Topical Joint Support for Pets? If It Existed, Wouldn’t We Already Know About It?
A comment on one of our social posts recently made us stop and think.
One person put the point simply:
“If there was a topical that worked, we’d hear about it all over.”
And honestly?
We understand the scepticism.
Because when most people think about joint and mobility support for a dog or cat, they probably picture something familiar:
- chews;
- tablets;
- powders;
- liquids;
- perhaps a veterinary injection.
They probably do not picture applying a small amount of oil directly to the skin.
So when something different appears, questioning it is completely reasonable.
In fact, we think it is exactly the sort of question an unfamiliar product should have to answer.
But there is an interesting problem with the assumption behind it.
Topical veterinary care is not new at all.
Pet owners and veterinarians have been using products applied directly to the skin for decades.
The unfamiliar part is not the route.
The unfamiliar part is seeing that route used for joint and mobility support.
And that difference is worth exploring properly.
This article is general educational information and is not veterinary advice. Tvati Pet is not presented here as a treatment or cure for osteoarthritis, pain, inflammation or another diagnosed disease. New or worsening changes in your pet's movement, behaviour or comfort should be discussed with a veterinarian.
New to the pet aisle. Not new overnight.
There is another simple part of the answer to that original comment.
Tvati Pet itself is still relatively new to the pet market.
The underlying Cook Islands preparation, research and development story stretches back much further, but Tvati Pet made its pet-industry debut at SUPERZOO in Las Vegas in August 2025. 16
So if topical joint and mobility support does not yet feel like something you hear about everywhere, that is partly the point.
We are actively trying to change that.
In the little more than a year since that debut, a huge part of Tvati's work has been about education: helping pet owners understand that topical mobility support exists, explaining how it differs from a localised cream or balm, and giving veterinarians and owners better information about the research, ingredients and route of application.
It has also been a period of listening and refinement.
Feedback from owners and veterinary professionals has helped shape how Tvati is packaged, explained and used, including new pack sizes and the development of the dedicated Tvati Vet format discussed later in this article.
At the same time, the wider pet industry has started to take notice.
Pet Age profiled Tvati in October 2025 in a feature focused on the combination of traditional Cook Islands knowledge and modern innovation. 17
Tvati was then named a first-time Pet Age Editor's Select 2026 honoree, a distinction Pet Age says recognises products for quality, innovation, performance and value. 18
That was followed by a 2026 Pet Age Vanguard Award. Pet Age's Vanguard programme highlights brands leading new developments and ideas in the pet industry, and its coverage specifically highlighted Tvati's topical route as something different within pet joint support. 19
Because a new category does not become familiar overnight.
The research story behind Tvati is much older than Tvati Pet itself. The pet product debuted in 2025, and since then we have been working with owners, veterinarians and the wider pet industry to build awareness, gather feedback and keep refining what comes next.
In other words: if topical mobility support still feels unfamiliar, you are exactly the person this article was written for.
Your pet may already use topical veterinary products.
If you have ever applied a small spot-on flea or parasite treatment directly to your pet's skin, you already know what a veterinary topical treatment looks like.
These products are hardly experimental.
Stronghold, containing the active ingredient selamectin, was granted European marketing authorisation in 1999 as a topical solution for dogs and cats. 1
More broadly, veterinary pharmacology recognises several different ways a product applied to the skin may behave.
The Merck Veterinary Manual describes topical formulations used for local skin treatment, parasite control and transdermal delivery, where suitable compounds pass through the skin. 2
Think about that for a moment.
A veterinary product can be placed onto an animal's skin without its intended activity necessarily being confined to that particular patch of skin.
That does not mean every topical product behaves in the same way.
Quite the opposite.
And that is where this gets interesting.
“Topical” tells you where something is applied.
It does not, by itself, tell you what happens next.
Some formulations are intended to remain predominantly at or around the skin. Others are designed so that active compounds can cross the skin barrier and become systemically available.
Two spot-ons. Two very different journeys.
One of the clearest ways to understand this is to compare two established veterinary antiparasitic ingredients.
Fipronil
Fipronil has long been used in topical flea and tick products.
Research following topical administration in a beagle dog found radio-labelled fipronil predominantly within the outer skin layers and pilosebaceous structures, particularly the sebaceous glands. 3
The researchers reported low percutaneous passage into deeper layers.
In simple terms, its distribution was heavily associated with the skin and its structures.
Selamectin
Selamectin is also applied topically.
But pharmacokinetic research tells a very different story.
Researchers measured selamectin in the plasma of both cats and dogs following topical administration and reported systemic bioavailability after application to the skin. 4
The same study found substantial differences between cats and dogs, highlighting an important point:
species, chemistry and formulation all matter.
A separate study in dogs likewise measured selamectin in plasma following topical application. 5
Same broad route of administration. Very different behaviour.
MYTH: Anything applied topically must only act where you put it.
REALITY: Different topical compounds and formulations can behave very differently. Some remain predominantly at the skin, while others are capable of transdermal absorption and systemic distribution.
And equally importantly:
The fact that established veterinary spot-ons work does not, by itself, prove anything about Tvati.
That would be too easy a scientific leap.
What it does establish is the more fundamental point:
Applying something to the skin does not automatically mean its biological relevance must remain confined to the application site.
What happens next depends on what is being applied.
Skin is a barrier, not a sponge.
If topical delivery were as simple as rubbing something onto the skin and watching it disappear into the bloodstream, pharmaceutical development would be considerably easier.
It isn't.
Skin exists partly to keep things out.
The outermost layer, the stratum corneum, forms a highly effective barrier between the body and the outside world.
Veterinary pharmacology notes that successful transdermal delivery depends on characteristics including molecular size, lipid solubility, water solubility and the formulation itself. 2
Not every compound is suitable.
That is why the words “it's topical” tell us surprisingly little on their own.
The active compounds matter.
The concentration matters.
The carrier matters.
The formulation matters.
The animal matters.
And ultimately, the research behind that particular preparation matters.
We explore the skin barrier and topical delivery in more detail in Why Topical? The Simple Science Behind Tvati.
So how is Tvati different from a localised cream or balm?
This distinction is important.
Tvati Pet is a topical joint and mobility support product for dogs and cats.
It is applied directly to the skin, but it is not designed or positioned as a localised rub that simply sits over one joint or one patch of tissue.
Tvati's modern topical system is designed to absorb through the skin and provide support beyond the application site.
Tvati describes its patented, oil-based system as a transdermal approach designed for systemic mobility and comfort support rather than localised surface action. 6
The modern formula is deliberately simple:
- Hibiscus tiliaceus bark oil, the botanical active at the centre of the Tvati research story;
- organic coconut oil, used as the natural carrier.
The carrier matters because topical delivery is not simply about putting an ingredient onto the skin.
The characteristics of the active compounds, their concentration, the carrier and the finished oil-based system all influence what happens after application.
Tvati Pet is supplied in a pre-measured vial and applied directly to the skin, with coconut oil acting as the carrier for the Hibiscus tiliaceus preparation. The recommended application site differs between dogs and cats, so owners should follow the species-specific guidance supplied with the product. 6
Tvati is applied topically.
It is designed to support mobility beyond the place where it is applied, rather than acting like a conventional localised cream or balm.
Ongoing research will continue to build our understanding of the modern finished formulation, its mechanisms and its use in animals.
But Tvati's story did not begin by looking at modern flea treatments and deciding to copy the route.
It began somewhere very different.
Before Tvati, there was Te Vairakau Ati.
Tvati's roots lie in the Cook Islands and in traditional Māori plant knowledge passed from generation to generation.
At the centre of that story is a preparation known as Te Vairakau Ati.
This is important because Te Vairakau Ati was not simply a generic wellness tradition later repackaged around mobility.
Its historical association with bone injury is documented independently of Tvati.
Cook Islands reporting has described vairakau ati as “bone medicine”, associated with traditional care for fractures. 7
A report from the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme documents members of the Koutu Nui and traditional healers as custodians of the traditional remedy for bone healing known as Vairakau Ati. 8
That same history also provides an important bridge into the modern research story.
Dr Graham Matheson grew up in the Cook Islands and observed traditional plant preparations being used within his community before later training as a medical practitioner.
SPREP records that he began PhD research through the Orthopaedic Research Laboratories at the University of New South Wales and later entered a benefit-sharing relationship with the Koutu Nui around the investigation and development of this traditional knowledge. 8
Contemporary Cook Islands sources describe Vairakau Ati as a form of traditional “bone medicine” associated with fractures and bone healing.
Rather than forcing a living Cook Islands Māori term into a perfect word-for-word English translation, the important point is that its connection with traditional care for bone injury exists independently of modern Tvati marketing.
The botanical at the centre of the modern Tvati formulation is Hibiscus tiliaceus, commonly known as Sea Hibiscus.
Graham's medical and scientific background led to a simple but ambitious question:
Could generations of traditional knowledge be investigated using modern scientific methods?
In 2011, the University of New South Wales reported on his PhD research alongside Professor Bill Walsh at the Surgical & Orthopaedic Research Laboratories. 9
UNSW subsequently reported that Dr Matheson had completed his PhD based on the project and that research into the plants' regenerative properties was continuing. 10
So topical application was not added years later because it made an interesting marketing point.
It was part of the traditional preparation and part of the scientific investigation that followed.
You can explore the Cook Islands and Sea Hibiscus story further in Cook Islands Sea Hibiscus: Why Origin Matters.
What did the research actually investigate?
This is where the story moves beyond heritage alone.
Public patent documentation naming Dr Graham Matheson and Professor William Walsh as inventors describes a series of experimental models investigating preparations of Hibiscus tiliaceus.
In one rabbit model, researchers created a controlled defect in the ulna.
A Hibiscus tiliaceus extract was applied topically to the epithelial surface each day for one week. The patent reports greater new bone formation, cartilage formation and vascularity at the fracture site in the relevant treated group compared with untreated or control preparations. 11
Another experiment investigated a spinal-fusion model.
Again, the Hibiscus preparation was applied topically. The patent describes differences in bone, cartilage and vascularity around the fusion site between treated and comparison groups, with later histology and mechanical testing also reported. 11
The patent documentation also describes Hibiscus preparations using plant oils including coconut oil and formulations intended for topical administration.
SPREP independently records that the resulting intellectual property included patents concerning Hibiscus tiliaceus extracts and bone and cartilage applications, with the Koutu Nui involved through the benefit-sharing structure.
Traditional knowledge: Vairakau Ati and its association with bone healing in the Cook Islands.
Scientific investigation: Doctoral research through UNSW's orthopaedic research programme.
Preclinical research: Controlled experimental investigation of topical Hibiscus tiliaceus preparations.
Intellectual property: Patents developed around the biological applications of the botanical extract.
Modern formulation: A refined, measured two-ingredient topical system designed for consistent everyday use.
The story did not stop in the laboratory.
Research matters.
But ultimately, Tvati exists to be used in the real world.
Today it is being used by pet owners, discussed by veterinarians and incorporated into wider integrative mobility and wellness routines.
And that gives us another type of information worth paying attention to:
what people are actually observing.
Veterinary experience
Dr Katie Kangas, DVM, is an integrative veterinarian and Tvati Pet's Chief Veterinary & Wellness Officer.
Her role brings hands-on veterinary experience into Tvati's approach to animal wellness, integrative care and the responsible development of topical mobility support. 12
Dr Kangas has also discussed Tvati publicly within the context of integrative pet mobility and the changes being observed in real-world use. 13
Tvati has also moved beyond simply being discussed by its own team.
Tvati Pet is currently carried by veterinarian Dr Judy Morgan's Naturally Healthy Pets store within its joint-health range. 14
A veterinarian discussing, using or stocking a product is not the same thing as a controlled clinical trial.
But it is not meaningless either.
It shows that the idea has moved from an unfamiliar traditional botanical preparation into real veterinary and integrative-care conversations.
Veterinary feedback is helping shape Tvati itself.
Working with veterinarians is not only about asking professionals to talk about the product.
Their feedback also helps shape how Tvati is developed and used.
As Tvati has moved into more veterinary and professional settings, the team has continued to gather practical feedback around application, dosing, consistency, owner compliance and how the product fits into real-world mobility routines.
One result of that feedback is Tvati Vet.
Tvati Pet is packaged in pre-measured 0.5 ml vials for everyday home use.
Tvati Vet uses the same core two-ingredient botanical formula in a larger professional vial format for veterinary use.
Tvati's current veterinary range is designed specifically to bring the researched topical approach into veterinary practice while making ongoing home application simple and consistent. 15
The underlying idea remains deliberately simple:
make application consistent, practical and easy to incorporate into everyday care.
That feedback loop matters.
Because a product developed for real animals does not exist only in a laboratory.
It has to work practically for the owners and professionals expected to use it consistently.
What pet owners are observing.
There is another layer too.
Tvati has accumulated a growing body of feedback from owners describing changes they have noticed in everyday life.
Those observations often relate to the things owners actually notice first:
- willingness to walk;
- getting up and moving around;
- jumping onto furniture;
- running or playing;
- general activity;
- doing more of the things that animal used to enjoy.
Mobility rarely presents itself to an owner as a laboratory measurement.
It presents itself as behaviour.
The dog waiting at the door again.
The cat returning to a favourite sleeping place.
A longer walk.
A little more enthusiasm.
A little more of the animal you recognise.
Owners and veterinary professionals continue to report changes they observe in everyday movement, activity and behaviour after introducing Tvati.
Real-world observations are a different form of evidence from controlled clinical research, but they are valuable for identifying patterns, generating new questions and helping shape future studies.
Individual animals will naturally respond differently, which is one reason Tvati intends to keep building the evidence around those experiences.
So what does the evidence actually tell us?
We think there is a more useful way to look at Tvati than reducing the entire story to either:
“It is scientifically proven to treat arthritis.”
or:
“There have only been some animal experiments.”
Neither accurately reflects where the story sits.
The evidence journey is broader than that.
- there is documented Cook Islands traditional knowledge associated with bone healing;
- there was doctoral research investigating the underlying plant preparations;
- controlled preclinical research reported biological differences following topical Hibiscus tiliaceus application;
- the resulting work generated patented intellectual property;
- that work has been refined into a modern, measured topical format;
- the product is now being used and discussed by veterinary professionals;
- veterinary feedback is actively shaping how the professional range develops;
- owners continue to report observable changes in everyday movement and activity.
What Tvati should not do is stretch one form of evidence into another.
Preclinical research is not a canine osteoarthritis clinical trial.
An owner testimonial is not a randomised controlled study.
A veterinarian's experience does not mean every animal will respond in exactly the same way.
But the absence of one particular type of evidence does not erase everything that came before it either.
Science is often a journey of accumulating evidence, asking better questions and testing what comes next.
Generations of documented traditional knowledge.
Doctoral research.
Controlled preclinical investigation.
Patented innovation.
A modern standardised topical format.
Veterinary adoption and professional feedback.
Growing real-world owner observations.
And more research still to come.
The research story is still moving.
None of this is intended to suggest that the scientific work around Tvati is finished.
Quite the opposite.
The early research created questions worth pursuing.
The experience of owners and veterinary professionals is creating more.
And the next stage is about continuing to turn those observations into increasingly structured evidence.
Tvati is actively looking towards further research around the modern formulation and its use in animals, alongside more systematic collection of real-world outcomes.
That matters because every layer of evidence can answer a different question.
- Traditional knowledge tells us where the idea came from.
- Laboratory and preclinical research helps investigate biological activity.
- Veterinary experience helps identify what is being observed in real animals.
- Owner feedback helps identify patterns in everyday mobility and behaviour.
- Future structured studies can test those observations more rigorously.
That is how science progresses.
Not by pretending every question has already been answered.
And not by ignoring interesting observations simply because the next study has not yet been completed.
Observe. Question. Test. Learn. Refine. Test again.
That is the journey Tvati intends to keep following.
More veterinary feedback.
More structured real-world data.
Further investigation of the modern Tvati formulation.
More evidence around the observations already prompting interest.
The aim is not simply to repeat what we already believe. It is to keep asking better questions about what owners and professionals are seeing.
So why talk about flea and parasite products at all?
Because they expose an assumption.
We are incredibly comfortable with the idea of placing a small spot-on onto the skin when the box says flea treatment.
For millions of pet owners, that routine is completely ordinary.
Yet move the conversation into joint and mobility support and topical suddenly sounds strange.
That tells us something important.
The scepticism is not really about whether skin can ever be used as a meaningful route of administration.
Veterinary medicine settled that question a long time ago.
The scepticism is about seeing that route used in a category where we have been conditioned to expect something else.
For years, joint support has largely looked like:
- a chew;
- a tablet;
- a capsule;
- a powder;
- or something mixed into food.
That familiarity is powerful.
But familiarity and scientific possibility are not the same thing.
Sometimes an approach feels unusual simply because we have not encountered it in that particular category before.
And no, topical does not automatically mean better.
This is equally important.
There is nothing inherently wrong with oral joint support.
There are ingredients that make sense when administered orally.
There are pets who will happily eat a daily chew for years.
There are veterinary medicines where oral administration or injection is entirely appropriate.
Different compounds suit different delivery methods.
The interesting thing about Tvati is not that topical is universally superior.
It is that Tvati represents a genuinely different route within a category dominated by things animals are expected to swallow.
Tvati Pet has a deliberately simple formulation built around Cook Islands Hibiscus tiliaceus bark oil and organic coconut oil.
Rather than relying on flavouring, a chew matrix, a tablet or a powder, it is applied directly to the skin in a simple pre-measured format.
For owners, that means:
- no hiding tablets;
- no powder left at the bottom of the bowl;
- no dependence on appetite;
- no adding another chew or capsule to an already complicated routine.
And anyone who has ever tried to convince a suspicious cat that there is definitely nothing hidden inside today's dinner will understand why route of administration matters practically too.
The routine is simple.
The story and science behind it are anything but.
Perhaps we have been asking the wrong question.
When somebody asks:
“If there was a topical that worked, wouldn't we hear about it all over?”
Part of the answer is:
We already use topical veterinary products all the time.
Some act predominantly at the skin.
Others are demonstrably absorbed through it.
What remains unusual is seeing the topical route used within everyday joint and mobility support.
And perhaps that is the more useful conversation.
Not:
“Can the skin possibly be used as a route of administration?”
But:
“What exactly is this formulation? Where did it come from? How is it designed to work? What has been studied? What are veterinarians and owners observing? And what comes next?”
Those are the questions we think any unfamiliar product should have to answer.
Don't dismiss a product simply because its route of application feels unfamiliar.
Look at the ingredients. Look at the history. Look at the research. Look at the formulation. Look at the professional experience. Look at the real-world observations.
Then make an informed judgement.
A different approach to everyday mobility support.
Tvati Pet is not another chew presented in a different container.
Its story begins with generations of Cook Islands traditional knowledge.
It continues through Dr Graham Matheson's doctoral work, research through the University of New South Wales and the involvement of the Koutu Nui.
It includes controlled preclinical research and patented innovation around topical Hibiscus tiliaceus preparations.
That work has since been refined into a modern, measured topical system.
Today, Tvati is being used by pet owners and veterinary professionals looking for another way to support everyday movement.
Veterinary feedback is continuing to shape the professional range.
Owner observations are continuing to raise new questions.
And further research is part of what comes next.
Tvati Pet is designed to support joint comfort, healthy movement and everyday mobility in cats and dogs.
No pills.
No powders.
No mixing.
Just a different route.
A route that may feel unfamiliar in this category.
But a route that veterinary medicine itself has understood for a very long time.
Topical isn't new.
Topical joint support is.
And sometimes the ideas that deserve the closest look are the ones that do not fit neatly into the category that came before them.
More movement. More comfort. More good days.
Mobility is about more than a joint.
It is the walk to the front door when the lead comes out.
The jump onto the sofa.
The stairs at bedtime.
The favourite windowsill.
Playing.
Exploring.
Following you into another room for absolutely no reason other than the fact that you moved.
Those ordinary little moments are easy to take for granted.
Until they become difficult.
Tvati does things differently.
And different naturally creates questions.
We think those questions are worth answering.
Sources & further reading
1. European Medicines Agency: Stronghold / selamectin marketing authorisation
2. Merck Veterinary Manual: Routes of Administration and Dosage Forms of Drugs
3. Cochet P, et al.: Skin distribution of fipronil following topical administration to the beagle dog
5. Dupuy J, et al.: Pharmacokinetics of selamectin in dogs after topical application
6. Tvati Pet: Topical Joint & Mobility Support for Dogs & Cats
7. Cook Islands News: Maori medicine video a hit
8. Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme: Lessons from the Pacific
9. UNSW Sydney: Traditional remedy heals wounds
10. UNSW Sydney: Cook Islands plants show regenerative properties
11. European Patent EP2509612B1: Hibiscus extract for use in bone and cartilage repair
12. Tvati: About Tvati and Veterinary Leadership
14. Dr Judy Morgan's Naturally Healthy Pets: Tvati Pet
15. Tvati Vet: Veterinary Topical Joint & Mobility Support
16. PETS+: Tvati Pet Massage Oil Debuts As Emerging Brand at SUPERZOO
17. Pet Age: The Power of Plants: Tvati Pet Blends Traditional Medicine with Modern Innovation
18. Pet Age: Editor's Select 2026
19. Pet Age: 2026 Vanguard Awards: Meet the Cutting-Edge Innovations of the Pet Industry
This article is provided for general educational purposes only and is not veterinary advice.
Tvati Pet is a wellness product intended to support joint comfort, healthy movement and everyday mobility. It is not presented as a product that diagnoses, treats, cures or prevents osteoarthritis, pain, inflammation, fractures or another diagnosed medical condition.
The Hibiscus tiliaceus research discussed above includes preclinical animal research. Results from preclinical models should not be interpreted as evidence of equivalent clinical outcomes in pet dogs, cats or humans.
Customer experiences and professional observations reflect individual real-world experiences. They are not guarantees that the same or similar results will occur in another animal.
References to established veterinary topical medicines are included to explain established principles of topical and transdermal administration. Their efficacy or pharmacokinetics should not be interpreted as evidence for the efficacy or pharmacokinetics of Tvati Pet.
Do not start, stop, reduce or replace prescription medication or veterinary treatment based on information in this article. New, worsening or unexplained changes in your pet's movement, behaviour or comfort should be discussed with a qualified veterinarian.
