Which Vitamin Format Is Best for Absorption – Liquid, Powders or Chews?

There are a lot of choices today for pet supplements. They have liquid, powders, pills, chews, and even sublingual (fast dissolving) varieties for pets. Your options are many, but some may absorb better than others.

* Liquids – Often this is a great choice because if the pet will take it (either with a dropper or directly on their food), they will get it all inside their digestive tract faster without too much digestive work. But some people believe that since it’s a liquid form, the highly acidic process that happens through digestion destroys a lot of the benefit.

* Powders – The good thing about powders is that they can be mixed into food and hidden. However, some pets, just like with liquids, are wise to it and don’t like the taste and will refuse to eat it. And you can’t do anything else with powders except to put it in their food, so options are limited. If they do ingest it, though, it will absorb fast since it’s partially digested in powder form.

* Chews – Often the preferred method of giving pets any type of vitamin, supplement or medication, these are designed to taste good to the pet. Therefore, they’re more likely to ingest it, which means they’re more likely to absorb it. The problem is, like with any type of packaging for a supplement or medication, what’s in it apart from the supplement itself is important. Your pet may be sensitive or allergic to it, which will interfere with the benefits.

* Pills – Seen as the most difficult to give any type of pet, pills are still often one of the best ways to ensure the animal gets the vitamin in their system. Pills usually should be put into the pet’s mouth as close to their throat as possible, then hold their mouth closed and rub their throat so they swallow. Due to the fact you can’t be wrong about whether they took the pill or not, you can be sure it’s inside them. So, if they’re not sensitive to the pill and it’s a high-quality vitamin, it should absorb at a high rate.

* Sublingual – This fast-acting delivery method looks like a pill, but it usually dissolves practically on contact. Sometimes they look like a thin sheet, other times a pill. These are known to absorb very well if you can get it in them. It’s harder to tell if the pet really took it since it does dissolve fast, though.

The important thing is that you try each kind, and different brands, because like humans every pet is a little different in ways we’re not sure about yet. That’s why sometimes one medication works for one dog and not for the next. The biological makeup of animals is just as complicated, if not more so, than the human body.

Therefore, the short answer to the question of which vitamins absorb best, is the one your pet will take and that works for them.