Evidence-based medicine (EBM) is what vets base their treatment recommendations on. Until recently, most of the evidence was inconclusive or anecdotal. Mostly those who are concerned about joint health, the possibility that joint supplements might be beneficial, is enough. Joint supplements are many and varied, different types of joint supplements have different actions. Nutraceuticals are unregulated and not required by law to go through trials since they’re looked at as food supplements. What goes on the label doesn’t have to be provable. Which is where vet-approved products come in. These have usually been through a voluntary testing system to guarantee the amount in each tablet, matches what it says on the label, hence the bigger price tag. The supplement has been through more tests involving considerable cost and is of a higher quality.
Treats are now available with chondroitin, glucosamine or omega-3 oils for improved joint health. Feeding these treats gives us self-satisfaction, giving a healthy treat has to be good, but, not if the aim is to make a real difference to the dog’s joints. The biggest help here is to keep their weight down and ration the treats. Nutraceutical treats are more about making you feel good than the dog, and reason is, Joint treats contain only micro amounts of active supplement, and the dog would need to eat a ton of them and become overweight in the process, undoing all the good to benefit the canine at all.
If you want to give supplements to your dog, give a joint supplement that your vet recommends. If your dog has painful joints, ask about pain relief while the supplement is working on the body because the medication will take at least 4–6 weeks to start showing results in the dog.
