Dr. Nancy Kay is a busy veterinary specialist, an internist who practices in Northern California. She writes books, lectures, sends out a regular email newsletter and keeps me updated on great topics I sometimes miss. That’s why I’m taking today’s post to play off her most recent thoughts on sourcing safe and effective supplements for your pets.
This has been a big topic for us veterinary types lately. Many of us have started practicing in ways that seek to limit drug use and other invasive interventions wherever we can. Consequently, we look to diet, exercise, behavior modification and other basics when we make recommendations for our sick and still-well patients alike.
Perhaps the most highly-trafficked of these emerging areas is the one defined by our use of nutritional supplements. Adding these “natural” ingredients seems like a no-brainer. After all, treating your pet with something as innocuous as a plant extract beats drug use or surgery, right?
Yes, that’s true for most of the veterinary-recommended supplements. But it bears noting that not all that’s natural bodes well for our pets. I mean, cocaine is natural, too, right? So is chocolate. And xylitol, the sugar substitute sourced from the birch tree. This one will sometimes kill your dog quicker than it takes you to get to the animal ER.
That’s why we need to stay on top of whatever it is we put into our pets. Here’s Dr. Kay’s way of doing that safely and effectively for supplements (from her newsletter, which you can sign up for here):
“We veterinarians are taught to use the ACCLAIM system (described below) to assess nutritional supplements. You too can use this system to make educated choices about these products for yourself and your four-legged loved ones.
A = A name you recognize. Choose an established company that provides educational materials for veterinarians and other consumers. Is it a company that is well established?
C = Clinical experience. Companies that support clinical research and have their products used in clinical trials that are published in peer-reviewed journals to which veterinarians have access are more likely to have a quality product.
C = Contents. All ingredients should be clearly indicated on the product label.
L = Label claims. Label claims that sound too good to be true likely are. Choose products with realistic label claims.
A = Administration recommendations. Dosing instructions should be accurate and easy to follow. It should be easy to calculate the amount of active ingredient administered per dose per day.
I = Identification of lot. A lot identification number indicates that a surveillance system exists to ensure product quality.
M = Manufacturer information. Basic company information should be clearly stated on the label including a website (that is up and running) or some other means of contacting customer support.”
Good stuff right? Consider it another stepping stone on my quest to bring you as many great new minds dishing out responsible pet care as possible. Wish there were more Dr. Kays out there.
So how about you? How do YOU select supplements?
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Thank you for this post! Health and diet supplements are a major discussion topic in the Tripawd Discussion forums. Our Eating Healthy forum has many topics about various supplements others are using to help improve the quality of life of their canine cancer heroes.
We've started a topic with online sources for savings one pet health supplements, and we've linked to this post to help everyone make smart decisions about sourcing their supplements. Thanks again.
tripawds.com July 21st, 2009 11:48:34 AM
My goats wander around my backyard where I keep my 'treasure' cars, spare swamp coolers and other assorted industrial natural resources.
If you have a source for windshield wiper blades with B-1 or fan belts with selenium it would be helpful.... ;-)
Bob Jones July 21st, 2009 11:55:21 AM
There's one C missing: Country of origin. If it's from China, there's no reason to have any confidence that anything else the label says accurately reflects what's inside.
Lis July 21st, 2009 02:34:13 PM
I have some serious concerns that pet supplements have the same issues as human supplements/drugs. For example, my docs wanted me to cut out all sodium in my diet and then prescribed a drug that had quite a high sodium content. Huh? When ingredients are reduced to concentrated tablet form, one ends up with lots of sulfate, salt, and lots and lots other stuff, including preservatives, colors, flavors, fillers... I'm not saying not to use them just to be aware of the cumulative effect of these extra ingredients and not get "supplement happy".
PJBoosinger July 21st, 2009 04:49:49 PM
Dr. Khuly, you seem to have been found by blogspammers -- and not even the obscure Arabic-posting ones this time.
H. Houlahan July 21st, 2009 06:23:30 PM
Yeah, the Gold Coins is weird. Whatchagonnado? I try. They find me again.
Dr. Patty Khuly July 21st, 2009 09:05:10 PM
I am a firm believer that the minerals and nutrients a dog needs should come from the actual food the dog is eating. I try to feed all nutrients naturally before resorting to artificial supplements. Websites like USDA and NutritionData make calculating nutrient intake amounts really simple and easy to utilize in your dog's diet (and your own!).
For instance, joint supplements typically include glucosamine and chondroitin. Before resorting to a bottled supplement, attempt to provide it naturally. Glucosamine is found naturally in raw joint tissue. So if you are able to feed edible bone "joints", then you are already providing natural glucosamine. Chicken feet are great, as are other joint items such as chicken or turkey legs, backs, necks, etc.
I supplement my dogs with two things only - omega's and pre-&pro-biotics. The first I search for a human grade fresh caught single salmon oil or sardine/mackeral oil ingredient with ZERO soy content, just the fish oil and capsule gelatin.
The pre- and pro-bitoics I give in plain yogurt form (local health food store "super yogurt" that I eat myself in the fruit flavors).
Mass produced supplements and pill scare the bejeezus out of me, especially those with ingredients from countries we sadly have to question. If I can't do it naturally, I research the hell out of it before i feed it to myself or my dogs.
Jen July 23rd, 2009 12:15:13 PM
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