1. Low Bioavailability: Glucosamine and chondroitin are often sourced from shellfish or synthesized in a laboratory, but getting them from the bottle into the bloodstream is a major hurdle. Both have relatively low bioavailability, at ~5% and 12%, respectively. Meaning the vast majority of what you pay for never even makes it into your dog’s system; it simply passes through.
2. Lack of Efficacy: Beyond poor absorption, the clinical evidence is underwhelming to say the least. While some individual studies show minor benefits, most studies and large-scale reviews have found that these compounds in both dogs and humans often perform marginally, if at all, better than a placebo. When the same lack of efficacy is observed across multiple species, it should be the final nail in the coffin for both ingredients. To that point, one meta-analysis concluded, “Chondroitin-glucosamine nutraceuticals should not be prescribed in canine or feline osteoarthritis.” In other words, glucosamine and chondroitin are all hat, no cattle.
   1. This lack of efficacy is particularly telling when you consider the baseline differences between humans and dogs. The average person on a Western diet consumes very little glucosamine or chondroitin. If these compounds were truly therapeutic, moving a person from almost zero intake to a concentrated supplement should produce a dramatic, unmistakable clinical shift.
   2. In contrast, dogs consuming a commercial kibble already receive a steady supply of these compounds through the meat and bone meal prevalent in most commercial dog foods.
   3. The fact that the clinical results remain equally underwhelming for both the starved human and the dog receiving a steady supply suggests that the compounds themselves simply lack the biological activity most of the supplement industry claims.
3. Cheap Fillers Disguised as Actives: Before recent trade shifts, glucosamine was a dirt-cheap commodity (~$3–$4 per kg) and chondroitin wasn't far behind at $15-$18 per kg. Based on current trade data, the price has gone up to $8-$10 for glucosamine and $30-$45 for chondroitin. Because they’re inexpensive and familiar, brands loaded up their formulas to make a label look better. Even as costs have risen, the efficacy hasn't, leaving you paying more for what essentially remains a low-value filler ingredient.

Caregiver Effect

Now, both owners and many veterinarians might push back and say I have seen improvements in my dog or in my patients, and that brings us to the placebo and caregiver effect, which affects both owners and veterinarians equally, with a 2012 study finding a placebo caregiver effect in 39.7% of owners and 44% for veterinarians, as measured via ground reaction force (how much weight the dog actually puts on the limb).  The placebo caregiver effect for both owners and veterinarians was likely an underestimation, given that they knew 50% were in the placebo group and that owners were paid for the study as opposed to paying for the treatment, which creates a mental incentive to believe the treatment is helping. Suffice to say the placebo caregiver effect is very real.

This is why we are the only company to our knowledge that provides you with a questionnaire to help you evaluate whether our joint supplement is actually helping instead of just relying on your hope and belief that there was an improvement.