It starts with a question I hear nearly every day in the exam room: “What do you think about this supplement?” Sometimes a pet owner pulls out their phone and shows me a product they found online. Other times, they casually list all the medications and supplements their dog or cat is taking, and one of them is something I’ve never heard of. When I ask where it came from, the answer is often the same: “It has thousands of reviews, and the veterinarian in the video says it will cure my dog’s diarrhea, arthritis, allergies, everything.” I get it. I really do. We live in a world where people will spend hours researching the best ski wax, the perfect mountain bike part, or the most highly rated recovery boots for themselves. So why wouldn’t we want to find the very best supplement for our beloved pet? The problem is that the internet has made it incredibly easy to confuse good research with good marketing. Every time we open our phones, someone is trying to sell us something, and increasingly, that salesperson is wearing a white coat and speaking with the calm confidence of a medical professional. It feels trustworthy. It feels scientific. And for pet owners who just want to help their furry family members, that feeling can be dangerously convincing.
The growing trend is troubling. Across social media, there are videos using clickbait tactics to promote supplements, treats, dog food, shampoos, and all kinds of pet products. The person in the video may claim to be a veterinarian with decades of experience. They look the part. They talk the part. They confidently explain how a particular product will “cure” arthritis, allergies, gastrointestinal disease, or some other common condition that pet owners desperately want to fix. But here’s the catch: they may not be a veterinarian at all. Sometimes the person is just an influencer who threw on a white coat for the camera. Sometimes their photograph and credentials have been stolen from a real veterinarian somewhere else on the internet. And increasingly, the “veterinarian” isn’t even a real human being. AI-generated avatars can look and sound remarkably convincing, with realistic facial expressions, voices, and even subtle hand gestures. They can be programmed to say exactly what the seller wants them to say, making it nearly impossible for an average person to distinguish a legitimate medical professional from an elaborate advertisement. The whole thing is designed to exploit our trust, our hope, and our love for our pets. And it works, because we want so badly to believe that there is an easy answer, a miracle cure, a simple solution that will make our pets feel better.
So what is a conscientious pet guardian supposed to do? First, be very skeptical of the word “cure.” In veterinary medicine, there are very few miracle products. Real medicine is nuanced. It involves diagnosis, treatment plans, monitoring, and adjustment. Some conditions can be managed, some can be improved, and some can even resolve, but a single supplement you order online is rarely going to be the magic bullet that permanently eliminates a chronic disease. If an advertisement promises to cure arthritis, permanently eliminate allergies, or solve chronic gastrointestinal disease with a supplement you can buy with one click, that should immediately raise a red flag. Next, investigate the person making the claim. A quick, independent search can often tell you whether the person actually exists and whether they are who they claim to be. Are they a licensed veterinarian? Where did they go to veterinary school? Do they actually practice veterinary medicine? Can you find them on a state veterinary board website or through a reputable veterinary organization? Or are they simply an influencer with a good camera, a nice smile, and a white coat they bought online? It takes only a few minutes to do this kind of background check, but it can save you from falling for a scam. And if you can’t find any real credentials, that lack of information is itself a very telling answer.
Then, investigate the product itself, independently from the social media post. Don’t simply click the link provided by the influencer and read the glowing testimonials on the company’s website. That’s not research; that’s advertising. Look for actual scientific evidence. Are there evidence-based, peer-reviewed studies that support the claims being made? Do these studies actually involve the exact product being advertised, or is the company borrowing scientific terminology to make an unsupported claim sound legitimate? This is a common trick. A company might talk about “clinically proven ingredients” or “vet recommended formula” without ever having tested their own product in a real clinical trial. The science might exist for a single ingredient in a completely different context, but that doesn’t mean the supplement in front of you will work as advertised. And don’t put too much stock in those thousands of five-star reviews. Online reviews can be helpful for telling you whether something arrived on time or whether the packaging was nice, but they can’t tell you whether a supplement actually is effective. Reviews can be manipulated, purchased, or generated by bots. Even genuine reviews only describe what happened to one individual pet in one specific situation. That’s not the same thing as scientific evidence. A story about a dog who “loves” the supplement and seems “more energetic” isn’t proof that the product does anything. It’s just a story.
There’s a reason your veterinarian doesn’t have a million supplements, shampoos, and miracle cures lining the shelves at the hospital. Before I recommend something to a patient, I want to know that there is a reasonable basis for believing it will help and that it won’t cause harm. That’s the standard. That’s what real veterinary medicine looks like. We don’t recommend things just because they’re popular or because they have good reviews. We recommend things because there is evidence, experience, and a genuine understanding of the animal’s health behind the decision. This is particularly important in veterinary medicine because our pets don’t get a vote. We can decide which medications, supplements, and skincare products we use on ourselves. We can read the research, weigh the risks, and make our own choices. But our pets are entirely dependent on us to make those decisions for them. They can’t read the research. They can’t recognize a sponsored Instagram post. They can’t tell us that the supplement we bought from a guy in a white coat made them feel terrible. They can only trust us to be careful, thoughtful, and informed on their behalf. That’s a heavy responsibility, and it’s one we should take seriously.
If you find a product online that sounds promising, bring it up with your veterinarian before giving it to your pet. Your veterinarian knows your pet’s medical history, current medications, and underlying conditions that can help determine whether the product is appropriate. This is not about being dismissive or protecting some mysterious veterinary monopoly. It’s about safety. Some supplements interact with medications, making them less effective or even dangerous. Others are processed through the liver or kidneys and may not be appropriate for pets with certain diseases. Even seemingly harmless topical products can cause problems if they are ingested or used incorrectly. A supplement that is completely safe for one dog might be harmful to another. Your veterinarian has the training and the context to help you make the right decision for your specific pet. The internet can be an incredible source of information, but it has also made it increasingly easy for misinformation to look like medical expertise. So next time an internet veterinarian promises that a particular supplement will cure your dog’s arthritis, pause before reaching for your credit card. A white coat, a convincing video, and ten thousand five-star reviews aren’t the same thing as evidence. When in doubt, ask your veterinarian. Your pet is counting on you to be the skeptic.