I know I shouldn’t have a favourite vitamin, but I do. Vitamin C is an antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, is necessary to make collagen, helps to heal wounds, assists in maintaining joint health, and supports the body’s immune system.
Interestingly, dogs and cats are able to generate their own Vitamin C, unlike humans. However, they still benefit from a bit of boost. Vitamin C is depleted through, among other things, stress. This can include physical stress from, for example, injuries, surgeries, and conditions such as arthritis or infections. Stress can also be the emotional stress that can accompany any of those situations. Ensuring enough Vitamin C can help the body deal with the impact of those stresses.
Vitamin C is necessary for the body to make collagen: the building blocks of skin, bones, ligaments, tendons, muscles, fascia, organs etc. As collagen begins to breakdown in the body, either through damage or age, it can have a negative impact on all these tissues, and on things like joint stability, which in turn can result in conditions such as arthritis. Ensuring enough Vitamin C helps the body with collagen production, which in turn supports cells throughout the body.
Vitamin C isn’t only useful if/ when your pet starts to show signs that they might benefit from some supplementation. Maggie (Maltese x Poodle) came to live with me at the start of the year when she was about six months old. I transitioned her to a raw diet and started her on Vitamin C supplements, with the intention she’ll continue to have them throughout her life. This is a preventative approach and means I won’t be able to point to a positive aspect of her life and say definitively that it’s because she’s on Vitamin C supplements. There’s often no visible benefit, so it can be easy to think the supplementation isn’t making a difference. However, it’s supporting her body’s ability to maintain good health throughout her (hopefully) long life.
Holistic Small Animal Health 