Vitamin A Foods

Vitamin A Sources and Foods With Vitamin A

As many people are already aware the chemical compounds that we refer to as "vitamin A" are actually members of the retinol family. It is easy to make sure that you are getting enough of this essential nutrient because Vitamin A is available in a wide assortment of foods and supplement products.

However, you should also realize that many of our everyday pets also require Vitamin A foods in their diets, particularly our dogs.

This article will help point out some basics about this essential vitamin, and show you just how essential these Vitamin A sources are to the health of our canine family members.

Organ meats (liver, hearts, and kidneys), fats, eggs and dairy products are all excellent Vitamin A sources. Of course there are other Vitamin A foods that include nuts, wheat, fruits and vegetables. You have many good choices of ingredients that you can use when you want to make some homemade dog food for your furry buddies that is both healthy and nutritional.

It has been established that all dogs should have their Vitamin A intake calculated according to their individual body weight. A minimum of 50 IU of Vitamin A per day for each kg/ body weight is required, but most veterinarians agree that it is best if you provide your dog with 100-200 IU of Vitamin A daily for each kilogram they weigh.

For instance if your dog weighs 10 kg (or 22 pounds) then the recommended amount of daily Vitamin A would be in the range of 1000-2000 IU. These figures can be rounded off to make your calculations of dosages easier to track.

While higher and lower doses of Vitamin A may be prescribed you should always discuss it with your vet if you have any questions or concerns.

A little knowledge and research is highly advisable when it comes to this particular vitamin because it is fat soluble which means that excess amounts are stored, not excreted immediately as would be the case for water soluble vitamin C.

Vitamin A foods contain nutrients that are stored in your dog’s liver just as humans store Vitamin A in their own livers. Dogs are then able to use this vitamin to help with eye functions and metabolism. Since this nutrient is able to be stored for future use a dog can rely upon these reserves and function normally for a certain period of time without ingesting additional amounts of Vitamin A.

This can be a double edged sword, because it makes it possible for the body to store much higher levels than are actually needed. If this occurs over a number of months then it could produce Vitamin A toxicity.

A dog has a slightly higher ability to handle large amounts of Vitamin A foods due to their genetic development over many years. Dogs are meat eating carnivores and might eat large amounts of organ meats during any given period of time. Because organ meats contain exceptionally high levels of Vitamin A it is very probable that this created changes in the way that their bodies were able to handle the nutrients that needed to be processed.

Medium sized dogs weighing 50-70 pounds would generally have to ingest more than 150,000 IU of Vitamin each and every day for at least 6 months before they would begin to develop any vitamin A toxicity problems. The usual concerns with such toxicities would involve muscular weakness, digestive upsets and abnormalities with the skeletal structure.

You can add fish oil supplements such as the oil that is obtained from wild Alaskan salmon to replace some of the nutrients that are naturally available in high quality Vitamin A foods. If you ask your vet they will be able to tell you whether you should use capsules or just measure the amounts from a bottle of fish oil.

Calf, pork and beef liver are high level Vitamin A foods that and can be cooked, chopped and added to any recipe for homemade dog food. Let’s not forget about the veggies when it comes to creating healthy dog food and edible canine treats.

Carrots are tops when you consider that just a single cup of these vegetables contains several hundred times the recommended amount of vitamin A for dogs. Leafy lettuce, sweet potatoes, spinach, kale and broccoli all have high levels of Vitamin A and are often added to the best dog food recipes.

You can find a number of high quality recipes that can guide you through the process of creating healthy food for your dogs to enjoy. If there are any questions you can call your vet and ask for their advice about the best Vitamin A foods to use in your dog food recipes.

Most people discover that making naturally delicious; nutritious dog food with Vitamin A for their pets is a simple process that they can handle without outside assistance. What is even better is that you can make these healthy foods quickly, they are extremely cost effective, and dogs love them.

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