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Vitamin D deficiency is increasingly linked to adverse outcomes

Cancer It has been reported that dogs and cats with lymphoma (2,11), mast cell tumors (5), hemangiosarcoma, carcinoma, histiocytic sarcoma, and other cancers (10,11,12) all have 25vitD values below 40ng/mL.  The relative risk of having cancer increases to almost 4x when 25vitD values are below 40ng/mL. Chronic Enteropathy (IBD) Disease severity and the incidence of chronic […] Read more »

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Food Quality is Vital for reaching Vitamin D Sufficiency

The term vitamin D has become a catch-all for three different forms of vitamin D: D3, 25(OH)D3, and 1,25(OH)2D3 (calcitriol), as well as the 24-hydroxylated components.  The routinely measured and primary store of vitamin D is 25(OH)D3. Vitamin D Metabolism In a dog or cats’ diet, the primary available format is both D3 and 25(OH)D3.  While commercial food […] Read more »

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Vitamin D Intoxication

Over the years, and just recently, there have been food recalls concerning excess vitamin D in pet food and reported ‘vitamin D intoxication’. Pets eating these foods and exhibiting signs of hypercalcemia are assumed to have vitamin D intoxication. Background: Vitamin D exists as three different forms: Vitamin D3  25-hydroxy-vitaminD (25(OH)D)  1,25-dihydroxy-vitaminD (calcitriol).  Both D3 and 25(OH)D are […] Read more »

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Vitamin D Insufficiency – A Pandemic in American Pets

Vitamin D insufficiency is a major problem in cats and dogs in the United States.  According to a 2015 study out of Tufts University1, 75% of dogs are vitamin D insufficient.  We wanted to look at what that meant for real world pets. The real problem in real world patients VDI analyzed its database of […] Read more »

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Vitamin D Report — High End Sufficiency

VDI Laboratory provides patient specific dosing guidelines on all Vitamin D reports for cats and dogs. Now, all Vitamin D reports come with a second dosing guideline for reaching the high end of the sufficient range.  High End Sufficiency Sometimes we get asked- can we target higher in the sufficient zone (100-150ng/mL)?  The answer of course […] Read more »

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All major brands of dog food provide insufficient vitamin D

In a major study from Tufts University , 40 different brands of dog food were evaluated for the amount of vitamin D absorbed and converted to 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25vitD), the primary store and precursor to the active hormone, calicitriol. In a group of 320 dogs, 25vitD concentrations ranged from 9.5 to 249.2 ng/mL.  However, the median 25vitD concentration was […] Read more »