Nutrition is vital to an animal’s health. Unfortunately they don’t derive nutrients from the wide variety of natural resources like wild animals do and are reliant on us to control and manage their dietary needs. With that in mind, you can see how important it is to provide your pet with everything they need nutritionally. Luckily some of their needs can be supplied through whole food nutritional supplements that are as close as possible to how nature intended. These nutritional supplements contain whole foods, animal tissues, raw organic plants, vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients to support the body’s ability to heal itself. Below are five conditions that can be supported with nutritional supplements.
1. Arthritis
Arthritis is a very common condition seen in all pets, especially those middle aged and older. Arthritis causes changes in joints and their supporting structures and leads to inflammation and degeneration. These changes start to affect motion and cause discomfort and pain. Using supplements that help support and maintain those joints can help slow down the progression of arthritis as well as provide your pets some relief and enable them to use those joints more. The first supplement we recommend is a high quality Omega 3 (Essential Fatty Acids comprised of EPA and DHA). These omegas help reduce inflammation, which in turn decreases swelling and pain. Another supplement we recommend is Musculoskeletal Support from Standard Process. This is a whole food nutritional supplement that contains a variety of structural tissues and organs to provide support to the components of the musculoskeletal system to help in daily function, repair, regeneration and recovery.
2. Gastro-intestinal Issues
Just like us, pets can develop issues in their digestive tract. These issues can bring a variety of problems such as diarrhea, frequent bowel movements, decreased absorption of nutrients, leaky gut, and more. Having a healthy digestive tract is important to overall health as well as being able to adequately breakdown nutrients and absorb them properly. We use a whole food nutritional supplement from Standard Process called Enteric Support, This contains a variety of foods that support the different mechanisms of the digestive system as well as supports the ability of intestinal cells to respond to daily challenges.
3. Dental Disease and Bad Breath
In addition to brushing your pet’s teeth everyday, we recommend adding in supplements to your pet’s daily routine to help support pet oral health. Two of our favorite supplements are Entero from Veterinary Recommended Solutions and BioDent from Standard Process. Entero is a probiotic powder that you sprinkle on your pet’s food for healthy mouth flora as well as gut flora. Bio-Dent is a whole food supplement that contains calcium, phosphorus, and manganese to help support the bony structures and connective tissue in the body and mouth. This is great to minimize gingivitis and prevent periodontal disease.
4. Allergies and Skin Issues
Skin is a wonderful organ as it tells us more about what is going on inside of our pets if we take the time to understand. Healthy skin is a sign of a well-functioning harmonized effort by organs and tissues in the body. If we are seeing unhealthy skin such as a rash, pustules, dryness, spots, we usually will suspect that there is something off inside of the body. Surprisingly, nutrition plays a large role in skin health. We recommend Dermal Support (a whole food supplement from Standard Process) to maintains normal adrenal, immune, liver, and intestinal function to help heal and support overall skin health.
5. Weak Immune System
The immune system is a complex structure that is reliant on many different components. It is important to support and maintain all parts to help your pet maintain an overall healthy life. We use Immune Support and Whole Body Support from Standard Process to benefit a range of tissue and cellular functions. Immune support contains trace nutrients that benefit specific organs and tissues to help boost and maintain the overall immune system. Whole Body Support provides nutritional support for endocrine tissues as well as promotes recovery of function of cells in compromised patients and provides daily vitamins and minerals for all.
There are numerous supplements that can be used to support all different types of functions and organ systems. At VCPI, we offer comprehensive nutritional consultations to discuss your pets nutrition and go over any areas that we feel may benefit from supplementation. Give us a call today at 720-851-0820 to schedule an appointment. Mention this article to receive 10% off your visit!