Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2020/09/22/vitamins-that-my-dogs-love.html
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Fish oil will also do wonders, for both their fur but the fats and vitamins in it will benefit the overall health of the pet. Alternatively if you’d like to avoid vitamin pills/chewables you can also complement your dog’s diet with homemade snacks that have nutritious yet healthy ingredients, look into baking your own dog biscuits though there might also be no-bake versions.
Great job covering all the bases in that post @jlw ! 
Coming from a family with two vets in it, I can offer that yes, listen to your vet and dogs do sometimes benefit from a vitamin supplement.
For non-pregnant humans, on the other hand, there is zero evidence for any benefits from vitamin supplements, and in fact the science on them leaning toward slightly negative health effects right now.
The usual human excuse is “I don’t eat well” so they think a vitamin will help. The truth is, the amount of vitamins we need is so low that it’s actually hard not get all of them in any typical diet. The only tricky one is D, which is why we put it in milk.
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There’s a secondary reason D is milk - our bodies don’t absorb calcium very well without it.
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A balanced and varied diet will benefit a person more than (multi)vitamins. These days i take half of one but i do try to vary my diet to include a good range of veggies and other ingredients 
Pokey likes his salmon snacks. Originally it was just dried salmon skin, a neat idea assuming it was leftovers from salmon processing. That disappeared, I went looking and tye store suggested these puny squares of salmon, like for a purse dog. Pokey is an adult labrador. Next time I looked myself, and found salmon jerky, which he likes. They also had salmon sushi from the same company.
I’m actually prescribed a multivitamin, along with calcium and a weekly vitamin D pill.
I’m not a doctor, nor should you take medical advice from an internet rando like me, but what you’re saying is exactly what everyone thinks that is incorrect. The point is that even a pretty crappy diet is still not deficient in anything. Even junk food has vitamins in it, and we just don’t need very much. Vitamin deficiency because of diet is not something that happens in industrialized democracies except in cases of severe malnutrition caused by food insecurity, perhaps. There are some medical conditions that can also cause vitamin deficiency, of course, but for the vast majority of us, even though few of us eat very well, it’s still okay. In fact, the evidence is showing that the extra stress put on our kidneys and liver is a net loss for health outcomes, even when you don’t eat as many vegetables as you think you should. The point is that the science is showing that it literally just makes expensive pee and nothing else (again, barring specific medical conditions, or months at sea on a pirate ship with no access to citrus).
This idea that we all have that vitamins “might help and can’t hurt” is 100% the result of decades of marketing by supplement companies. There was never epidemiological evidence that it was a good idea.
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I’m sure i have some vitamin deficiencies even with my diet. Mainly Vitamin D as i’m not outside much, i take the half of multivitamin like every other day to shore up anything i might be lacking. I also don’t regularly eat meat, maybe once or twice a week.
For the most part i don’t really think multivitamins are necessary for a good number of people unless specified otherwise from their doctor. I think ladies have more of a need for certain supplements like Iron and Calcium but that’s certainly not something i can speak about. I am also just some rando.
On your comment about vitamins and kidneys needing to work harder to get rid of it, this is totally true. I had a college teacher who almost died from taking too many supplements and vitamins, really nice guy and hope he’s been doing ok all these years later.
The recommendation of a B supplement for my CTS/RTS was a good one or the placebo alleviated a lot of pain.
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Careful, a strong placebo can sometimes overshoot the mark.
As an actual Veterinarian, I will tell you that if you’re feeding a quality balanced diet, a supplemental vitamin is absolutely unnecessary,
That being said, that all flies out the window if your pet has particular health concerns. For example, as noted above, omega fatty acid supplements can really help with a lot of dermatological conditions, as well as seeming to help with other inflammatory based problems (think arthritis, some gastrointestinal issues, etc…) . If your pet has primary pancreatic or certain gastrointestinal issues, they may not be able to absorb nutrients as well as the average dog, so their dietary requirements may be higher than average. If your dog has liver problems, they may have issues with synthesis of certain vitamins, and may benefit from supplementation. And the list goes on and on.
So, short version. Feed good food, and your average healthy dog doesn’t need (or even utilize) your fancy expensive supplements. They just become expensive urine and stool additives.
If your dog has any health issues, or a quality commercially formulated diet is not available to you, then supplementation may be very important. Discuss with your vet.
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