When I want to treat a dog and need inspiration, I usually look to the work of Wendell Belfield DVM. I have great admiration for him and he most certainly thinks out of the box when it comes to the veterinary profession.
He has dealt with many cases of canine cardiac problems and his general views are:
Quote:
"Among the individual supplements, Vit E stands out as the great heart protector. The work of the Shute brothers in Canada over a 40 year period demonstrated the effectiveness of VIt E supplementation in rejuvenating the ailing hearts and circulatory systems and protecting healthy ones.
Cardiac disease is relatively common in the dog particularly in older animals and Lambert found that Vit E treated dogs: "appear to regain a feeling of well being, exercise tolerance is increased, and many owners remark of the fact that their dogs regain their youthful behavior. The coat and skin improve immensely. It has been observed that in most cases a slight beneficial effect is noticeable even within 48 hours after starting VIt E therapy. Originally small doses of alpha toxcopherol were used and these seemed to help many cases, but further experience with high dosage levels as suggested by the studies of the Shutes, has shown that larger doses (100-150 IUs daily) are much more effective. Many of the therapeutic failures, clinical and otherwise mentioned in the literature, may be ascribed to inadequate dosage."
The doses he recommends for the adult, 100IUs for th esmalll dog, 200 IUs for the med and large dog and 400IUs for the giant breeds. For older dogs, he double these doses.
NOTE that this Vit E protocol must never be stopped and continued to the end of life. He also says that he has had good results both with either the synthetic and natural Es.