Did you know that a dog’s gut health has a significant influence on its overall health?
A recent scientific study reports that 70% to 80% of all illness begins in the gastrointestinal tract!
In the United States, it’s likely that around one-third of dogs are given some sort of dietary supplement for a variety of reasons, including stomach disorders, arthritis, and joint stiffness, and heart health.
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So what is the best dog supplement?
Dog food is manufactured by heating it at very high temperatures. These high temperatures kill the bacteria and pathogens, but they also destroy most of the vital vitamins and minerals and enzymes that are needed by your dog. Commercial companies then add bulk vitamins to the process. These businesses then claim that your dog’s diet might need a “spike” to give him or her all of the necessary nutrients.
Holistic veterinarians recommend supplementing with vital ingredients to boost both the efficiency of your dog’s food and replace any missing nutrients, so below you will find the 5 most popular supplements for your dogs’ health, starting with what we consider to be the most essential supplement you can give your dog – a probiotic!
According to the American Kennel Club, one of the most common dog supplements, glucosamine, is used to treat joint problems in dogs.
Glucosamine is a compound naturally found in the fluid around joints and can help alleviate arthritis pain in a dog. Your vet might also recommend fish oil capsules for an older dog with skin allergies, or antioxidants for a pup with inflammation issues.
That said though,the most popular supplement for dogs today is a probiotic! One of the best ways you can help keep your dog healthy is by giving her high-quality dog probiotics/digestive enzymes every day.
Best Probiotic for Dogs
Did you know that a dog’s gut health has a significant influence on its overall health?
A recent scientific study reports that 70% to 80% of all illness begins in the gastrointestinal tract?
Why a digestive enzyme supplement?
Dogs pancreas cannot secrete enough digestive enzymes to effectively process their foods.
During their ancestral days they were actually designed to get some of the supplemental enzymes from the foods they ate, so when you watch a wild dog kill its prey, the dog actually eat some of the entrails and guts to meet their digestive enzyme requirements.
We do not feed our dogs these entrails so most dogs in the US are enzyme deficient. This, in turn, manifests in dogs as low-grade recurrent digestive issues
The majority of dogs and cats in the United States are not only enzyme deficient, but the typical pet is almost entirely fed a processed diet, which means our pups and cats are fed an all canned food or an all dry food diet that is dead, inorganic, and over-processed!
Because these foods are cooked at such high temperatures, any enzymes present in the natural food have been destroyed, along with most of the vitamins and minerals.
Most pets in the US are not eating an organic, all-living diet and therefore need enzyme supplementation!
Even those pets that are eating excellent foods, that are living or organic can benefit from digestive enzyme supplementation because these enzymes come from the raw entrails and guts which we are no doubt not giving to our pets as part of their diet.
Pre and Probiotics for Immune Health
Probiotics are one of the most popular dog supplements. That’s because few other products can have such a major impact on the immune system and health. Your dog’s gut is the next major defensive barrier of the immune system after the skin.
Prebiotics and probiotics keep your dog’s gut full of beneficial immune-boosting bacteria. A healthy, robust immune system reduces your dog’s chance of heart disease, Inflammation, cancers, osteoarthritis, and diabetes, while a dog’s body automatically keeps cells functioning properly by eliminating potentially harmful pathogens before they become an issue,
Probiotics are live microorganisms with health-promoting properties. These beneficial bacteria may be found in your dog’s digestive tract, in fermented meals, and in supplements. Certain yeast strains are also recognized as probiotics.
Beneficial bacteria have a few key jobs in your dog’s body. They help:
- Digest food
- Produce key vitamins (including vitamin K and B vitamins)
- Produce serotonin and influence mood
- Produce enzymes
- Reduce the gut pH
- Crowd out harmful bacteria
- Produce fatty acids that discourage the growth of harmful bacteria
- Support the Immune System
The Best Dog Supplement
Full Bucket DAILY DOG (PROBIOTIC)
It is difficult to find a perfect enzyme due to pets having different issues but Full Bucket’s Probiotic supplements actually manage to blend a perfect enzyme, not only for your dogs that are experiencing digestive upset but also GI issues.
Full Bucket has created the perfect enzyme which has combined Gastric Acid support, Amylase, Lipase, and Protease, as well as Gall Bladder support.
We recommend this product not just for dogs with Gastrointestinal problems, but also for everyone who wants to improve the health of their pet in every way, and what you’ll discover is that with the help of this supplement, your pet’s ability to digest food will be improved, allowing him or her to leap from just surviving to thriving simply by enhancing the digestive processes in your pet.
No1 Veterinary Recommended!
“Once the formula got out there, other veterinarians began to tell us this was exactly what they had been looking for and it has become their ‘go to’ product,”
Just a very short re-cap on dog biology!
When dogs consume a meal, the food is held in the stomach where it mixes with hydrochloric acid and this causes a pre-digestion to help facilitate the initial breakdown of proteins. The food is allowed in very small quantities into the small intestine where the pancreas secretes amylase, lipase, and protease into the small intestine which then mixes with the food and bile from the gall bladder.
Bile is secreted to help process fat, so there’s a rich blend of gastric acid, pancreatic enzymes, and bile that is blended together in your dog’s small intestines to facilitate excellent digestion and absorption.
But when there is not enough gastric acid or digestive enzymes or gallbladder production of bile then maldigestion or malabsorption occur which is very common in dogs.
The symptoms of poor digestion
A lack of undigested enzymes means that once the food gets into the small intestine you can see symptoms like acid reflux, vomiting undigested food, bloating, gas, gurgling, and even abdominal pain and cramping, followed hours later by a very smelly stool with undigested food visible – All of these symptoms tell you that your pet is experiencing, malabsorption or maldigestion.
If your pet is experiencing digestive issues, ie, belchy, gassy, recurrent gastro-intestinal issues, loose stools, stinky stools then the supplement you need to counteract this is a digestive enzyme supplement, but even if your dog does not have these symptoms you will be helping him have far more abundant health by including a digestive enzyme supplement in his diet.
Other popular supplements include:
Glucosamine for Dogs
CANINE CUSH HIP & JOINT CHEWS - DESIGNED TO REACH & REBUILD JOINTS
Did you know that there is an all-natural method to relieve inflammation, pain, and discomfort in dogs that works better than pharmaceuticals?
Most hip and joint supplements rely on manufactured ingredients that “mimic” the 4 main building blocks found in joints- Glucosamine, Chondroitin, Hyaluronic acid, and Collagen. But in this formula, a lot of the ingredients never get absorbed and into the actual joints.
Full Bucket’s Canine Cush is the first joint supplement product with FOUR formulas that reduces pain, inflammation & Anxiety and delivers the FOUR MAIN building blocks directly to the joints.
Glucosamine has been shown in studies to stimulate the repair of damaged cartilage, particularly articular cartilage, or the moist, spongy material that forms a cushion between joints.
Many dog owners and veterinarians state that it is ‘very effective in treating arthritis and joint issues for dogs’.
$49.11
You can count on CUSH to deliver the ingredients to the joint where it can work. All-natural supplement to support joint health and normal inflammatory processes.
Developed by 2 Veterinarians and a PhD Super Nutritionist.
OMEGA 3 for DOGS
Fish oil is another common dog supplement that includes omega-3 fatty acids.
Omega-3s improve the texture and sheen of a dog’s coat as well as alleviate skin allergies.
Another advantage of fish oil is that it benefits dogs throughout their lives. DHA, an omega 3 fatty acid component, aids in the proper development of the central nervous system in puppies too.
Furthermore, evidence is increasing for the use of omega-3 fatty acids in dogs with cardiac disease as well. Omega-3 fatty acids’ anti-inflammatory and anti-arrhythmic effects may be beneficial in managing the loss of lean body mass and arrhythmias that are common in heart failure.
Recent studies show that DHA may aid in the improvement of cognitive function in older dogs with canine cognitive impairment.
Omega-3 fatty acids have also been found to aid in the treatment of canine arthritis and chronic kidney disease too.
Fish oils, according to research published in the “American Journal of Veterinary Research,” reduce inflammation as well, which many pet owners use for this. So as you can see, Omega-3 has great all round benefit for dog’s (and humans) too!
Best All-Rounder Supplement for Dogs
Front of the Pack — The One
This is a Vet recommended Top all rounder supplement for your dog.
The one is a powdered formula with 12 clinically proven ingredients that provide eight essential benefits to your dog.
These key benefits include
- Relieve hip and joint stiffness
- Alleviate stress and anxiety
- Support healthy digestion
- Soothe itchy skin and allergies
- Fresh breath and reduced plaque
- Promote mental sharpness
- Support immune health
- Maintain healthy heart function
Each tub of this formula contains 60 scoops, enough to last 2 months. All you need is to sprinkle the recommended scoops on your dog’s food and expect the result in 4- 6 weeks.
$44.99 / $0.74 cost per day
Key highlights
- This formula is best for dogs above 1 year old
- All the ingredients are non-GMO, no artificial flavors,
- Orders above 25 $ get free delivery around the United States
Best Multivitamins for Dogs
Innovet Advanced Multivitamin Chews
Innovet is a pet company started in 2005 with a mission to provide pet owners with affordable and high-quality solutions for their dog’s health and wellness.
Moreover, this brand is backed by scientific data and research making it one of the best dog multivitamin supplement brands you should trust.
One of their formulas is this 6-in-1 multivitamin soft chews assembled in the United States.
This 6-in-1 formula contains key ingredients like organic CBD, krill oil, glucosamine, COQ 10, and lecithin providing vital multivitamins and minerals essential for your dog’s well-being.
This formula is one of the best puppy supplements for growth as it contains vitamin supplements needed to support your pup’s immune system, cartilage, digestive system, and coat.
These soft chews have a flavor that your pet will find irresistible. They are also grain-free, hence won’t cause any tummy issues to your pet.
You can have these soft chews as a one-off purchase or have them on a subscription that gets you a 15 % discount.
Best Dog Supplement - What to do next?
Why is CBD Oil for Dogs so effective? Read our article on why this is becoming so popular, and the purported health benefits of CBD oil for dogs.
References:
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20673293/
- http://www.akc.org/expert-advice/nutrition/vitamins-supplements/popular-dog-supplements/
- Dr Karen Becker
- medicalnewstoday.com
- vcahospitals.com
