Dietary Supplement Use Among Older Dogs

Abstract

Dietary supplement use among older dogs in the US is not well understood; we hypothesized it differs by health state.Dogs ≥ 5 yrs participated in a clinic visit (2016-2017). Veterinarians documented the dog's medical history, age & breed & completed a physical exam with blood draw for CBC/chemistry & thyroid analysis; medications & supplements were recorded if administered in the 60 days prior to study enrollment. Dogs were screened for enrollment in 6 categories based on standard criteria: healthy group (no known major medical conditions based on medical history, physical exam & blood work), atopic dermatitis (AD, atopy diagnosis and/or frequent licking or scratching), inflammatory bowel disease (IBD, chronic diarrhea with weight loss), hypothyroidism (HT, serum total T4 or thyroid panel consistent with hypothyroidism), calcium oxalate kidney or bladder urolithiasis (CO, confirmed by X-ray or extraction & analysis), and/or hip dysplasia (HD, history of unilateral or bilateral hip dysplasia based on X-ray).Dogs with ≥1 of the 5 target conditions formed the target group; multiple conditions were allowed.Patient records were reviewed after study completion to confirm accurate group classification. Supplements were categorized into ≥1 groups based on the ingredient list and/or guaranteed analysis: essential fatty acid (EFA), minerals, vitamins & other (i.e., prebiotics, probiotics, herbal, etc.).Information on supplement use was obtained from 992 dogs (5.0 to 20.8 yrs, median 9.4 yrs).982 (99%) had complete medical histories (484 healthy, 157 AD, 26IBD, 125 HT,58 CO, 95 HD; 58 dogs had ≥1 target condition).Of the 982 dogs, 193 dogs (19.7%) or 1 out of 5 dogs used any supplements. Use of any supplements by group was 15.9% (1 out of 7) among the healthy group and 36.1% (1 out of 3) among the target group (19.7% AD, 50.0% IBD, 25.8% HT, 10.7% CO, 35.4% HD). Of supplement-using dogs the highest number of supplements reported for any one dog was 7 and the lowest was 1. Among supplement-using dogs, on avg. the target group used a greater number of supplements containing EFA, minerals, vitamins and/or other ingredients than healthy dogs. Among supplement-using dogs, the IBD group used on avg. the most supplements (avg. 1.8 supplements/dog), followed by the HD group (avg. 1.6 supplements/dog) and healthy dogs (avg. 1.4 supplements/dog). HD dogs used the most supplements containing EFA (avg. 0.7 supplements/dog). CO dogs used the greatest number of mineral-containing supplements (avg. 0.5 supplements/dog) and vitamin-containing supplements (avg. 0.7 supplements/dog), and IBD dogs used the most other supplements (avg. 1.2 supplements/dog). Use of prebiotic, probiotic or CBD supplements was infrequent (less than 7% of all supplement-using dogs). Supplement use is common among older dogs and varies by health state (11-50%).Among supplement-using older dogs, those with AD, IBD, HT, and/or HD consume more supplements on avg. thanhealthy older dogs.The IBD & HD groups were highest in both prevalence of any supplement use & avg. number of supplements per dog.Of all older dogs included in this survey, nearly 20% used any supplements & of those, 12% used nutrient-containing supplements (EFA, vitamins, and/or minerals).Supplements may be important contributors to total daily nutrient intake in older dogs.