Feeding your pet supplements can be a bit of a to-do, especially when it comes to cats who are sometimes notoriously finicky eaters. However, there are some helpful tips to ensure they are able to glean all the benefits of nutritional supplementation without it being a traumatic experience for them.
Pets typically gain most of their nutritional needs from their diets, but as our pets are domesticated, their diets have also changed over time and most commercial pet foods available just don’t cut it. Adding a supplement to your cat’s or dog’s diet can benefit her in the following ways:
- Vitamins and minerals to help soothe skin and maintain healthy coat
- Boost immunity
- Detox and cleanse the system
Supplements for pets, similar to their human equivalents, are available for a variety of health issues ranging from general to specialized conditions and are also offered in numerous different formulations, such as powders, pills, liquids, etc. It’s always best to consult your veterinarian before deciding to add a supplement to your pet’s daily health regimen, and consult with them about what formulation would suit them best as well. Certain pets depending on their age may do better with a liquid supplement or a powder that is easily added to their moist food.
Here are just some of the ways you can effectively supplement your pet easily and without causing too much of a headache for either of you:
- For powder formulations, check to see if you can add them to your pet’s moist food. This is usually okay, but every supplement is different. If it is alright, then add to their food and mix until the supplement is well-blended into their meal and all the powder has been absorbed.
- For pills and tablets, it’s usually best to invest in a pill syringe. These are widely available on-line and eliminate much of the hassle and trauma associated with manual pill administration. Many of these syringes are also designed to be able to pull in water with the pill, which help to make them go down easier.
- Another way to administer pills, depending on the size is to create a meat ball of molded moist food (paté works best) around the pill. This helps mask the taste and can often be the solution to pets who don’t respond well to being handled.
- For liquid formulations, you can sometimes just administer directly into the food such as with supplements like fish oil. Or, alternatively you could use a dropper to administer directly in between the gums and cheek. This can be a challenge, though, depending on your pet’s temperament.
Always be mindful of their reactions, if suddenly the taste of their food doesn’t agree with them, it could be the supplement and you may have to consider an alternative approach.
One of the best, easiest to administer and most beloved nutritional pet supplements out there for cats and dogs is our very own Kidney Restore for Cats & Dogs™ which combines the healing power of Vitamin B3 and sodium bicarbonate with the advanced digestive benefits of probiotics, made even stronger by a generous helping of prebiotics. The powder formulation is easily scooped into moist food, blends very well and the bacon flavoring is absolutely irresistible.
Just see for yourselves in this video:
