Chondroitin sulfate. Glucosamine. Omega-3 fatty acids. CBD oil. These are just a few of the many over-the-counter supplements you can buy for your pet. Just like human supplements, there are many different brands and different formulations. Pet supplement sales in the United States alone were over $600 million dollars last year! Should you be giving your pet any supplements? How do you choose which one and which brand is most effective? How do you know if your dog would benefit from taking a supplement?
Ideally, any product we give to our pets would have well-controlled, peer-reviewed, and published studies showing the ingredient was effective for the medical condition as well as safe at the dose given. But in most cases, the ingredient hasn’t been studied in dogs or cats extensively (you can’t extrapolate effectiveness from human or mice studies), and the claims on the label are anecdotal or purely the imaginings of the marketing team.
The first thing to know before buying a product for your pet is that there are no regulations for supplements. There is no governmental body overseeing the production and making sure the manufacturer is following good practices, assessing the overall efficacy or safety, nor assuring that the supplement contains what is claimed on the label. The manufacturer is solely responsible for their product. It’s a buyer-beware market.
Besides being expensive, supplements can have a negative effect on the nutrients in your pet’s diet (such as too much calcium), they could interact with other medication your pet is taking, and they could be contaminated or adulterated with other ingredients that could be harmful to your pet (steroids, caffeine, etc.). Some supplements, such as blue-green algae, can cause liver injury if inappropriately given. Many supplements for pets come in tasty chewable form. If your dog eats more than the recommended dose, they can become very sick and require hospitalization.
One thing to look for on a supplement label is the National Animal Supplement Council (NASC) Quality Seal. Companies that display this seal on their products must have quality controls during the production of the supplement so that they provide a consistent, quality product. They must have a reporting system to monitor any adverse reactions in pets taking the supplement, include specific warnings or cautions for particular ingredients recommended by the FDA, comply with stringent labeling guidelines, and submit to random product testing by an independent lab to ensure ingredients meet the label claim. Many studies of human supplements have shown them to contain widely varying amounts of the ingredient, and pet supplements are no different. If you’re looking at a supplement and it doesn’t have the NASC seal, you may want to move to the next product on the shelf.
Check the bottle for a lot number and expiration date. In the event of an adverse reaction, lot numbers help the company track the original source of the ingredients. An expiration date suggests that the ingredients have been evaluated for duration of activity and stability.
Only choose a supplement if the label lists all the ingredients and the amount present. If you’re looking at a probiotic, it should list the specific bacteria and strain (such as Lactobacillus casei NCIMB 30188) as well as how many colony-forming units (CFUs) are present when it’s manufactured.
One of the main supplement duos for dogs and cats is glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate for joint health. The jury is still out on the effectiveness of glucosamine in humans, let alone dogs. If your dog is already painful due to arthritis in multiple joints, glucosamine probably isn’t going to be very helpful. Chondroitin is often included with glucosamine, which makes the product more expensive.
Research has shown that if you give chondroitin and glucosamine prior to a joint injury, it can help decrease inflammation in the joint. There are many products on the market that contain glucosamine and chondroitin along with other ingredients that may be more effective, like avocado soybean unsaponifiables (ASUs), eggshell membrane, green-lipped mussels, curcumin, and Boswellia serrata (a tree extract). Supplements containing these ingredients are expensive and best bought through your veterinarian, who has likely done some research to choose the brand they think is most effective.
What about CBD? Again, there are a lot of manufacturers who jumped on this bandwagon. Do the products contain what the label says? Are they effective? Are there scientific research papers to back up any label claims? One brand, ElleVet, has both research and the NASC seal. Their products also have high amounts of CBDA, which is better absorbed than CBD and is more potent for anxiety, pain, nausea, and inflammation.
Omega-3 fatty acids are one supplement to consider for a variety of different conditions, and there is good research to back up its use. Depending on the dose, omega-3 fatty acids can be beneficial in pets with allergies, heart disease, kidney disease, cognitive dysfunction, and osteoarthritis, but they can have adverse effects: gastrointestinal upset, diarrhea, high levels of mercury, and weight gain. Human omega-3 products may also contain vitamin D or calcium, which may not be appropriate for a dog or cat.
Some prescription dog foods contain high amounts of omega-3 fatty acids, but over-the-counter foods touting they contain them don’t really have very much. It’s best to get fatty acid supplements from your veterinarian, who can determine the best amount for your pet based on the medical condition and weight of the pet.
So before you get sucked in at the checkout counter of your local pet store by all the bright labels and amazing claims of pet supplements, know what results you’re hoping to see, check the label for an NASC seal, and talk to your veterinarian about which supplements they carry and recommend. Ultimately, your pet and your pocketbook will thank you.
