If you have a dog that suffers from joint pain or arthritis, you may have heard about glucosamine. If you are interested in this natural supplement, you may not be sure what the best glucosamine for dogs is.
While any form of this supplement will help to relieve stiffness and pain commonly associated with arthritis, there are three options from which to choose. Each option has its own positives and negatives to consider when looking for glucosamine or chondroitin for dogs.
When choosing a glucosamine for your dog, you should have an idea of what features are the most important to you.
Things to consider are cost of the supplement, how quickly and well the supplement works, how easy it is to administer to your dog and how easy it is to acquire the supplement. These are all aspects to look for when choosing the supplement that works best for you and your dog.
Best Forms of Glucosamine for Dogs
The first option comes in the form of an injection.
Probably the best aspect of using an injection is that the medicine will go directly into the bloodstream, causing it to work rapidly.
Some of the negative aspects are that it can be painful for your dog because the injection must be administered directly into the muscle, and you can only acquire the supplement from a veterinarian.
Some veterinarians will allow you to purchase the injection and administer the supplement from your own home while others will require that you bring your dog in to receive each injection. This can be costly and time consuming.
The second option is to purchase the supplement in soft chews form.
Some good things to consider about the soft chews and pills are that you can purchase them without visiting a veterinarian, and they do not cause pain to your dog.
One negative aspect of the pills is that it can sometimes be hard to administer them to animals, that’s why chews are highly recommended. Keep in mind that may have to administer more than one chew or pill every day to reach the recommended daily dosage, make sure to follow the dosage recommended by the manufacturer.
The third option is to purchase liquid glucosamine.
This liquid form of glucosamine comes in a water soluble formula that is easy to mix into your dog’s drinking water, or on top of its food.
Since the liquid supplement has no taste, your dog will ingest the supplement easily. You can purchase this product without seeing a veterinarian and it is inexpensive. While it does not work as quickly as an injection, it does work quicker than glucosamine in pill form.
Which Form to Choose
There are positives to all three forms of glucosamine. When choosing the best one for your dog, you can consider all of the features from the various forms mentioned.
If administering the supplement easily is important to you, then you may choose to go with the soft chews option,however, if it is more important that the supplement works immediately, you may choose to administer injections. While this supplement is helpful in any form, the type you choose will depend on which features matter the most to you.