I ran out of vitamin E for my dog. Can I give her the same dosage of human vitamin E until I receive my next shipment of dog supplies? The dog vitamin E is d-Alpha Tocopherol and the human vitamin E I have in the house is d-Alpha Tocopheryl Acetate. Is one just natural and the other synthetic? Thanks in advance!

 Quote: Ingrid Halonen

I ran out of vitamin E for my dog. Can I give her the same dosage of human vitamin E until I receive my next shipment of dog supplies? The dog vitamin E is d-Alpha Tocopherol and the human vitamin E I have in the house is d-Alpha Tocopheryl Acetate. Is one just natural and the other synthetic? Thanks in advance!

Yes, an IU is an IU, human or dog.

dl means synthetic, not the word acetate.

So the synthetic vitamin E is alright to use for a few days or up to a week? Did you mean yl rather than dl? I'm no chemist ;-)

Neither of the two you mentioned is synthetic. They are only one tocopherol, but not synthetic. If you want to give (and take) more of the natural tocopherols, then "natural mixed tocopherols" rather than just alpha is a great choice.

I have always used human vitamin e. Cheaper.

Connie, I always appreciate your input on the feeding / supplements front!

When it comes to Vitamin E, we have always used "off the shelf" brands sold at places like Osco (part of Jewel around here) or Supplement places on line. I would love to know if there are any specific brands or "label" type things that make one thing better than another thing.

The most difficult thing I've found, is finding 200 IU gel caps. Many places, the smallest gel caps available is 400IU, which from my understanding (but Connie, de-bunk my myth!) might be too much on a daily basis.

I HAVE been able to find a store type brand of 200 IU gel caps at Osco. (Jewel-Osco)

Feedback is always appreciated!

Beth

The difference between the ester form (liquid) and the acetate form (power)nothing to worry about. It is for convenience. In the stomach it will be converted back to the ester and be absorbed in the intestines.
If you are concerned about giving the powdered form, remember 2 things. Vita E is fat soluble and is stored. It is not like Vita C that you need to take every day. The second thing is that dogs make their own Vita E, and by giving to much you are likely shutting down natural processes.

As far as synthetic Vita E is concerned...... This is a a challenge to explain. I am attempting to do because it is important for consumers to know what they are buying.

A synthetic molecule is exactly the same the as a natural one. You can spend 10X more for "natural vita C" than synthesised. In either case lots of chemicals are involved. One is chemically extracted from food sources (natural) the other is synthesized from organic matter, both involve the use of sometimes dangerous chemicals, but the end result if done properly should be the same.
Specifically, in the case of vitamin E you have a molecule with 3 stereo centers. If you are unfamiliar what that is. Think of it as a branching points, they can be either left or right. If done improperly you will get a mixture at each branching point.

If each branching is just as likely to receive a left as it is a right then you have a mixture of results. The desired product, R-R-R alpha tocopherol, would be in a mixture containing 8 other products for every one of the desired products ~ 11%. In many cases this is not significant.
Next time you buy aspirin you can look at the labels and purity will be adjusted by price. This is also why some generic drugs look like horse pills compared to there expensive counter parts.

The good news about Vita E is that it is very easy to make and use certain catalysts to select for desired stereo chem.

I am not sure if each manufacturer cares about proper stereo chem or if it matters (I can look this up if it is important to some of you). But if they do and if it does it may be in your dogs best interest to select the better brands.

 Quote: Jeff Cambeis

If you are concerned about giving the powdered form, remember 2 things. Vita E is fat soluble and is stored. It is not like Vita C that you need to take every day. The second thing is that dogs make their own Vita E, and by giving to much you are likely shutting down natural processes.

Hi Jeff,

You've mentioned this about Vitamin E before, and since then I've been wondering if I'm giving my dog too much. I've always given it daily with the salmon oil.

How often would you give a 400IU gelcap to an 80lb dog? Every other day? Once a week? Once a month?

On a related note, in addition to my dog's appearance and energy, I also rely on twice-yearly blood tests to tell me if I'm keeping everything in balance with regard to the raw diet. So far, everything looks great. If he's getting too much of a certain vitamin (like E) where would that show up in the blood work...or would it show at all?

Apologies for the slightly off-topic hijack, Ingrid.

A nutritionally inbalanced diet or in this case, too much vit e will not show up in the blood work. I guess it would if it started to affect the organs but many people error in thinking because the blood is good then the diet is good.

Definately not the case.

VITAMIN E:

We have to be careful not to give opinions without backup about whether or not a vitamin is required to be ingested by the dog.

Vitamin E is indeed required to be ingested by the dog. Vitamin E deficiencies have been well documented in dogs. Degenerative lumbosacral stenosis (mainly in GSDs) is one of the ailments triggered by Vitamin E deficiency. The effects of such agents as paraquat on dogs, for example, are also exacerbated by Vitamin E deficiency.

Even at ridiculous lab levels, unlike other oil-soluble vitamins, Vitamin E has not shown a toxic level in either dogs or cats.

These are not levels that we give, of course.