Side Effects Vitamin A

Vitamin A Overdose and Vitamin A Drops

Being fat soluble, side effects vitamin a is possible, because of slow excretion from the body.

If you use prepared dog food of some kind, without any supplementing, risks of side effects vitamin a are very low.

Even if the dog food are fortified with a vitamin it is only if excess doses vitamin a toxic effects are seen.

And given for a long time.

Vitamin A toxicity is thus in practice quite low.

Daily Vitamin A needs

An adult dog weighing 10 kg (22 pounds) needs around 1000-2000 IU vitamin a daily. In some studies the calculated daily needs is found to be 75 IU per kg body weight. So, this is slightly less.

Around 100 IU per kg body weight should be quite normal, and easy to remember.

Growing dogs needs more. Pups needs around 200 IU per kg body weight.

But how much can you give before side effects a vitamin are seen?

Experimental Vitamin A Overdose

One study on Labrador puppies went on for weeks.

They where fed a commercial diet for pups and then they received injections of vitamin a ones a week 100.000 IU per kg. This was ones a week but it is still more than the recommended dosage.

After 14 weeks not really any significant signs where seen. Some weight loss where reported.

Then, the same pups got 300.000 IU per kg body weight once a day.

Very soon the got symptoms of vitamin a poisoning of different kinds (see below).

This dosage is equivalent to a 1000 kg dog (2200 pounds) - a very big dog.

This is quite a vitamin a overdose and probably impossible to obtain using vitamin a drops or other vitamin preparations.

But, to be on the safe side i recommend to check omega 3 supplements for the vitamin content.

If you use fish oil capsules especially, as they are often made from fat fish and fish liver. The "raw" fish oil contains omega fatty acid and the fat soluble vitamins a d e and k.

If you give lot of omega 3, you might give much a d e k vitamins as well, without knowing it. Some omega products are only containing the fatty acids and therefore no risks of vitamin a toxic effects.

Clinical Symptoms of Vitamin A Overdose

I give you the symptoms of side effects vitamin a, but these have been seen primary in experimental conditions.

The most common clinical signs are:

• Dehydration
• Mental confusion and lethargy
• Limb-joint pain
• Decreased growth rate in pups
• Depression of the Central Nervous System
• Degenerative processes involving both arteries and veins

The skeletal problems in pups, are mainly decreased length and thickness of the bones. The growth plates are closing to soon and the bone absorption/building are not normal.

Be careful in pregnant bitches. Excess vitamin a can (experimentally) during the pregnancy resulting in pups having cleft palate when they are born.

This is seldom seen, but be aware of it.