Things To Consider When Choosing Dietary Supplements For Your Pets
People go for the extra mile when it comes to taking care of their health and wellness. Many individuals maintain a strict diet and consistent physical activity to ensure that they’re in good shape and condition.
Along with a balanced diet guided by nutritious foods and drinks, taking dietary supplements provides additional vitamins, minerals, and other essential nutrients for the body. Here are the things you need to consider when choosing the appropriate nutritional supplements for your pets:
Importance of Diet Supplements For Pets
Same as humans, a healthy and balanced diet plan will replenish an animal’s required daily nutrition. As long as you provide food and vitamin supplements to your pet, they’ll get the recommended daily nutrients. However, there is an exception for pets with additional needs.
For instance, cats and dogs can produce their own vitamin C under normal conditions. During stressful situations, their bodies can’t produce the recommended amount of vitamins and minerals. Under these circumstances, it’s ideal to use dietary supplements to bring back the balance in their nutritional intake.
Veterinarians commonly prescribe some dietary supplements with certain positive benefits for your furry companion. As a responsible pet owner, you should take note that vitamins can have side effects, and some supplements are beneficial to certain types of needs.
Since supplements aren’t formulated and manufactured the same way, you should do appropriate research on how to use them properly. For a comprehensive and reliable guide, check out these tips and things to consider before incorporating supplements in your pet’s diet:
Check With Your Veterinarian
It shouldn’t take an overlooked mistake to realize that asking for professional help is a must. Before introducing dietary supplements to your pet, always consult with your veterinarian first. In this way, you can adequately identify which supplements are suitable for the overall health and well-being of your pet.
Pets have different health needs; therefore, you will need different approaches. Also, your pet might be having an underlying health condition that you’re still not aware of, or currently taking medications that may interfere with the dietary supplement you’re about to give them. Perhaps your kitty has to have low protein cat food for kidney problems or your dog is dealing with arthritis.
Coordinating with your vet will help you to avoid vitamin toxicity or any other problems that will come with improper administering dietary supplements. Moreover, your vet can suggest their trusted brands of dietary supplements and provide advice and instructions to achieve your pet’s nutritional goals. Once your vet has told you which ones will be good for your pets, it’s crucial not to change dosage often on your own. It can be harmful to your pets, to the point that it will have an adverse effect on their overall well-being.
Check the Quality of Products
Research well about the available dietary supplements for your pets, to verify if they are FDA certified. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) implement strict guidelines regarding products, make sure that search for dietary supplements that are transparent with the ingredients used.
You can also look for evidence about how it really works by checking published scientific studies from a credible publication. It’s best to find out how a manufacturer ensures that the ingredients they have listed in the labels are included in their product. Try to look into reputable companies like Pet Honesty that specializes in creating health products for pets to ease your mind. There are also reviews you can check online provided by fellow pet owners, and as much as possible, avoid looking at feedbacks from the company website itself.
Consider Your Pet’s Age
Your pets may have specific health needs depending on their age that you should provide since not all supplements are for pets. You need to take into account how old your pet is, their nutritional needs, and if they have any underlying illnesses that may require them to take some supplements to maintain it regularly. This can be a critical factor in choosing which dietary supplements will suffice for your pets.
If they are young and if they seem to demonstrate good health, focus on maintaining their nutritional needs. One way to do so is to provide supplements that aid in digestion and other essential vitamins. As your pet ages, you’ll have to prepare them against degenerative conditions such as arthritis and joint issues that usually develop as they age. You can focus on vitamins C, E, and glycosaminoglycan (GAG) supplements. For high-quality dog supplements specifically designed to support arthritis and joint health, consider purchasing from Mighty Munch. Buy dog supplements for arthritis today to provide your furry companion with the care they need.
It’s best to coordinate with your vet to administer the proper supplements they may need. Furthermore, you should keep your pet safe in these days due to the current events, especially senior dogs, which are more susceptible to diseases. Along with the proper dietary supplements, follow other essential measures to keep your pet safe from COVID-19.
Ways of Taking Supplements
Supplements for pets are made in various forms, the same way as supplements for humans. Each of them has pros and cons, and your chosen approach mainly depends on convenience and your preference. Typically, your pet absorbs nutrients from the food that you give them. However, as mentioned, supplements can be made in various forms such as capsules, tablets, syrups, and chewable, which can be taken orally, or you can mix these in your pet’s food.
Take note that some of these may not be taste-friendly for your pet; therefore, you can alternatively provide yummy treats if your pets have sensitive taste buds. This is one of the innovations these days that paved the way for optimizing the benefits of making your pets take supplements. Lastly, ensure that you follow the instructions and what your vet says in terms of the dosage to avoid over-supplementation.
Choose Supplements Wisely
Most of the time, pets take dietary supplements due to deficiencies in various vitamins that their body needs. Especially if their digestive tract isn’t absorbing adequate nutrients or when the food they eat doesn’t provide them enough nutrients. There are two kinds of supplements that you can optimize specific dosage for its benefits:
- Therapeutic Supplements: These are what you need to give your pets when they have health problems. Therapeutic supplements can help the body deal with various conditions more effectively. For example, if your pet has allergies, specifically with pollen, you can give them doses of vitamins C and E, which are antioxidants that help the body to manage allergens.
- Preventive Supplements: These can prevent the onset of diseases. It’s best to give your pets some preventive supplements if they are diagnosed with an illness. It has proven capabilities that can help to prevent those diseases. For instance, giving Golden Retrievers iodine supplements can help their bodies to prevent hypothyroid diseases, which is very common among their breed.
Bottom Line
Due to a lack of awareness and proper guidance, some pet owners think that they can administer dietary supplements for their pets without consulting their vet. However, despite the advantages of dietary supplements, over-supplementation can be dangerous to your pet’s overall health and well-being. Therefore, it’s best to consider the things mentioned above when deciding which supplements you should give your pets that can help their overall health and well-being.
