentley

· #2 · Nov 2, 2009

I haven't had the need to try customized supplements or vitamins although I am open to non-traditional medical options for both humans and dogs.

A couple of thoughts come to mind. I would want to thoroughly check out the compounding pharmacy recommended to you. A custom designed vitamin or supplement wouldn't be regulated or tested. The nutritionist would need to know exactly what levels of vitamins and mineral your dogs are getting in their daily food in order to make any recommendations for daily supplementing - although a calming herbal medication that you mention should be fairly straightforward. Is the nutritionist someone with special course work in canine nutrition or is this a nutritionist working with people's meds?

Also, I'm not aware that a dog's vitamin A level can be accurately determined by an energy field test. It's not something you can afford to be wrong about, because there are side effects from too high of levels of vitamin A.

Have you explored working with a canine nutritionist (in coordination with your vet) to develop a home-cooked diet to address some of your dog's medical issues?

In other words, I think there are a number of unanswered questions to explore - which I guess you're beginning to do by starting this thread.

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MyBentley

· #4 · Nov 3, 2009

Thanks for the extra background information. You're certainly covering your basis in checking with the BBB and state board - sounds just like what I would have done. It should be very interesting, and hopefully helpful, to have a consultation with this nutritionist.

What a lucky dog Barkley is to have you caring for him. I hope others respond to this thread also, but please keep us updated after you have the consultation. It would be very helpful for a lot of us.

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