With so many pet supplements on the market, how do you know if what your choosing is going to be great for your pet?
Supplementing a dog's food with nutrients can help with specific health issues and promote general wellness, even if the dog already has a balanced and nutritious diet.
Seek the advice of your veterinarian when you suspect your canine may have additional dietary requirements like dog vitamins and supplements; they will be able to recommend the most appropriate products for your pet.
Vitamins for Dogs
To be healthy, dogs require a variety of vitamins, and each vitamin serves a unique purpose. While most dog’s needs may be adequately met by conventional canine diets, there are some situations when dog vitamin supplements might be helpful.
Keep in mind that too many supplements could lead to vitamin waste or even vitamin poisoning in dogs who are already receiving a balanced diet. To make the greatest choices for your dog's food and supplement needs, it's important to let your veterinarian assist you understand his individual nutritional requirements.
Types of Supplements Available for Dogs
Numerous pet supplements for dogs are available to aid in the well-being of your canine companion. A few examples include salmon oil for healthy skin and coat, KVP Mendy Chews™ for optimal healing from surgery or injury, and vitamin E for dogs, which supports immunological, skin, and coat health. Common dietary supplements consist of:
Recovery: When your dog suffers from an injury or is recovering from a surgical procedure, it can come with a lot of changes in mobility, diet, and medications. A recovery chew promotes healthy blood circulation and tissue growth through proper nutritional supplements. These chews can include leucine, taurine, and valine.
Brain Health: Maintaining your dog's mental acuity as it ages is a top priority. Dog mental acuity supplements can be helpful in addition to physical activity and engaging dog toys for cerebral stimulation. When shopping for supplements to help with cognition, try to find ones that have oil components that are known to strengthen the brain, such as medium-chain triglycerides from coconut oil and Omega-3 fatty acids from seafood. Other good options include B vitamins, biotin, L-arginine, and a plethora of antioxidants.
Heart Health: Regular exercise is the best way to maintain a healthy heart in your dog, but a heart supplement may also help. Support your dog's heart health with supplements that include taurine, fatty acids, L-carnitine, Coenzyme Q10, and niacin.
Gut Health: Our understanding of the digestive system is expanding, and with it, our appreciation for its role in maintaining good digestion and immunological function. Supplementing your dog's diet with probiotics, which are good bacteria naturally found in their digestive tract, can help with digestion and immune system support.
Skin and Coat Health: When a dog's coat and skin look healthy, it's usually a sign that their overall health is doing well. Along with routine grooming, skin and coat supplements containing a natural antioxidant blend of nutrients (e.g., spirulina, coconut oil, omega fatty acids, and fruits) can be very helpful.
Joint Health: Supplements for older dogs should include canine joint health products, but your vet may recommend beginning treatment earlier if your dog's breed is prone to joint problems. Joint mobility and comfort can be enhanced with the help of glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate supplements, which also supply the necessary components for healthy cartilage. Your dog's joints can benefit from these when made from purified sources or from natural ingredients like green-lipped mussels, which are popular because they include omega-3 fatty acids, amino acids, antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals.
Collagen and hyaluronic acid are two more powerful substances for joint health that can be an added benefit to any joint supplement. Although hyaluronic acid is well known for its skin care applications, it also has positive effects on joint health. Joint lubrication and comfort are both enhanced by hyaluronic acid's ability to increase cell hydration.
A study supporting this can be found at:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5356289/
Stress Relief: Your dog may experience heightened anxiety due to separation anxiety, fear, or other outside factors. Supplements, in addition to identifying and mitigating the source of these stresses, can have a significant impact. Because of their sedative and stress-reduction properties, the amino acids L-theanine and L-tryptophan are common included in dog calming supplements. There is some evidence that the natural sedative properties of ginger root and chamomile can help alleviate stress.
Immune Health: We've previously discussed how probiotics are important for dogs' digestive health and immune system if you're searching for a supplement to support their immune system. To fight free radicals, which can damage cells, anything with a lot of antioxidants is good. Vitamins C and E, as well as Coenzyme Q10, are among the most frequent and excellent antioxidant sources.
Dental Supplements: Just like humans, dogs need something to prevent the formation of tartar and plaque on their teeth and gums for optimal health. There is a wide variety of dog dental chews available, and many of them have ridges that scrape the teeth clean. To help keep your teeth and gums healthy, they may include all-natural components.
It is the responsibility of your veterinarian to determine whether supplementing is the best course of action if your dog is experiencing any of these problems. Some supplements may be unnecessary, as your pets are already getting those nutrients through their diet. Supplements are not like medications, but can sometimes have ingredients that inhibit the effectiveness of pet’s medication or cause toxicity. Always pay attention to dosing, while they aren’t medications, they are not treats either.
Since supplements take time to build up in your pet’s system to work effectively and see results, it is usually advised that you try a veterinarian-recommended supplement for 1-3 months to be able to properly evaluate its effectiveness for your pet.
So if you’ve narrowed it down to a couple options, now call your vet and see what they think!
Citations:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5356289/
https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/nutrition/popular-dog-supplements/