Common Misconceptions and Notable Trends Around Pet Health Supplements

Bill Bookout: What are some of the common misconceptions that you run into talking to clients?

Dr. Judy Morgan: So, one of the big ones is the misconception that more is better. When clients would come to me–these are usually clients who are very frustrated with traditional medicine and side effects– I would always say, for their first consultation, please bring any supplements, medications, the food, whatever you're using for your pet, bring it.

People would literally come in with three huge grocery bags full of stuff. And you know, after my jaw was able to close and my eyeballs went back to normal, I would start going through the bags, pulling things out one by one, and then kind of dividing them and saying, “Okay, look, you have 7 sources of curcumin. You have 14 sources of glucosamine,” you know, and and just looking at it and saying, “You know, tripling down on this doesn't make it better. We need to choose the best few.”

The other thing is, your animal does not want 27 things in their bowl at every feeding. And so, a lot of times, they're using things that are actually counter to what they're trying to accomplish. That's really a big one. When I was in the horse show world years ago, when my kids were little, it was the same thing in the equine world. People would put 25 supplements in their horse's food bowl. It just really got down to needing to back up a minute and really evaluate. And that's hard for the average consumer to do sometimes. Like [Dr. Pachel] said, they're on Instagram, they're on Facebook, they're on Youtube, and they see these advertisements. They’re like, “Oh, that one does this, and this one does that.” And yes, sometimes we do have to layer on multiple things, depending on what the problem is, but we don't have to start with everything coming down the pike, and we really do have to evaluate what's in each supplement to make sure that they're not playing against each other, or that we're overdosing something because we can get into trouble there, too.

Bill Bookout: Very good points, Dr. Pachel?.

Dr. Chris Pachel (he/him): Yeah, I agree with all of that. I think the piece that goes along with that for me is often, I think the maybe cavalier attitude. Sometimes that happens in the interest of trying to provide support for their animal. There's often a mindset that it's just a supplement. I can buy it over the counter, so it couldn't possibly hurt. So let me throw all of the things, all three of the grocery bags at them. So, I really appreciate that you brought that point in. And I think the same thing is true even in the behavioral space where, you know, we have fewer options specifically in the behavioral world compared to everything that exists across the overall health and holistic space. And even still, we can find, you know, overlapping of ingredients or a lack of thoughtfulness.

I think what often happens in the behavior space is that people are incorrectly interpreting what they're seeing. And so, they're throwing solutions at a problem, but they've mischaracterized the problem. So, they're either spending time or money and potentially just not being as effective as they could be versus getting someone like Dr. Morgan or myself to be able to evaluate their pet and say, “Okay, here's actually what we're seeing, here's how these pieces fit together.” Now, let's be really intentional about what we can do to really make a difference.

Bill Bookout: Yep. So, the takeaways that I've got are: more is not necessarily better, don't necessarily believe everything you read on the Internet, right? And, you know, seek professional advice.

Have you observed any notable trends, either positive or negative, in the pet supplement space in general. We started with Dr. Morgan last time. Dr. Pachel, we’ll give you first shot.

Dr. Chris Pachel (he/him): So, I think the one that is probably most evident for me, especially in this sort of social media era that we're in, is just the wide prevalence and the kind of overwhelming number of options that exist to our clients. And I think there's often also decision fatigue, or they’re overwhelmed, and not sure where to start. So, it's sort of like feast or famine. I'm grateful that there are so many options available, but then how would the average client, especially if they don't have access to professional support, make those decisions in an educated way? And I think the overwhelming availability of products can be problematic as much as it is a blessing.

Bill Bookout: Great, Dr. Morgan, noble trends, positive or negatives? And, Sarah, I'm going to ask you to comment on this as well, as soon as Dr. Morgan's finished.

Dr. Judy Morgan: One of the things that we're seeing a lot trending upward right now is functional supplements and functional treats, functional foods. So that basically says, “Okay, this is going to function to improve gut health or to improve joint health or to improve behavior whatever.” And a lot of times, they're not made with good ingredients, they're not researched, and there's not a lot of data behind them. Sometimes…we get some really poor ingredients that are in there, because sometimes things are really kind of getting rushed to the market. So, I think that is a problem that we have to be watching, and it's been a problem for a long time. But because this pet supplement space is getting so big, like you said $2.5 billion dollars, and it's just projected to keep growing. We have to be really cognizant of what is going into those products.

Bill Bookout: No question about it. And that’s a really key point. I mean, quality is assumed, and it shouldn't be. You know, we always operated at NASC with the approach o “Trust, but verify.” So, you see a product on the shelf, like it or not, agree or disagree, it's a low barrier to entry for industry and what that means is, you know, you should really have confidence, faith, and trust in the company you deal with, because you want your animal to respond positively as you hope they will. That really begins with quality products formulated by competent people that have knowledge of animal anatomy, physiology, metabolism, metabolic processes. Nothing's 100%, but if you're going to get a positive response, you want to deal with a quality company that knows what they're doing. Sara, additional thoughts on that question?

Sara Phillips: I think, on the trend question, one of the biggest trends happening and everyone has touched on it, is driven by the growth of this category. The pet supplement category is just booming and everyone wants a piece of it. So that's great. On some level, that's exciting. Pet owners see some value or a value in in the category, but growth leads to lots of interest by lots of parties. And I think what we're seeing right now is that it also leads to massive advertising, spending, and both of our doctors have touched on that: lots of choices, lots of messaging being put out there which just, I think, complicates assessing patient understanding of which products makes sense; whether it's a medical product, whether it's a supplement, whether it's a food, whether it's maybe some behavioral modifications or consultations, whether it's their environment. So, I think the choices are just getting more complicated, and as a company that owns three pet supplement brands, trying to come through this noise, as we refer to it, with actual, truthful, science-backed claims that are also compliant for really strong brands and conscientious brands. I think that's a challenge today.