Many pet supplements are governed by the same regulations as pet food: They do not need to be reviewed, tested, or approved by the Food and Drug Administration before they are sold. And labeling and marketing rules can vary from state to state.
“It’s up to the company to do the necessary studies to prove safety and efficacy, and most do not,” Wakshlag says.
Erratic quality control and lax enforcement can also lead to inaccurate labeling and ineffective or even toxic dosing. “Studies have shown the products claiming to have equal amounts of a particular active ingredient can actually contain drastically different quantities that are much higher or lower than the label states,” Greenstein says, adding that many pet owners wrongly believe that they can give their pets supplements made for humans. “Their dosing needs and metabolism are completely unlike our own,” she says.
One way to reduce the risks posed by the lack of regulation is to look for products that carry the quality seal of the National Animal Supplement Council (NASC). While it does not indicate that a product is effective, it does show, among other things, that the company passes an independent third-party audit every two years, complies with stringent labeling guidelines, and agrees to submit to random third-party testing to ensure a product’s ingredients meet its label claims.
“I tell folks to only buy brands with the NASC seal,” Wakshlag says. “Without it, you really don’t know what is in a product or whether it’s safe.”
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