Glucosamine tablets made for humans, is it okay to feed them to dogs?

Dogs have their own glucosamine supplements, but aren't they nearly the same thing as the glucosamine supplements made for humans?



I want to feed my dog glucosamine, because I've seen some good results from it. If I buy glucosamine at petco, it's $26. It's $18 at Costco (the one for humans). Is there really a difference between glucosamine tablets for humans, and the ones for dogs?

Public Comments

1. Just to be safe, I wouldn't give them to you dog. The next time you go to a vet, you should ask them.
2. no.
3. Look at the ingredients.
   
   I wouldn't use human medicine on animals, just like I wouldn't use animal medicine on humans.
   
   If you want to buy the human tablets just because they're cheaper, then you fail.
   
   Clearly if the glucosamine tablets aren't the same for dogs as they are for humans, then they aren't made to be mixed and used for both!
   
   Just buy the dog tablets. It's like 8 bucks more.
4. They are the same except the human grade is a better quality. You don't want to over dose the dog though.
   
   Roughly, the human dose is for an average weight of a person, about 150 lbs. So you would need to bread down the medication to meet the weight of your dog.
5. Ask your vet, but there is probably a diffrence between Human and dog medicine. There are some meds you can give to humans and dogs, like benadril, but I dont know if glucosamine is one of them.
6. No,there isn't a big difference. I give my dogs a supplement called Cosamin DS. It is the human equivalent of Cosequin DS, which is formulated for dogs and cats,and they are made by the same company! But the human formula is $20.00 cheaper than the dog formula.My vet told me to buy the human formula,and I know many other people who give their dogs human glucosamine/chondroitin supplements.You might try adding salmon oil to the dog's diet as well.My dogs get a 2000 mg.soft gel every day in addition to their Cosamin. I give the adult dose,as my dogs are 74 and 75 lbs.My smaller dog,who is 22 lbs,gets one capsule a day,but he gets the same amount of fish oil as the big dogs.
7. I feed my dog vegetarian glucosamine tabs, rather then the "regular" glucosamine which is from shellfish. Why?..because I also take glucosamine and I am a herbivore! My dog got really itchy when I had fed her glucosamine dog treats they had the shellfish in it. Her coat is beautiful and she seems less stiff (I know my knee is feeling less stiff) from the vegetarian glucosamine tabs. She usually get 750mgs/daily..seems to be working!
   
   
   
   My friend who is a DVM, gives both her dogs human glucosamine tabs about 1000mg/daily (I take care of her dogs when she leaves town).
   
   You would be surprised at the amount of drugs DVM prescribe that are human quality.
   
   
   
   Again, its best to ask the advise of your dogs veterinarian, my dog doesn't need daily pain meds for any joint pain problems and has been ok'd to take vegetarian glucosamine (derived from corn) so if your dog is allergic to corn then vegetarian glucosamine isn't for her.
   
   
   
   Its best to do some research on glucosamine, there is tons of stuff to know.
   
   
   
   Like for a fact glucosamine in dog food is a joke (like large breed dog foods) you would have to feed like 20-30cups of food a day to have any effect on your dog, its better to get the tabs.
   
   
   
   Sometimes traditional DVMs don't have enough knowledge on natural ways to heal the dog body and having a holistic DVMs second opinion can make a huge difference on the way health problems are handled. Holistic medicine often benefits the over all well being of animals, and is something to consider. I am sure most larger city's have a holistic veterinarian (yes they have their DVM licenses).
8. It is actually very safe to give human glucosamine pills to your dog. There's really not a huge difference at all. We've been giving our Golden these same pills since he was 10 years old, he's now 14 and in great health. Our vet actually recommended this to us because it cost so much to buy the glucosamine dog pills rather than the human ones.