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I have a Westie that is approximately 20 pounds. She has some beard staining. I read that adding a crushed 500mg vitamin C tablet to her food daily would cause the stain to grow out and not reappear. I am not sure if this is true or not. I thought I might give it a try. I just wanted to ask if there were any reasons why a 500mg vitamin C tablet would harm my dog in anyway before I did this. Also, since the vitamin C tablets are bitter when crushed, I will have to just conceal it whole in a tidbit instead of crushing it. Would that affect the absorption any?
Thanks.

>>I have a Westie that is approximately 20 pounds. She has some beard staining. I read that adding a crushed 500mg vitamin C tablet to her food daily would cause the stain to grow out and not reappear. I am not sure if this is true or not. I thought I might give it a try. I just wanted to ask if there were any reasons why a 500mg vitamin C tablet would harm my dog in anyway before I did this. Also, since the vitamin C tablets are bitter when crushed, I will have to just conceal it whole in a tidbit instead of crushing it. Would that affect the absorption any?
>>Thanks.

>>>>>>>>>>>>

Vitamin C also comes in a powder, which is very easy to give by mixing with food. You need a totally buffered form, because a dog could have pain from an unbuffered vitamin C without you knowing it.
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Kathy Diamond Davis, author, "Therapy Dogs: Training Your Dog to Reach Others," 2nd edition, and the free Canine Behavior Series articles at http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=SRC&S=1&SourceID=47

Please let me know if the Vitamin C stops the hair staining. Ascorbic acid has a sour taste, so I would suggest using sodium ascorbate, either as a powder or a tablet. Ascorbic acid may also acidify your dog's metabolism, which may lead to calcium oxalate crystals or stones in the bladder. Otherwise there is no downside to giving Vit. C.

Thank you both for your quick replies.

Oops. Guess I should have posted BEFORE I bought 500 Vitamin C tablets, huh? I bought Vitamin C with Rose Hips. I certainly don't want to cause my Westie any gastric upset. I will make another trip to the pharmacy. I do need some advice, to make sure I don't buy the wrong product again. From what I understand I need to buy either buffered Vitamin C or Sodium Ascorbate. Are these alike or is one better than the other? What about chewable Vitamin C tablets? I have no problem with giving my Westie a whole tablet concealed in a treat, so a powdered form is not necessary, unless of course it is better for her.

I welcome any and all comments or suggestions. If anyone else has used Vitamin C to reduce beard and/or paw staining, I would be interested in your results.

Thanks again!

>>Thank you both for your quick replies.
>>
>>Oops. Guess I should have posted BEFORE I bought 500 Vitamin C tablets, huh? I bought Vitamin C with Rose Hips. I certainly don't want to cause my Westie any gastric upset. I will make another trip to the pharmacy. I do need some advice, to make sure I don't buy the wrong product again. From what I understand I need to buy either buffered Vitamin C or Sodium Ascorbate. Are these alike or is one better than the other? What about chewable Vitamin C tablets? I have no problem with giving my Westie a whole tablet concealed in a treat, so a powdered form is not necessary, unless of course it is better for her.
>>
>>I welcome any and all comments or suggestions. If anyone else has used Vitamin C to reduce beard and/or paw staining, I would be interested in your results.
>>
>>Thanks again!
>>
>>

>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Sodium does buffer vitamin C, and sodium ascorbate is exactly what I give my dogs. There are so many products, I would suggest you read the PH balance information on the package, to make sure it is not acidic.

The powder is so much easier, and the dog will get it all, which might not happen with tablets. Health food stores carry it.

I second what Dr. Tobin said about sodium ascorbate potentially causing problems. I had exactly that happen with one dog. She developed a bladder infection and I thought ascorbic acid would be better for her, since it is acidic. My veterinarian was doing frequent urine checks, and what we found after I switched to ascorbic acid was that she started to form crystals in her urine. When I switched back to sodium ascorbate, those crystals promptly disappeared! So that is another reason not to use ascorbic acid form of vitamin C with dogs. The dog got over her infection with oral antibiotics for several weeks, and it never recurred.

Really, I'll bet you'll like using sodium ascorbate powder. Do be sure your dog has plenty of water to drink.
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Kathy Diamond Davis, author, "Therapy Dogs: Training Your Dog to Reach Others," 2nd edition, and the free Canine Behavior Series articles at http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=SRC&S=1&SourceID=47

>>I second what Dr. Tobin said about

****************sodium ascorbate************* >
>>Really, I'll bet you'll like using sodium ascorbate powder. Do be sure your dog has plenty of water to drink.

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Kathy Diamond Davis, author, "Therapy Dogs: Training Your Dog to Reach Others," 2nd edition, and the free Canine Behavior Series articles at http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=SRC&S=1&SourceID=47

Well, for crying out loud! My "correction" didn't work at all! What I was trying to say was that I made a mistake in that one post by saying sodium ascorbate causes problems--it's ascorbic acid, as Dr. Tobin wrote, that can cause the crystals in a dog's urine. Sodium ascorbate doesn't seem to do that. Just make sure the dog gets plenty of water available, because the sodium may require that. Dogs do not have the kind of cholesterol and some other problems that humans do, so the extra sodium seems to be okay. Just do make sure the dog has water.
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Kathy Diamond Davis, author, "Therapy Dogs: Training Your Dog to Reach Others," 2nd edition, and the free Canine Behavior Series articles at http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=SRC&S=1&SourceID=47

Hi KDiamondDavis,

Thank you for your suggestions. Just to make sure I understand....I am to look for sodium ascorbate powder, right? How would the PH levels be listed and what reading/quantity should I be looking for? Just curious....what kind of dogs do you have and what do you use the sodium ascorbate powder for?

>>Hi KDiamondDavis,
>>
>>Thank you for your suggestions. Just to make sure I understand....I am to look for sodium ascorbate powder, right? How would the PH levels be listed and what reading/quantity should I be looking for? Just curious....what kind of dogs do you have and what do you use the sodium ascorbate powder for?
>>
>>

>>>>>>>>>>>

Yes, look for sodium ascorbate powder. Make sure it completely buffered, has a neutral PH factor--not acidic.

I've been giving my dogs sodium ascorbate since the 1980s! I read a book called How to Have a Healthier Dog, by Belfield and Zucker, and have done those vitamins all these years.

I feel they help immunity, and they also help with allergies. I had one dog with terrible skin allergies who cleared up completely on the vitamins. One time I tried reducing his C, and he broke right out. I increased it back to the former level immediately, and he cleared up and stayed cleared up.

An overdose of vitamin C can cause diarrhea, but other than that, it is harmless. If diarrhea were to happen, reducing the dosage stops it right away. It's not a very irritating type of diarrhea.

Hard to prove benefits, but I'm pretty convinced! One thing you need to know, if you give this to a megadose level, is that you need to wean off the vitamin C slowly if you ever decide to eliminate it. Discontinuing a megadose abruptly could cause vitamin C deficiency. Also if you give C in megadose, you need to supplement other vitamins, too, because some of them are used to metabolize the vitamin C.
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Kathy Diamond Davis, author, "Therapy Dogs: Training Your Dog to Reach Others," 2nd edition, and the free Canine Behavior Series articles at http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=SRC&S=1&SourceID=47