Hello! I've been trying to find the proper dosage of vitamin E for my 3.5 mo GSD. She weighs a little over 20 pounds, probably 23 - 24 lbs at the moment.

From what I've been reading on the forums, and from one of Connie's suggestions in another thread in this form, it looks like 100 IUs for every 20 lbs is proper? So 100 IU for 20 lb dlg, 200 IU for 40 lb dog, 300 IU for 60 lb dog, and 400 IU for 80 lb dog...and I assume this is all once daily.

What is confusing me is the suggested IUs on the Leerburg suggested puppy meal plan on this page http://leerburg.com/feedpups.htm. The meal plan is for a 20 lb dog, but recommends 200 IUs a day (it says 1 Vitamin E Soft Gel for breakfast and 1 for dinner and when I follow the link, the gels are 100 IUs each).

What is the proper dosage? Right now I'm feeding kibble, but I'm planning to switch to raw this weekend.

The best I've ever found is approximates...

Puppies, 100-200 IU
Large adult dogs, 400 IU

So, that would make sense with a rule of 100 IU per every 20 lbs.

Might be best to check with a vet or someone more knowledgable than me.

(I personally only give E and Salmon Oil a couple of times a week, though during the winter months of cold moist outdoor air vs hot, dry heater air indoors, I tend to up that a bit, 4-6 days per week.)

First, can you link me to something indicating 100 IU per 20 pounds here? I don't remember ever seeing quite that here. One thing is that E probably doesn't generally even come in 300 IU size in most stores.

I think I generally say 100 IU for small (if you can get 100 IU), 200 for medium, and 400 for large, for dogs on fish oil (or any PUFA supplement).

But there will be somewhat different Vitamin E numbers from different folks (for dogs who are given fish oil). This is partly because there in not a big choice (for example, I can hardly ever get 100 IU in the kind I want, mixed tocopherols; I can get 200 IU and 400 IU and that's usually all) and partly because Vitamin E, unlike the other oil-soluble vitamins, has not shown a toxic-high level in dogs even at high lab doses, higher than we would give.

So as odd as it may sound, part of the size choice is sometimes based on what you can get. Part is based on where one nutrition expert (or researcher, or advisor) draws the line between dog sizes compared to where another one does. A lot is based on the fact that natural E appears to be a very safe oil-based vitamin for dogs.

I still don't like mega-doses of any micronutrient for a healthy dog unless advised and supervised by a health professional, of course.

If I had a 10- or 15-pound dog, for example, and only the 200 IU size, I'd pierce and squeeze, and not give the whole contents. If I had two dogs that size and just the 200 U gelcaps, I'd probably split the contents between them.

Your dog: I have a dog of about that weight (23-24 pounds), and he gets 100 IU a day when I can find that size, and 200 when I can't.

 Quote: Alyssa Myracle

(I personally only give E and Salmon Oil a couple of times a week, though during the winter months of cold moist outdoor air vs hot, dry heater air indoors, I tend to up that a bit, 4-6 days per week.)

Yes, if I did not give fish oil every day, I would probably not give E every day either.

I do give fish oil every day, though, and I think that E is important with it.

JMO.

P.S. There is such a thing as E overdose, BTW, so please don't misunderstand me. But it's probably about 1200 IU (of natural, not synthetic) E a day for extended periods (for a big dog).

That does not mean that approaching that level is advisable. It isn't. JMO.

 Quote: Connie Sutherland

First, can you link me to something indicating 100 IU per 20 pounds here?

You recommended 400IU for an 80 lb dog here: http://leerburg.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/226201/page/1#Post226201 and from what I read in other threads, I put together that assumed formula. Sorry, probably could've worded that better so it didn't sound like you made that formula.

 Quote: sharon eliot

 Quote: connie sutherland

First, can you link me to something indicating 100 IU per 20 pounds here?

You recommended 400IU for an 80 lb dog here: http://leerburg.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/226201/page/1#Post226201 and from what I read in other threads, I put together that assumed formula. Sorry, probably could've worded that better so it didn't sound like you made that formula.

Oh, I see. Yes, there really would not be such a finely-tuned formula as "so-much per so-many-pounds" because of the limited number of dosage sizes available.

But I see what you meant.