Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Oral vs injectable B12 for dogs with low B12 from gut or pancreas
By Chang, Chee-Hoon et al.·Published in Journal of veterinary internal medicine·2022·Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Effect of oral or injectable supplementation with cobalamin in dogs with hypocobalaminemia caused by chronic enteropathy or exocrine pancreatic insufficiency.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of dogs with low vitamin B12 levels (hypocobalaminemia) due to chronic digestive issues or pancreatic problems were treated with either oral or injectable vitamin B12 supplements. Both methods effectively increased their vitamin B12 levels, with oral supplements showing similar results to injections. The dogs receiving oral supplements also had a decrease in a related marker of vitamin B12 deficiency. This suggests that oral vitamin B12 can be a good option for dogs with these conditions, providing a more convenient treatment choice for pet owners.
People also search for: dog low vitamin B12 treatment · oral cobalamin for dogs · chronic enteropathy in dogs · exocrine pancreatic insufficiency in dogs
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Recent studies have shown similar efficacy of oral supplementation of cobalamin compared to injectable supplementation in dogs, but few prospective, randomized studies have been published. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate efficacy of oral or injectable supplementation with cobalamin in normalizing serum cobalamin and methylmalonic acid (MMA) concentrations in dogs with hypocobalaminemia caused by either chronic enteropathy (CE) or exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (EPI). ANIMALS: Forty-six client owned dogs with hypocobalaminemia. METHODS: Prospective randomized clinical trial. Dogs were divided into 2 groups (CE or EPI), and randomized to receive oral or injectable supplementation of cobalamin. Each dog had 3 visits and serum cobalamin and MMA concentrations were measured at each visit. RESULTS: In dogs with CE, serum cobalamin concentrations increased with oral (P = .02; median 149 [range 149-231] to 733 [166-1467] ng/L, median difference 552 [95% CI: 181-899] ng/L) or injectable (P < .01; 168 [149-233] to 563 [234-965] ng/L, 367 [187-623] ng/L) supplementation. In dogs with EPI, serum cobalamin concentrations increased with oral (P = .01; 162 [149-214] to 919 [643-3863] ng/L, 705 [503-3356] ng/L) or injectable (P = .01; 177 [149-217] to 390 [243-907] ng/L, 192 [89-361] ng/L) supplementation. Serum MMA concentrations decreased with oral or injectable supplementation in dogs with CE, but only with oral supplementation in dogs with EPI. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: Oral supplementation is an alternative for cobalamin supplementation in dogs with hypocobalaminemia caused by CE or EPI.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36054643/