Latest / Senior Pet Talk | for dogs + cats / 9. How to Choose a Good Supplement for Your Pet

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9. How to Choose a Good Supplement for Your Pet · Senior Pet Talk | for dogs + cats

• Amanda Steffen: You are listening to Senior Pet Talk, the show where we combine Western and Chinese medicine to give senior dog and cat parents the knowledge, the clarity, and the confidence to make sure that your pets' senior years are their best years yet. I'm Dr. Amanda Stefan. Let's get started. Hello, senior pet parent, and thank you for being here with me again today. I want to talk to you today about supplements because I think this is an area where people often get very confused and rightfully so. If you are new here, my name is Dr. Amanda Stefan. I run an in home integrative senior dog and cat practice in the Ohio area. And I also help pet parents virtually. know all of their options about Western and Chinese medicine. So if you go into a pet store and you go down the supplement aisle, you're going to see so many different options. And they're all going to say they magically treat this other thing, right? They are going to be the one product you need for joint health, the one product you need for skin health, the one product you need for dementia or for aging changes. And it's Extremely overwhelming as a pet parent who is just trying to do the best thing that they can for their pet to see all these different products and all these trigger words that say human-grade ingredients, only holistic materials, all natural ingredients, made in a human grade facility, all these different wordings that are put on different supplements. That often most of them don't actually mean anything. I know that people get it really worried about medications. I get really worried about supplements because I know that a medication has been through the appropriate trials to make sure that it does what it says it does. And I know the side effects of it, right? They're listed. Unfortunately, with supplements, there's not as much of a strict guideline on. processes they have to go through before they put this product out. Most anyone can just go make something in their kitchen and put it out as a supplement and say that it helps XYZ because it has these two products in it. And these two products treat this in other clinical trials, it doesn't mean that the type and the amount that they put into that product is actually going to be what's effective and what actually helps your pet. And the scarier part for me is that it could hurt your pet. Sometimes a little bit of something is good and a lot of something can be actually detrimental, right? There was a study done on beagles and it looked at green tea extract, which I know is something that a another practitioner has recently been pushing people to give their pets to every day. There was a study done on green tea extract. daily that was actually stopped about six months into a nine-month trial because of the amount of organ damage and mortality that it had caused. And you think green tea is not bad, right? Well, again, a certain amount of something can also be detrimental. I know there was some girl that went to the hospital because her blood was thinning and she was drinking a matcha tea every day. You think matcha's great for me. Well, in certain amounts, yes, but in certain numbers it's not. And certain formulations, you don't know if there are any heavy metals in what you're giving to your pet. You don't know about plastics or other things like that that are happening. And these supplements are not always regulated appropriately. So they can put some stuff on the bottle that doesn't actually have any medical justification to it. And they're not always going to be flat. Because they don't have to follow any specific protocols. So the FDA does not have to pre-approve any supplements before they hit the shelves, which means that we are going to be the ones figuring out whether this is good or bad and over the long haul, figuring out whether it helps or not. So not only do I worry about people wasting their money, I worry about them potentially detrimenting their pet if they're not using the right things at the right amounts or they're using something that promises one thing. And it does not produce that, right? We don't always have a lot of time with our senior pets. So we don't want to give them something that's not gonna help them and waste time and money on that. And we also don't want to give them something, obviously, that could hurt them. So if you are tuning in from YouTube, you can see my two dogs here. If you are not and you were listening to me from a podcast, I Promise you, I'm not snoring. My dogs are down here snoring. So if you want to get a peep at them, check YouTube out, okay? So I want to talk about three major things when it comes to supplements and what to look for and what to ask for. We're gonna go deeper into my top favorite joint supplements, my top favorite dementia supplements, and all those different things. As we go into later podcasts, but right now I want to give you just a really good overview of three things that I want you to look for in a good supplement. Okay. The first thing that we want to talk about is terms are not regulated, things like natural, organic, holistic. Anyone can just slap that on their product. It does not have any requirements to place those words on your product. So it could be not natural. And they're just putting natural because there's no regulation on whether they put that on their product or not. Same with holistic. This also goes for foods and organic. Those words don't actually mean anything in the world of veterinary care. Okay. That's really important for you guys to know. A lot of brands mean well with this. I always give people the benefit of the doubt, but they just don't know what they don't know and they're not trying to be deceptive, but they are. So the first thing that I recommend for people to look for is this seal that is the NASC seal. This is going to be like a bright yellow circular seal that you'll see on most supplements that have passed this specific testing. So NASC stands for National Animal Supplement Council. And it's essentially the closest thing to like the FDA that we have in the supplement world. Okay. To get this deal, a company is gonna have to maintain a specific quality control manual. They have to have an adverse event reporting system, they have to follow strict labeling guidelines, and they have to submit to random independent product testing. So this comes with them having a full audit of their facility every two years. So, what is this going to tell you? This tells you that the company has been independently vetted for manufacturing practices, labeling, accuracy, and safety reporting. But what does it not tell you? It doesn't tell you how clinically effective this product is going to be for your pest condition itself, or that this exact bottle that you're holding was lot tested and has a certificate of analysis with it. So this seal is a signal, but it's not. Specific to each lot number. I know that can be a little confusing, but I'm gonna explain it more in the next couple talking points, I promise. So we wanna think of the NASC seal as like an initial screening. I want you to always look for that first. And if you see that on the product and you're like, okay, cool, I can go to question number two on the quiz and see whether they pass that test. Okay. So it's gonna tell you that the company is doing their best. But it doesn't always tell you whether that product is gonna work for your pet. All right. There has been a little controversy with NASC lately that it is an expense. So I've had some smaller companies reach out to me and say that they just can't pay the thousands of dollars a month that are required by NASC because they're a small company. So that is something to take in mind. But again, we just have to be very diligent about what we allow our pets to Put into their bodies because not only medications, but supplements, herbs, anything that we put into our pets can have an adverse effect, right? So the next thing that I want you to look at and to ask is for a certificate of analysis or a COA. So this is the lab's test results for a specific production lot. So what was tested, how and what came back? This is going to test for things like heavy metals. what they actually have in the product is true because I think 28% of supplements, what is on the label is not actually what's in the bottle, which is crazy to think about that what you read in the ingredients list is not actually what's in the bottle for almost 30% of supplements. That's why these questions are extremely important because we want to make sure that they're doing the right thing. Right. So A good certificate of analysis is going to show us an identity. So is it actually the ingredients that are claimed? It's going to have a potency. So is the amount close to what's on the label? And then contaminants. So checking for things like heavy metals and microbiomes and things like that. So it's going to have real numbers with a specific unit on it. It's not just going to say pass or fail. That's very important. If you See any of these red flags, I want you to walk away from this product, okay? If there's not a lot number or a certificate of analysis that matches the lot on the bottle. If it says something like proprietary blend with no individual amounts, you cannot evaluate a dose appropriate for your pet. Proprietary blend is like a kind way of saying we blended it all together in this blender and then we scooped out. A cup of it and we put it into this container, and then we scooped out another cup and we put it into this container. And then we cap those containers and we sell them. Well, all of this one ingredient might have made it into the first product, and all of the second material might have made it into the second bottle, even though they both say they have both things in them. Okay. So that's a big no-no. A quality seal. is offered in place of an actual certificate of analysis. We are okay with a quality seal, but we also want to have a certificate of analysis in this. If we don't see heavy metal or microbial results on the bottle, then we want to walk away from it. Okay. So again, labels are very difficult. They're not a promise, but certificate of analysis is like the closest thing that we have to somewhat of proof. that this company is doing the best that they can testing for everything, making sure they're doing all the right moves. Okay. If you don't see it on a bottle, but you're really interested in using a certain type of product, call the company, ask them these questions. If they give you the runaround or they're not willing to answer all these questions for you, then you have your answer. And I promise you there's another product that you can use that answers all of these questions and isn't going to give you a runaround. And Isn't going to have your animal be the test subject, right? It is always important, in my opinion, to loop in your veterinarian when you're starting a new supplement. So if we have certain situations like medical conditions, diabetes, pancreatitis, thyroid disease, any of these things could be contraindicated in certain supplements. I recommend very high doses of fish oil for a lot of my arthritis patients. It is very important to know, however, that you have to discontinue those high doses of fish oil a week before any sort of a surgical procedure, because that high dose of fish oil can actually cause the blood to thin a little bit and could cause some bleeding disruptions during a surgical procedure. So it is very important to make sure that when you talk with your veterinarian, You're not only telling them the medications and the diet, you're also telling them any supplements. And if that just means a lot of times you bring the supplement in with you, you get an A plus from me. If you bring the supplements in and a picture of the dog food, ⁓ man, I could kiss you on the lips. I promise you, I won't. But still, it is really wonderful to have all of the information because I can extract all of those. ingredients and I can say whether we're doing too much or not enough or we're not treating what we want to be treating. I've had virtual consultations where people come to me with their pet on eight different supplements or herbs. And then I actually take a look at all of those things together and I say, hey, you're actually between these supplements and these herbs, we're on four different blood thinners. And That can be substantial when it comes to certain disease processes or surgeries in the future or anything like that, right? So we could actually be detrimenting our pet with an overload of supplements that they don't need or mixing things together and not thinking about how all of these supplements go together, right? Have you ever left the vet with more questions than answers? And then you drive home and you go straight on to Google. Yeah, I hear that a lot. And honestly, it's exactly why I created my senior pet virtual consultations. Imagine we have 45 minutes where we go through everything, your pet's full history, their specific challenges, their daily life, no rushing. We're gonna cover nutrition, integrative options, whole modifications, and quality of life. And I send you a personalized plan after so that nothing slips through the cracks here. But don't just take my word for it. Chelsea called it a senior pup therapy session and said she felt so much better afterwards. Adiba got recommendations her own vet had never thought to suggest, and Denise said that the consult was incredibly informative and helpful, giving her many options to help her dog Loki feel better. This is the conversation that your senior pet deserves. And honestly, The one you deserve to. The link is in the description. I'd love to help you. Okay. Things like CBD, certain sedating things do need to be discussed. So all of these things are important to bring up in consultations and in visits with your veterinarian. I want you to make sure that there's a quality certification on this and it tells you the product is actually what it claims to be inside of that product. It doesn't tell you specifically if that's a right. Product for your pet, but it is something that you can kind of start your checklist and then take this to your vet and see whether it's best for your for your pet specifically. Okay. So the three things I want you to look for. Look for the NASC seal. That's filter number one. After that, I want you to make sure there's a lot number on that product and a certificate of analysis. I want the lot matched certificate of analysis for that product, especially for anything that would be given daily or for something given long term. Definitely don't do anything that says proprietary blend on it and always make sure that we are talking to our veterinarians about these different products. I get a lot of questions virtually about what product is best for your pet. And I think it's important For us to know that every pet is going to respond a little bit differently to different things. I have certain pets that I place on certain herbs or supplements or CBD or fish oils or things like that. And we see really substantial responses from that. And then I have certain patients that I put on those same things and they just don't respond the same way, or they have an adverse effect. There's always a risk of things causing adverse. Issues like vomiting, diarrhea, concerning factors like bleeding or things like that. So anything that we put in our pet's body is something we need to have a conversation about, no matter how holistic or natural or organic or healthy or simple ingredient, whatever it may be, right? So the last thing I want to talk about when it comes to supplements is what is a good supplement for your pet. And this is going to vary. For every single individual patient, right? I typically give supplements about two months before we say, yes, it helped, or no, it did not help. If you notice side effects before that time frame, obviously discontinue it, right? There's a lot of new information out now that glucosin and chondroitin may not be as effective for joint support as we once thought. However, I will tell you that my dog did improve on a glucosamine and cadroitin supplement. It did have a couple other things mixed in with it, like Boswellia and avocado soybean, unspontifies and things like that. So it could have been those other additional things inside of it. But, you know, I did notice an improvement with him. So it was something worthwhile to give him. It's also worth noting that sometimes with senior pets, we have to choose. what supplements are the most important or going to help the most. And sometimes we're just doing one for a period of time and seeing if it helps and then we're switching it out with another one. Because I have personally had situations where my dog, when I put a certain supplement onto his food, he stops eating his food and he can stop eating for a week. And that is a really big deal when it comes to senior pets. We want to make sure that these guys are not Going off of food for one reason or another. Cats are really bad about this. So a lot of times if you put a supplement onto a cat's food and they don't like the taste of it, they are never going to eat that food again. Period. End of story. So if they're on a special diet, like a kidney diet or something like that, we have just caused a major problem. problem with our pets. So I love supplements. There are plenty of supplements that I think do a really fantastic job. And I have had lots of pet parents see substantial improvements in quality of life with certain supplements. But I do think we have to think about them similarly to the way that we take think about food and the way that we think about medications. They are something that could cause a good thing or they could cause a negative effect in our pets. So I want to make sure that everyone understands the importance of supplements. And I do think they can be very helpful, but also that we have to think of them more than just as like, ⁓ we're just going to add in these like eight different spices into this concoction and our pets food. And it's not going to hurt them because it's just a supplement. That's not the case. And there are definitely cases where supplements can cause some major damage. So all that being said, this is going to be a shorter episode. I just wanted to give you like the one, two, three basic rundown of what to look for in a pet supplement so that you can hop into the pet store now and you can look for the NASC seal, the lot number, the certificate of analysis, and be like bam, bam, bam. I am so smart. I am so much smarter than this pet store and all this stuff they have going on in here. I can pick out a good supplement. Right now, I've narrowed down these 200 joint supplements to three. And now I get to pick the one I like the best and the one I think my pet will like the best. So I hope that helps. I hope that you guys have a beautiful day. And if you have any questions about your senior pet, please reach out to me on social media in my direct messages or in, you know, the comments down below on this podcast. I really want to. know what you want to learn. And I want to tailor these podcast episodes to exactly what you want and need to learn for your senior pet. My entire purpose here is to serve pet parents and to serve the person that I once was with my senior dogs. So I am always here for you, senior dogs and senior kitties. Unfortunately I can't have cats because my husband is allergic, but I love cats and we're gonna we're gonna help everybody. So If you have any questions, please drop them below. Otherwise, if this helped you, please give us a five-star rating and share this podcast so that we can get this information out to other pet parents. Thank you and have a beautiful day. That's it for today. If this episode helped you, please leave a review or rate this podcast so we can get the word out to more pet parents who need to hear that they are doing a good job. And if you're interested in working more with me, you can find me on social media or at senior petconnection.com because we all need to stay connected. Remember that you are doing a great job with the information that you have in this moment. And I am just here to give you more of it. See you next week.