why vitamins and minerals matter in pet food

Choline and Inositol

This dynamic vitamin duo works together to build cell membranes and helps to protect your pet’s skin from dehydration. As a solo hero, Inositol also plays a role in nerve conduction.

Niacin helps with skin health and to give your pet a glossy coat. It also works beneath the surface to help break down sugars and fats into energy.

Think energy and brain function. Thiamine generates energy for your pet’s cells and helps to move sensory impulses between neurons in the nervous system.

Riboflavin-rich pet foods help boost your BFF’s skin health and to let them turn fat into energy.

Vitamin B5 is a part of coenzyme A, a crucial component of metabolic reaction, otherwise known as all the processes that create energy for your pet’s cells.

Vitamin B6 is another coenzyme power player for creating energy inside your pet’s cells, specifically for amino acid metabolism.

Much like niacin, your pet’s body uses biotin to increase skin and hair health. Biotin also supports a healthy nervous system by breaking down glucose, fatty acids and some amino acids.

Folic acid helps to synthesize DNA as part of the cell multiplication process. Fetuses need a lot of folic acid, so it’s easy for pregnant people and pets to develop a B8 deficiency.

Another cellular power player! Vitamin B12 is another vitamin that helps at a cellular level for protein synthesis. It also fights against anemia and boosts red blood cell production.

While vitamin C is a must for humans, it’s not actually an essential vitamin for dogs or cats. Typically, pets only need vitamin C in their diet when their own livers can’t produce enough to deal with issues like age, cell stress, and joint issues like arthritis.

Vitamin A

Vitamin A is essential for vision and skin regeneration, and is what helps your cat or dog see in the dark. Pets with a vitamin A deficiency are susceptible to eye problems, skin problems, infections and pulmonary complications.

Vitamin D increases the intestinal absorption of calcium and phosphorus, optimizes calcium bonding, and reduces the loss of calcium and phosphorus in the urine. The upshot? Vitamin D helps your pet avoid rickets, fractures, and joint issues.

Vitamin E is crucial to helping your pet’s immune system fight oxidation, plus age-related conditions like heart disease, cataracts, and neurological diseases. Pet food labels may contain vitamin E in oils, oleaginous grains, or cereal germs.

Vitamin K enables many enzymes essential for proper blood coagulation. Without it, pets can suffer digestive, nasal, skin and cerebral hemorrhages, and anemia. If your pet has dangerously low levels, they may even require an emergency vitamin K injection.

Calcium

About 99% of calcium in your pet’s body is in their bones, where it’s crucial for a strong skeletal structure and information transfer between cells. It’s especially important for puppies and kittens as they grow, and is often seen in tandem with other minerals, like phosphorus, to make sure pets get the good stuff they need.

A minor metal, iodine plays a significant role in your pet’s digestive system and helps with the synthesis of thyroid hormones that regulate your pet’s metabolism.

Magnesium is a multifunctional mineral that helps to build your pet’s bones, produce energy at a cellular level, and enable a good working nervous system.

When balanced with calcium, the two minerals work together to maintain bone structure and cell energy. Your veterinary team will let you know if your older dog needs a diet with less phosphorus, to avoid complicating existing health conditions.

Potassium is called a macro mineral, because the body needs large amounts to balance it with sodium for proper cell functioning and energy creation.

Potassium citrate helps to bond with calcium in your pet’s system, helping to reduce urine acidity and prevent painful kidney stones.

Sodium helps to monitor the pressure inside and outside of your pet’s cells. And, since it encourages your pet to drink more water, it also encourages your pet to pee and clear out minerals that might otherwise form kidney stones.

Sodium phosphates help slow down the formation of tartar, the dental-disease-causing crust created by old plaque on pet teeth.

Iron

The small amounts of iron your pet needs are vital for bodily function, like helping to provide oxygen to both organs and muscles.

Copper helps with several functions in your pet’s body, helping their systems absorb iron and stop anemia. Plus, it’s part of melanin synthesis, which is what ultimately gives your pet his or her hair color.

Especially important for puppies and kittens, as well as older pets, manganese helps ensure quality bone and cartilage. It also helps with mitochondrial function to provide energy.

Selenium acts as an antioxidant to help fight against oxidative stress, which includes aging, pollution, cancer, or inflammatory diseases. Selenium also acts in tandem with vitamin E to protect cell membranes from free radicals.

This mineral can help boost your pet’s body function, including the quality of their skin and hair and reproductive function.