General multivitamin

Multivitamins are commonplace in both human and veterinary health marketing. Vitamins and minerals are vital components of a balanced diet, and deficiencies can be associated with health conditions. Commercially available dog foods that meet AAFCO/FEDIAF (European version) standards meet the currently acceptable minimum requirements for these vitamins. Varying life stages also require different vitamin/mineral composition (e.g., young growing puppies need higher amounts of calcium compared to the average adult dog) and commercially available foods that meet these standards are widely available.

Supplementation of additional vitamins and/or minerals to dogs, in excess of the recommended daily amounts, has not been associated with a clinically appreciable benefit. That is, more of a “good thing” is not necessarily better. For example, research has shown that while increasing dietary intake of certain vitamins like cobalamin, pantothenate, and biotin can elevate blood concentrations, these increases do not necessarily translate to improved skin or coat quality(Tran et al., 2007).

However, there are certain disease states where supplementation may be indicated. This is beyond the scope of this mini review. Likewise, dogs fed an unbalanced diet would likely benefit from the addition of vitamins and minerals to make up for the deficiency in the diet (under the guidance of a veterinarian). Furthermore, specific classes of supplements, such as antioxidants, have been investigated for their ability to protect against DNA damage and improve immunological performance, such as establishing quicker vaccine-specific antibody responses(Heaton et al., 2002).