Perceptions of Medications and Supplements by U.S. Dog‐Interested Members of the Public and Final‐Year Veterinary Students

Veterinary graduates must be prepared to educate clients about medications and supplements. We surveyed 1955 Dog Aging Project newsletter recipients and 40 final-year veterinary students at Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences on their perceptions about medications and supplements. Respondents indicated whether each of 13 attributes applied to medications, supplements, neither, both, or "I'm not sure." Frequency of responses by newsletter recipient respondents versus student respondents, respectively, were evaluated. We observed differences in the majority response for: (1) target a specific ailment (51% for newsletter recipients versus 62% for students, respectively); (2) target a specific condition (54% vs. 40%); (3) promote health and wellness (51% vs. 38%); (4) prevent worsening of a condition (60% vs. 72%); (5) are added to food (58% vs. 80%); (6) are recommended by a veterinarian (58% vs. 82%); (7) are covered by pet insurance (57% vs. 80%); and (8) are given to the animal long term or lifelong (55% vs. 72%). The overall distribution of responses was statistically significantly different between groups for three attributes: added to food (p < 0.001); recommended by a veterinarian (p = 0.005); and covered by pet insurance (p < 0.001). While a majority of both groups recognized that only medications are tested and approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), 15% of final-year veterinary students indicated that they thought both supplements and medications are FDA regulated, which suggests an important educational gap.