Canine health risks
As pet owners, we do our best to ensure our trusted companions receive the love and care they need to thrive. But, what happens when your dog develops a critical illness, despite your best efforts? Unfortunately, this reality is all too common for pet owners.
Dogs are prone to many of the same acute and chronic illnesses as people. However, since our pets can’t tell us when they feel sick, it is not uncommon for some diseases to go unnoticed, potentially leading to critical illness.
Nutrition status, weight and physical activity can significantly affect treatment outcomes in ill dogs. In addition, research suggests vitamin D may play a role in various canine diseases. However, until recently, researchers have yet to evaluate how vitamin D deficiency my affect critical illness outcome in dogs.
New research on vitamin D and canine critical illness
In a study published earlier this year, researchers hypothesized that, like humans, critically ill dogs are more likely to be vitamin D deficient, and that vitamin D deficiency may affect disease severity and survival. A total of 99 dogs were included in the study, 82 of which were admitted to the University of Missouri Veterinary Health Center Intensive Care Unit (ICU) between October of 2016 and January of 2017 for critical illness. The remaining 17 healthy dogs served as healthy controls.
The researchers evaluated the dog’s physical health, lab values (including 25(OH)D levels) and disease severity within 24 hours of admission. They recorded overall length of hospital stay, reason for ICU admission and survival outcomes. In addition, the researchers followed up with each dog owner to determine survival a day after discharge and again 30 days after discharge from ICU.
Study findings
- Healthy dogs had significantly higher vitamin D levels than dogs who were critically ill or had sepsis (p = 0.001 and p = 0.002, respectively).
- Vitamin D status was an independent predictor of survival, both in-hospital and after 30 days (p = 0.01 and p = 0.001, respectively).
- Every 1 ng/ml increase in 25(OH)D levels was associated with a 6% decreased risk of mortality (OR: 1.06 (1:00-1:13); p = 0.046).
- Every 1 ng/ml increase in 25(OH)D levels was associated with a 5% decreased risk of mortality 30 days after being discharged (OR: 1.05 (1.00-1.10); p = 0.03).
- Higher vitamin D status was associated with lower illness severity (p = 0.001), but not with ICU length of stay.
The researchers concluded,
“Hospitalized dogs with critical illness have decreased serum 25(OH)D concentrations compared to healthy dogs and can be used to predict survival in this cohort.”
Final thoughts
These findings suggest vitamin D may plays a key role in illness severity and treatment outcomes among critically ill dogs. Unfortunately, research about how vitamin D may affect canine health is still in its infancy. There is a lack of research evaluating the ideal dose of vitamin D for dogs, so it is difficult to determine what the ideal 25(OH)D reference range for dogs is at this time.
Do you have any questions or experiences about vitamin D and canine health you would like to share? If so, please comment below to join the conversation!