Are dog heart supplements effective? What dog supplements are truly needed?

A heart supplement wouldn’t hurt but she probably doesn’t necessarily need one, particularly if she does not have documented heart disease. If you choose to use a supplement I would recommend VetriScience Cardio. You should always check with your vet before starting any supplement.

Yes, this is true. There are no scientific studies that definitively prove that fish oil and joint supplements work. There are no studies that prove they hurt, so vets do recommend them to see if they help dogs with particular conditions. In some cases, it does appear to help the dog, but whether that is due to a placebo effect or not isn't known.

Hello! If you are giving Chloe the fish oil, you don't need to give the vitamin E as well. Fish oil commonly contains vitamin E already to prevent spoilage. I wish there was any scientific evidence that heart supplements work! There is absolutely zero evidence unfortunately.

You are welcome for the article! Basically what the article is saying that there isn't a lot of research done in supplements in animals, and really need more research done to determine they are beneficial or not. I certainly always recommend glucosamine to my clients in terms of joint problems, and I do feel it's beneficial. Fish oil can be beneficial well, but it's important not to give too much because that can lead to an interference in wound healing. I think the supplements you are giving now are fine :-)

Royal Canin diets are all formulated with pre-biotics which help support a health gut bacteria. You could add in an additional probiotic but you may not see a huge amount of benefits BUT it will not hurt anything. Purina makes a very nice probiotic called FortiFlora and that would be the one I recommend. The Bio-Cardio may be beneficial but to the best of my knowledge, no testing has been done to know for sure if this is effective or not. Royal Canin does make a diet specific for Cavaliers that has additives for heart heath. They also make a diet for pets with heart disease or even just heart murmurs. They have done some studies indicating that these diets do impact heart health. Your fatty acid supplement does help to maintain heart health through its natural anti-inflammatory properties. I would recommend to look into the other diets and discuss with your vet if these may be good option for Chloe. I hope this helps and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

As long as you are feeding a complete and balanced diet commercial dog food, you don;t need to worry about those types of supplements unless Remy has some sort of pre-existing condition. For normal, healthy aging dogs, the most common supplements are joint health (I recommend Adequan and Dasuquin) and omega 3 fatty acids for pets. I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.

The biggest issue with herbal medications (which is what this supplement is) is a lack of controlled studies to prove that they work. Additionally, just like a man made medication, an herbal medication can also have side effects. Having said all of that, the specific product you refer to does contain Hawthorn which does have effects similar to sotolol. I don't know that its "better," or "safer" than sotolol because we just don't have the data to show that, whereas sotolol has been studied extensively regarding dosage, safety, efficacy, etc. In short, its reasonable to try this herbal medication but I would strongly advise that you do it under the care of a veterinarian who has been trained in herbal medicine. Here is a link to find a a veterinarian who has studied herbal remedies: https://www.vbma.org/us-members.html Keep in mind that SAS is a mechanical defect, and so no medication will "fix" it.. rather the goal of medical management is to minimize the problems that the heart defect causes. http://massvetcardiology.com/Data/resources/cardiacdiseaserefe/subaorticstenosiss/understanding_sasgeneric.pdf Best of luck with her!