Overview Veterinary and vitamin D

Veterinary category has 147 items

Animals need Vitamin D too

• Vitamin D is important for pregnancies (pigs as well as people)– Sept 2022
• Many Vitamin D similarities: people and cows - March 2022
• Several advanced-maternal-age problems reduced if given Vitamin D during pregnancy (mice in this case) – July 2021
• Poor immune system associated with low Vitamin D (dogs in this case) – June 2020
• Chicken bones, eggs, and activated vitamin D in eggs increased with 2 hours of daily UVB – Dec 2019
• Vitamin D in eggs increased 4X after UV lighting near legs was added – April 2019
• Hens with Vitamin D were better in at least 5 ways – RCT Aug 2018

Pets as well

• Critically ill dogs with good levels of vitamin D have much better outcomes (humans too) – March 2018
• Half of dogs now get cancer, it used to be just 1 percent (probably low Vitamin D)
• Dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, pet birds, etc need Vitamin D
• Dogs with Cancer have low vitamin D, same as humans – Sept 2017
• Companion animals (dog, cats) need vitamin D too – March 2016
• Hospitalized cats 8X more likely to die if low vitamin D (Vit. D helps humans too) – May 2015
• Rickets increasing in dogs

Farm Vets are paid when their "patients" are healthy,
   vs doctors who are paid only when "patients" become sick
_Cows are routinely given 30 IU per kilogram (which would be 10,000 IU for a 150 lb person)
Same information is available on Cattle need 66 IU of vitamin D per pound
The US RDA of vitamin D for cows is 13 IU per kilogram (which would be 4,300 IU for a 150 lb 'cow')
Virtually all US farmers who raise livestock use feed which is supplemented with vitamin D
Merick Vet Manual supplement if not have UV or sunlight

The cow experts probably base their ideas on

- what is needed,
- what actually works,
- what is cost effective (vitamin D for a cow costs about $1/year), and
- what does not have ANY long-term bad side-effects

Vet-grade Vitamin D: $50 million for the entire US population for a year.

Cow owners use really low cost vitamin D
Vitamin D costs the owner $1/cow for an entire year for a dose rate which is effectively 10,000 IU for a normal weight human.
Assuming that you want to give say 7,000 IU of vitamin D to every person in the US
And since a person weighs about 1/5 that of a cow, 7,000 IU vitamin D would be about 16 cents per year (vet grade)
Thus the cost of vet-grade vitamin D for the entire US population would be approximately
311 million * 16 cents = $50 million

Many Dog breeds get more Vitamin D than humans (generally recommend 30 IU/kg = 400 IU per 13.3 kg)

Pet reptiles need UV or they get rickets*

There is a large group of owners of pet reptiles who have discovered the exact UV needs.*

• The owners of pet reptiles have typically have added UV lamps.
• It may be that due to the research of reptile pet owners that a simple $30 UV lamp can be made to allow humans to generate vitamin D while sitting at the computer.
• When given a choice between a heat lamp and a UV lamp, many reptiles will choose the UV lamp*
  • easy choice, since they can 'see' what to humans is the invisible UV

There is a nice story of discovery of full spectrum lights for birds http://www.avianweb.com/lighting.html*
The majority of 1,000 birds tested had UV coloring (which is seen by birds, and not by humans nor non-avian predators)*
Can avian predators see UV?
During preening, wild birds spread a fatty substance on their wings which, when exposed to UV, turns into vitamin D which they later ingest during preening*
Fresh hay for horses was found to have 2,000 IU per kilogram (in one year the vitamin D content of the hay will fall by 70%)

Even Nocturnal reptiles appreciate UVB

• from a UV discussion forum Jun 2011

Leopard geckos have "traditionally" not been offered UV because they are "nocturnal". I reckon they survive in captivity without UVB, because they are good at absorbing calcium from the gut, and people have learned to dust their insects with calcium powder and a little D3 as supplement powder. But I reckon most of them kept like this are going to be rather like most humans nowadays - on the edge of D3 deficiency.

I give all my geckos UVB and the year I started using it, my gecko fertility/ hatching success rates went up from 50% to 99% and my geckos were noticeably healthier all round.

US patent 4,970,203 Nov 1990 Method for improving reproductive functions in mammals (vitamin D)

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Pets (dog, cats, birds, , , , )

• Vitamin D for Your Dog – A Beagle’s Happy Days April 2012 by Vitamin D Survivor
  Dog age 10 was in some pain and moving slowly
  20 to 40 IU per pound of body weight per day
  Clinical symptoms of vitamin D toxicity in dogs have been found as low as 3 mg/kg or 1.3 mg/lb.
  Played with the new puppy and enjoyed another happy 5 years.
• Senior pets rejuvenated with vitamin D 4,000 IU daily for a while
• Anyone Give Vitamin D to Their Dog? PaleoHacks July 2011
  Loads of conflicting information:
    Dogs make it their fur.
      No, they make it in their skin.
        No they don't, they need it in their diets.
          You need to supplement.
            You'd better not supplement.
  Person thought that the following was the best answer
• Furred animals and vitamin D April 2010
• Fat Soluble Vitamins: A, D, E & K in Dogs
  227 IU of vitamin D per pound of FEED. 10X that much is toxic if given for months
• Vitamin D — for pets, sunlight isn't enough June 2010
  " . . the dog and cat were central figures in the discovery of vitamin D as an essential nutrient. In experiments by Sir Edward Mellanby (1919),"
• How Much DIRECT Sunlight Does My Parrot Need? June 2012
• Rickets increasing in dogs

Vitamin D for dogs - review by Vitamin D Council, Nov 2016

• Current knowledge of vitamin D in dogs May 2016
• Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations in dogs - correlation with health and cancer risk. Sept 2016
• Oral vitamin D supplementation at five times the recommended allowance marginally affects serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations in dogs July 2016 free PDF
  "The average 50 lb dog requires around 1,200 kcal/day to maintain a healthy weight"
  "The relative risk of cancer increased 3.9 times in dogs with vitamin D levels below 40 ng/ml (p = 0.0002)"
  

An easy way to give vitamin D to your pet

Just add 5,000 IU of vitamin D to their meal at a frequency based on their weight
  The half-life of vitamin D for dogs is similar to that of humans - about a month, so giving every few days is not at all a problem
   the Vitamin D can be a capsule, the contents of a capsule, drops, etc. - all about 5 cents per 5,000 IU

Just mark your calendar
Most vets have found that animals need 30 IU per kg
15 kg pet ==> 450 IU: 5,000 IU once every 10 days
30 kg pet ==> 900 IU: 5,000 IU once every 5 days
45 kg pet ==>1350 IU: 5,000 IU once every 4 days

If your pet has little access to noonday sun (and being behind a window does not count),

then the pet will most likely be very deficient.
For deficiency it is best, like for humans, to stock up initially.
Stocking up might be done by dosing at 3X the maintenance rate for a month
Example: 15 kg pet: once every 3 days instead of once every 10 days

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Vitamin D is a rat poison if VERY HIGH quantity

Lethal dose which will kill half of the rats (LD-50) = 17 mg/kg of rat = 680,000 IU per kg
Thus for a 100 kg rat (weight of an human adult) the LD-50 would be 68,000,000 IU

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See also at Vitamin D Life

• All items in category Veterinary and D 147 items
• Companion animals (dog, cats) need vitamin D too – March 2016
• Animals get a lot more vitamin D than minimum recommended for humans – 2016
• Hospitalized cats 8X more likely to die if low vitamin D (Vit. D helps humans too) – May 2015
• Chinchillas are another furry animal which makes vitamin D from UVB – May 2014
• National requirement of vitamin D for pigs increased by 4X, (4X more than for humans) - Jan 2014
• Why should animals need more vitamin D than humans
• Swine need sunshine or 500-2800 IU vitamin D3
• Piglets not improve much with single 40,000 IU dose of vitamin D - Feb 2012
• Piglets helped a lot with 40,000 IU on day 1, provided they did not have diarrhea – Aug 2013
• Swine with extra vitamin D more likely to get pregnant and have more and larger piglets – June 2012
• Piglets getting single dose of 40,000 IU of vitamin D gained more weight – March 2013
• Primate Nutrient Requirements – 2003 US Govt
• Lambs get 12000 IU vitamin D per lb of milk replacer much more than RDA for humans
• Lots of vitamin D for steers – June 2011
• 10 million IU of vitamin D3 for cows was great unless had vitamin D2 – July 2011 - not daily
• Breed cows based on vitamin D production – Aug 2013
• In less than 3 weeks chickens have problems if they do not have vitamin D
  Perhaps cooped up humans also need vitamin D
• UVB on legs of chickens resulted in 70 IU vitamin D per egg yoke – July 2013
• 200 IU per 100 gram of egg yoke when add vitamin D to poultry feed in Europe – Aug 2011
• Tiger got surgery for hip arthritis – not much sun in the cage – March 2013
• Vitamin D reduced bacterial infection in cows – RCT Sept 2013
• None of the RDA for human supplements are based on weight

See also web

• DOG FOOD VITAMIN & MINERAL DEFICIENCIES ON A RAW MEAT DIET HealthyDogTreats 2015?
  Excellent complete analysis of dog and cat needs for vitamins and minerals. Includes analysis of meat from animals raised in the sun/factory
• Juvenile Siberian sturgeon need 1500 IU of vitamin D per kg of food Nov 2017
• Cat Food Standards by the AAFCO - 2008 500 IU vitamin D /kg of dry food
• Pigs need at >15 ng to avoid rickets
• Sheep and lamas nee > 10 ng to avoid rickets
• Cattle need > 32 ng for good immune system full text online
• In summer sun: cows: 20–25 ng, steers 40–50 ng Wonder: Is the lower level due to milk production?
• Vets and Physicians Find Research Parallels New York Times Sept 2012
  Lots of information about diseases and treatments can be shared between the big mammals - more so that with mice
  . . . joint declaration by the American Medical Association and the American Veterinary Medical Association in 2006 aimed at encouraging information sharing and joint projects among the far-flung branches of veterinary and human medicine.
  That gap has narrowed, he said. Now you see renal transplants, hip replacements — things they said would never be done on animals. Things are happening so fast right now that it’s almost simultaneous.
• Food Poisoning & Mould Toxins in Poultry Bird Health 2012?
  The effect of the toxins is also enhanced by a lack of sunlight (vitamin D).
  Additional protein, oils, riboflavin, iron, vitamin D accelerates recovery.
• Mycotoxins: a serious threat to breeder flock Biomin NET, 2012?
  Interference in vitamin D metabolism reducing calcium transport
• Bird preening puts oil on feathers which turns into Vitamin D March 2013
• Marmoset primates living in the wild: vitamin D mean = 61 ng, range: 20-103 ng Dec 2012
• Checking your pig's Vitamin D status 2012?
  on-going project, 40,000 IU of vitamin D age 3 days
• No Skin Production of Vitamin D in Dogs or cats
  Fairly good science.
• Rabbits kept indoors could be vitamin D deficient Physorg April 2014
  dental problems without UVB. 2 weeks of UVB raised vitamin D blood levels from 13 ng to 27 ng
• No Need for Sunscreen: Some Lizards Adjust UVB Exposure Depending on Vitamin D Intake July 2014
  When researchers reduced the vitamin D in food, the Anolis sagrei spent more time in the UVB light, Not true of 2 other lizards
• Current knowledge of vitamin D in dogs May 2016
  "This review will summarize current knowledge of vitamin D in the dog, including metabolism and dietary recommendations. Emphasis is placed on the limitations to current knowledge" Behind a $30 paywall
• Current knowledge of vitamin D in dogs Dec 2017
  Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr. 2017 Dec 12;57(18):3850-3859. doi: 10.1080/10408398.2016.1171202.

Vitamin Tolerance of Animals - 1987.pdf A, Bs, D, E, K

from US Board of Agriculture National Academies Press

Vitamin D levels in other mammals

Feldman 2005

Vitamin D for horse (per kg of feed, not weight)

Vitamins for Animals - book 2010

also has pictures of variety of animals who were vitamin D deficient
PDF is attached at the bottom of this page

Lethal Dose of Vitamin D for Dogs - 1932

 Download the PDF from Vitamin D Life

Vitamin D levels in various species - 2020

 Download the PDF from Vitamin D Life
Short url = http://is.gd/vetvitd