Can Pets Take Vitamin B17: The Ultimate Guide

Intro:

Pet parents give vitamins to their pets for any one of two reasons: they have a health problem and they want (or hope) the vitamin could help, and they want to be extra sure that their pets are getting all the vitamins they need to stay healthy,

On the surface, these are certainly good reasons to give your pet vitamins and supplements. It’s probably the main reason pet owners in the US spent more than $500 million on pet supplements alone in 2014, and the number is still expected to shoot to more than $700 million in 2020.

Does Your Pet Need Vitamins?

Human beings take vitamins and supplements every day, whether they are organic or synthetic. But should our pets take vitamin supplements too?

While they may be physiologically different, pets also share some nutritional needs, and they require vitamins just as humans do. That said, it’s not as simple as slipping a pill or vitamin supplement into your pet’s diet. In fact, it’s the physiological and dosing differences that complicates the idea of giving human vitamin supplements to your pets.

The other factor would have to be the process by which some of the human-grade vitamin products are formulated or manufactured. Your pet’s system may not recognize them as vitamins and may store them up or eject them from their systems, with undesirable effects.

However, as with humans, certain diseases and health conditions in pets can also benefit from supplementary vitamins. Therefore, if you are feeding your pets on a home-prepared diet, it may be prudent to include a vitamin supplement, particularly if your pet has some a specific health issue. In this case, the type and amount of vitamin supplements you’d give them will depend on the ingredients included in the home-prepared diet.

Pet foods generally contain enough nutrients to make a balanced diet for them. Therefore, a vitamin supplement for humans, which often contains the full, required quantities, maybe a bit too much for your pets. You certainly don’t want to ‘nourish’ your pet with more than its body can handle.

However, some vitamin supplements may benefit your pet’s health, especially when taken after consulting a vet. Before you take your pet’s dietary matters into your own hands, always run the idea by your vet.

Rising Illnesses in Pets

Reports indicate that there has been an overall rise in pet illnesses. A 2016 State of Health Report conducted in the US showed a less than exciting outlook of the state of health for some of the most common pets.

There are indications that such outcomes might have something to do with the modern, processed pet foods. The way they are prepared essentially destroys a lot of the natural enzymes. Although many of them have labels that indicate they “complete” or “balanced,” a good number of them are said to lack or have insufficient minerals, fatty acids, and vitamins such as Vitamin B17.

Natural Stressors

On the other hand, pets are still animals, and they require natural stressors, that is, conditions such as hunger, extreme temperatures, toxins, and exercise. Animals’ bodies need to be exposed to these conditions so that they can adapt and become stronger and more resilient. It is the same principle in humans when they engage in such extreme activities, such as exercise, where they develop muscles and have more endurance.

Our pets generally live in the same protected environments, with an abundance of food on demand, air-conditioned and heated living spaces, and little to no exposure to potentially toxic environments. Therefore, our lives, including our pets, generally lack a lot of natural stressors.

What is Vitamin B17?

Vitamin B17 is one of the lesser-known vitamins, even though it has been found to have an array of health benefits. Both humans and animals do not independently produce vitamins in their bodies. They both have to get them from their diets. Vitamin B17 can be found in many plants such as sorghum, clover, lima beans, in several kinds of raw nuts, and within seeds of various fruits. Apricot seeds particularly have high quantities of Vitamin B17.

In the wild, animals, particularly the grass-eating mammals or herbivores, were consuming diets rich in Vitamin B17. Other animals further up the food chain (carnivores, etc.) would then eat these animals and meet their full nutritional requirements this way.

Foods rich in Vitamin B17 are referred to as Nitrilosides and are found in many plant leaves and seeds. Even today, it’s believed that perhaps the reason your cat or dog eats grass whenever they have stomach troubles or as an instinctive way to get the same vitamins from the animals they would have hunted down and consumed. Of course, other theories abound, including the fact that your pet may just like the taste or feel of grass.

How Vitamin B17 Works

Among the many health benefits of Vitamin B17 is the fact that it has shown strong evidence of its ability to naturally remove or reduce abnormal cells. Therefore, it may help strengthen the immune system by slowing down the spread of disease as well as harmful cells in the body.

There are no specific animal studies, in the sense of clinical trials conducted on pets, that have solid conclusions about the effects of Vitamin B17. However, Vitamin B17 has shown potency in humans and, with the guidance of a vet, may deliver some of the benefits to your pet as well.

Vitamins That are Potentially Toxic to Pets

Pet parents always look out for their pets’ well-being, including their health and nutrition, what with increasing costs of pet health care. In the US alone, pet expenditures were expected to top $70 billion in 2016, with medicine and vet care accounting for nearly half the figures.

So, naturally, many pet owners can occasionally wonder if they couldn’t feed their pets on one of their multivitamins. After all, there’s hardly a better way to combat many health problems than to have a diet packed with all the essential vitamins and minerals, and in their appropriate quantities.

However, the dietary needs of pets and humans are quite different. Feeding a human-grade multivitamin to your pet might lead to complications. And it’s not just about the quantity of vitamins that would create problems, but also the types of vitamins or minerals you feed them could also lead to health issues.

Safe Vitamins for Your Pets

Water-soluble vitamins are generally safe for most pets. This is because only small amounts are stored in the pet’s body. B-complex vitamins can also offer many kinds of pets a variety of health benefits such as digestive health, and improved heart, and improved skin.

Other safe vitamins include Vitamin C, niacin, biotin, and folic acid. Fish oil (Omega-3 Fatty Acids) is also beneficial for pets like dogs, though you’d have to trim off the tip of the capsule and add the oil to your dog’s bowl of food.

Unsafe Vitamins and Minerals

Any excess fat-soluble vitamins are stored in fat cells within the body rather than flushed out by digestive systems. This may lead to toxicity in some instances and circumstances. The most common fat-soluble vitamins include vitamins A, E, D, and K.

Excess Vitamin D in your pet’s body can be fairly serious because it may increase calcium and phosphorous levels, which can lead to more permanent health issues with the heart, the kidney, and other vital organs. Other potentially harmful supplements include Prenatal vitamins, which contain iron, and which may lead to iron toxicity in your pet’s system.

Remember, most human-grade vitamin supplements are chewy, brightly colored, and even smell great. This might make them quite attractive to your pets will most likely succumb to their curiosity. Don’t leave your vitamin supplement bottles hanging around places accessible to your pets.

Foods That are Toxic to Pets

It can be hard to resist those big, begging, eyes of your pet as she stares at your food, and you eventually end up sharing a small piece. After all, a little reward from mom or dad is always due if your pet has been on her best behavior. However, depending on the food, this can be a terrible idea. Many well-meaning pet parents have ended up poisoning their pets in this manner. Some foods are downright dangerous for your pets.

Sharing a piece of your ice cream with your dog in the summer might seem like a sweet thing to do, but it can cause all kinds of problems, including diarrhea and digestive system issues. Cold milk might work better in this case.

Caffeine, chocolate, and coffee contain methylxanthines, which are found in cacao seeds used to make coffee. When consumed by pets, methylxanthines can lead to diarrhea, vomiting, increased urination and thirst, hyperactivity, seizures, and even death.

Raw meat and raw eggs are generally bad news for some pets like cats and dogs. Some people might be keen on having their pets on a “raw diet” as a healthy option, to mimic their pet’s natural diet if they lived in the wild. However, when it comes to domestic pets, this would be risking food poisoning from harmful bacteria like E. coli and salmonella.

Others include onion, garlic, and chives, all of which may cause gastrointestinal irritations or even red blood cell damage. Some nuts such as almonds, walnuts, pecans, and macadamia nuts contain high quantities of oils, which may cause your pets to diarrhea or vomit and, in some cases, lead to pancreatitis.

The Verdict: Can Pets Take Vitamin B17?

Vitamin B17 has shown a lot of potency in humans, given its many health benefits. Considering the weight, age, and species of your pet, you may give Vitamin B17 to the pet after consulting with a vet. This cannot be overemphasized.

Check out our range of organic Vitamin B17 supplements which we extract from top-grade, non-GMO Apricots seeds.