10 Dietary Supplements Your Veterinarian Needs to Know You’re Giving to Your Pet
March 10th, 2010
As a follow up to last week’s post about the vitamin and mineral needs of dogs, I want to talk about 10 dietary supplements your veterinarian needs to know you give to your pet.
The reasons it’s important range from possible drug interactions to downright poisoning risk. The bottom line, I think my veterinary friends and colleagues would agree, is that your pet’s doctors really need and want to know everything you’re doing in the name of your dog or cat’s health. Everything.
In some cases, they merely need to know. In others, they just might try to talk you out of it.
So, I tapped into a resource from the Colorado State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital. And, according to Narda G. Robinson, DO, DVM, MS, FAAMA, Director, CSU Center for Comparative and Integrative Pain Medicine, here are the top 10 supplements your veterinarian needs to know that you give:
1. Chinese herbs
“The problems with Chinese herbs are many, and can include toxic contaminants, undisclosed pharmaceuticals and adulterants such as strychnine and aconite, and plants that interfere with bleeding,” Robinson explains. “There may be interactions with chemotherapy drugs, anesthetics, or anti-seizure drugs. If someone has prescribed the Chinese herbs, encourage people to find out from that person the facts about these products, and not to settle for vague descriptions such as ‘moving Qi’ or ‘extinguishing Liver Wind.’”
2. Willow, feverfew, meadowsweet, or other herbs that may contain salicylates
“These supplements/herbs can have potential additive effects with anti-inflammatory medications and interference with clotting,” Robinson says.
3. Calming herbs such as valerian, hops, skullcap, kava kava, and passionflower
These too may be additive with anesthetics during surgery.
4. St. John’s Wort
It may cause other medications to be less effective through herb-drug interactions.
5. Pennyroyal oil
This oil is often used in “natural” flea products, but it can be toxic/deadly.
6. Organ or glandular extracts
“These may contain active hormones or transmissible diseases such as mad cow from bovine products,” Robinson says.
7. Vitamins and especially minerals
As covered last week, certain vitamins and some minerals are much more likely to reach toxic levels than others. Plus, says Robinson, such supplements “may upset the body balance of these levels.”
8. Colloidal silver
“It can be absorbed by the brain, kidney, and almost every organ and cause serious problems,” Robinson explains.
9. Chaparral and comfrey
These can cause serious liver damage.
10. Any herbal products with secret ingredients that may contain harmful, undisclosed agents.
Enough said.
Even obsessive dog food label readers can fall into the trap of thinking natural products, herbal supplements and other holistic solutions to pet health issues are benign. That’s not necessarily the case.
Personally, I have tried some of these supplements (and others) to help my fearful border collie cope with a world she finds oh-so scary, but I did it under the guidance and supervision of a holistic/alternative veterinarian, who provided me detailed information that I gave to my regular veterinarian.
How about you? Do you have any stories (good or bad) to share about dietary supplements you give your pets?
(I filed this post under “Dog Food Debates” since I suspect there may be some strong feelings. We’ll see. Won’t we?)
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Tags: dog, Dog Food Dish Blog, dog nutrition, dog supplements
Posted in Dog Food Basics, Dog Food Debates, K9 Nutrition | 15 Comments »
15 Responses to “10 Dietary Supplements Your Veterinarian Needs to Know You’re Giving to Your Pet”
A professional writer based in Colorado, Roxanne Hawn doesn't just love dogs. She deep-down requires them in life. Something inside her genes, perhaps? That's why it's such a joy to write about all things canine. Roxanne began writing about pets in 1995, when she worked for the American Animal Hospital Association and later for the American Humane Association. During this period in her career, Roxanne served on the board of directors for the National Council on Pet Population Study and Policy (a coalition of animal welfare groups). Roxanne also volunteered for many years at an animal shelter, where she witnessed firsthand what happens when the human-animal bond breaks or never forms.
Fascinating post! I guess a lot of people do not think about how these different substances could interact. I agree supplements should only be given with the supervision/advice of a specialist.
Very informative blog post, Roxanne. I think sometimes people don’t even think about the consequences of taking herbs, supplements, vitamins and such. Let alone what they might give to their dogs. Dogs just don’t react the same way as people.
judy
Excellent post, Roxanne. Some of these natural products have significant downsides.
I’ve never even considered giving my dog supplements (other than his heartworm preventative meds, which don’t really count). Interesting post!
Great article. Many people don’t know the dangers. Especially of mixing certain herbs or mixing with medications that can end up being fatal.
I do give supplements and my vet is aware of this.
One of my Labs was diagnosed with chronic active hepatitis in 1/2008. She is on E, B complex, C and alfalfa for liver support. Alfalfa is also a great antioxidant(against cancer).
She was also on SAMe and milk thistle in the past but taken off when liver enzymes came back into normal range. Her range has been holding for about 6 months.
She also gets EPA/DHA fish oil and biotin for coat issues.
Vit. E must be given with fish oil if the product does not already contain it. If not the fish oil will deplete the body of E (same in humans).
B vitamins can not be absorbed on their own. Therefore I give a B complex with the Biotin(same goes for humans).
I also use cranberry caps for urinary tract infections with success (avoiding antibiotics whenever possible).
I also give a live organism probiotic when I have to give an antibiotic (given 2-3 hours away from meds) and continue for 2-4 weeks after meds are finished.
Thanks for letting me share. Please be sure and discuss supplements with your vet prior to starting your dog on anything.
Patty
www.snowcolabradors.com
I didn’t realize that people gave supplements to animals OR that some are this dangerous. This seems like a very important post and one I will forward along to my dog-owning friends Roxanne!
Wow, our dog really missed out. She never got any supplements!! However, this is really great information for dog owners.
My parents give supplements to their dog – mostly for joint-related issues. I think they were actually directed to give these by their veterinarian. I think if I ever had another dog I would definitely search for a holistic/alternative veterinarian. That sounds great.
I didn’t realize there was so much information about dietary supplements for dogs. Wow! Wonder if similar advice apply to cats? Guess I’d have to ask the vet.
Yes. Much of this applies to our feline friends as well.
Great information Roxanne.
Wow, great post Roxanne! People tend to believe that if it is an herb, or all natural, they don’t need to be careful. Thanks for the reminder!
About a year ago, I was told by my vet that my black lab mix needed to lose down to 80 lbs. ( She was 112 lbs.) She was put on one cup of veterinary prescribed kibble, which did no good and she was hungry all the time. I was desperate at that point and asked the veterinarians at K9cuisine to provide me with some help. Thank God I did. I received a reply from a holistic vet on how to get her pared down naturally and it worked. She is now 75 lbs and in great health. Her hip problems are gone and she has not taken Rimadyl in months. I guess there are pros and cons and the results vary with every animal. I would agree that much research needs to be done, before arbitrarily putting any dog on supplements. However, given the right ones can work wonders.
That’s such a happy story. I’m glad to hear your pup is doing so much better.
Good to know~ Thanks for the article. I have two furbabies with liver issues and one of them has experienced kidney issues, cyrstals & stones. I use a Berry powder that adds acid to her urine and keeps the crystals from forming. Both girls take denosyl which does contain ingred. from milkthistle, but I also give a milk thistle supplement. As with any supplement, because of their issues, I add one at a time, doing blood work before & after to see how kidney values and liver enzymes look! Because %’s of mineral content etc is rarely listed on supplements, it’s necessary to make sure what ur giving is actually benefitting & not harming your pet.
Thanks Again!