RE: follow up question about the beagle/shih tzu mix with heart murmur

[curlydog415]

My 2 previous questions were asked and answered by you in the last couple of days in this fourm which i thank you for!

i thank you soooo much for your responses regarding my 11 yr old beagle - shih tzu mix with the 2-3 asymptomatic heart murmur.  i am going to purchase the nordic naturals fish oil and start this dog on them, as well as my other 2 dogs (11 and 12 yr old dacshunds).  my 11 yr old long haired dacshund has some arthritis and stiffness and a year ago we started giving him a supplement called "joint strong" and he has much better mobility then he did before.  i am a believer that "some" supplements can benefit dogs as well as people.  i myself monitor my vitamin d level with blood tests and since i've been supplementing with 3500 IU's per day i notice my mood as well as my general health feel a lot better!  my veterinarian is not very knowledgeable in supplements and does not have much to offer me in the way of advice.  looking on the internet i found a product called "Vetri-Science Cardio-Strength".  I copy and pasted the ingredients below and I was wondering if you could take a look and tell me if you see any "harm" in giving this to my asymptomatic dog (with the murmur).  i am thinking about giving this to him along with the nordic fish oil.  

web link:  http://www.vetriscience.com/cardio-strength.php


Vetri-Science Cardio-Strength

Recommended to support cardiovascular health.

Active Ingredients Per Capsule:
L-Carnitine HCl...250 mg
L-Taurine...250 mg
N,N-Dimethylglycine ....50 mg
d-alpha Tocopheryl Succinate (Vitamin E)...30 IU
Eicosapentaenoic Acid (EPA) Powder Blend ....25 mg
Coenzyme Q10..20 mg
Gamma Linolenic Acid (GLA) Powder Blend ..10 mg
Folic Acid ..0.9 mg
Magnesium (as Magnesium Citrate/Malate)..0.5 mg
Potassium (as Potassium Citrate/Malate) ....0.1 mg
Selenium (as Sodium Selenite ..0.007 mg

Directions:

Dogs: Give 1 capsule per 25 lbs of body weight, daily.


Thank you so much for all of your help!

[Aleda M Cheng, D.V.M., C.V.A]

Hello there!

The combination supplement you have listed is a good one, however a few additions would make it more complete.

These additions would include:

1. Calcium and magnesium supplementation, 40 mg of each, twice daily.
2. Vitamin C 50 mg twice daily.
3. Vitamin K2 15 mcg once daily to be taken with fish oils.  The Vitamin D in the fish oils should be at least 500 IU's and works synergestically with the Vitamin K2.
4. Hawthorn (Crataegus oxyacantha) extract 50 mg. twice daily
5. Cinnamon (Cimmonium cassia bark)  50 mg twice daily
6. Fu Fang Dan Shen Pian-this is a classical Chinese herbal formula for heart murmurs.  The dose is 1/3 to 1/4 of an adult human dose (for a 25lb. dog) twice daily.

Additionally, 20mg of Co Q-10 should be given twice daily, not just once daily as listed in the Vetriscience product.

All of the above are available online as human products and some may be available for pets.  Some are also available at good local heath food stores, such as Whole Foods.  The Chinese herbal formula is definitely available online and may be available at Chinese grocery stores that have in-store pharmacies.

If you find the task of acquiring and giving all these extra supplements daunting then the most important of the above supplements would be the Co Q-10, and Hawthorn, and the Fu Fang Dan Shen Pian.

Please give us an update!

[curlydog415]

thank you so much for asking them to look at this.  oh, and when i was talking about vitamin d that was about myself.  i would not supplment my dog with vitamin d...

[Jim Humphries, B.S., D.V.M.]

I'm going to ask Dr. Cheng or Dr. Osborne to answer on this.  While most of this looks fine, we don't want to OD on an ingredient.  I.E. the Nordic naturals has plenty of D in it.  Let's see what they say.  

Dr. Jim