Did you know that the powerful combination of Vitamin A, B6 and Zinc is essential to support your dog’s health needs? Yes, it’s true. These unseen power players play a pivotal role in your dog’s overall health, wellbeing and functionality.
An optimal synergy
When combined, vitamin A, vitamin B6 and zinc can help your pup to build a strong immune system and metabolism, as well as improve their vision and cell growth, and promote healthy skin and bones.
Singularly, each of these nutrients offer significant benefits, but when working together, they have a much greater impact, including keeping deficiencies at bay. Nutrient and mineral deficiencies can lead to a range of issues, including hair loss, cracked skin and ulcers.
Let’s take a look at each one…
Vitamin A
Vitamin A is essential for your dog’s health and helps to support optimal vision, bone growth, reproduction and immunity, as well as a healthy coat, skin, muscles and nerves.
Powerful sources of vitamin A include spinach, beef liver, butternut squash, kale, basil and carrots – because yes, just like in humans, carrots can help your dog’s vision. Certain red and orange vegetables contain beta-carotene, which is absorbed by the intestine and transported to the liver. When combined with fats in the diet, it is then converted to vitamin A and released through the bloodstream, making its way to the retina of the eye where it works its magic to assist with vision.
When consuming vitamin A, balance is key. Extreme levels of vitamin A in dogs can lead to poisoning. And although uncommon, an excess can lead to vomiting, drowsiness, irritability and peeling of the skin.
Vitamin B6
Mostly found in chicken, turkey and cauliflower, vitamin B6 supports your pup’s nervous system function, hormone regulation and helps to maintain coat health, heart health and support the growth of red blood cells. It also assists in balancing your dog’s potassium-sodium supply, which manages water regulation to keep your pupper fit and healthy. A lack of vitamin B6 can lead to a deficiency resulting in severe anaemia.
Zinc
Zinc is an important mineral needed for skin health, immune system function, vision, cell growth and replication, and in breeding dogs, sexual function. Just like us, dogs do not produce zinc naturally, so it must be sourced from the foods they eat, including fresh red and white meat, fish and root vegetables.
Unfortunately, it’s common for highly processed commercial dog foods to exceed the maximum authorised limit of zinc, which can cause gastrointestinal issues. This can happen when food is produced without nutritional value in mind.
Conversely, a lack of zinc can also cause problems such as zinc-responsive dermatosis, an abnormal production of skin. At Lyka, to ensure your dog is receiving the right amount of zinc, we use fresh produce as well as a small amount of chelated zinc.
Lyka: balanced recipes for your pup
Finding the right balance of nutrients for your dog is vital, as overexposure and underexposure can cause serious health problems. Thankfully, providing your dog with well-balanced meals doesn’t have to be complicated.
Our in-house Integrated Vet, Dr. Matthew Muir, works alongside a Veterinary Nutritionist to ensure that each of our recipes contain an optimal dose of vitamins and minerals to avoid any deficiencies or excess supply. Complete and balanced all life stages, our recipes are a great source of vitamin A, B6 and zinc, with each ingredient combination formulated to meet or exceed minimums set by AAFCO and FEDIAF. Put simply, here at Lyka, your dog’s health always comes first. Are you ready to join the fresh dog food revolution?
