Adding Fish Oil to your pet"s diet

If you are considering adding fish oil to your pet’s diet, here is a guide line that will help. This is the safest, purest Omega 3 Fish Oil (recommended)

100 pound dog 3000 mg = about 3cc liquid
90 pound dog 2700 – 3000 mg =  about 3 cc liquid
80 pound dog 2500 mg =about 2-1/2 cc liquid
70 – 60 pound dog 2000 mg = 2 cc liquid
50 – 40 pound dog 1500 mg= 1-1/2 cc liquid
30 pound dog 1000 mg = 1 cc liquid
20 pound dog 500mg =1/2 cc liquid
10 pound dog 300 mg = about 1/4 cc liquid

Put in peanut butter, cottage cheede, chopped cooked meat or anything that your dog likes.  It is NOT suggested you put on dry dog food.  With Life’s Abundance the food I feed, putting oil on the dry food will throw off the balance of utrients in the food.  Canned food is fine.

A Dog and Fish Story: The Importance of Omega 3s in Your Dog"s Diet

18 Mar

A Dog and Fish Story: The Importance of Omega 3s in Your Dog’s Diet

Posted March 18, 2010 by LifeSpring University in Nutrition. Tagged: allergies, athritis, brain function, coat, dog health, fish, fish oil, health, kibble, omega 3 fatty acids, omega 3s, PCBs, raw diet, raw feeding, salmon oil, skin, supplements. 1 Comment

Holy mackerel–it seems every aisle in the grocery store is crowded with human foods enhanced with omega 3s.  We know why:  it’s good for the heart, the brain, the skin, the joints . . . so, do the same benefits apply to dogs?  And if so, what’s the best source of omega 3 fatty acids for our furry friends?

One reason it’s so important for humans to consume omega 3s is that they are not produced by the body.  That’s why they are called essential oils.  The same is true of your canine companion.  Your dog gets omega 3s only if he eats them.

Omega 3s have long been given to dogs (and cats for that matter) to improve coat.  Research and practice shows that there are many more benefits for concerns such as:

• arthritis


• brain health


• immune system


• neural development of puppies


• allergies


• skin and coat

You may have noticed that many dog foods contain omega 3 fatty acids.  Here are a couple of things to keep in mind.  The first is that you want to make sure that the omega 3s come from fish and fish oil not vegetable oil.  The vegetable sources don’t convert well and are much less effective.  The other concern is that the balance between omega 3 fatty acids and omega 6 fatty acids should be 2:1.  The ratio in bagged pet food is often the reverse because the kibble is full of grain and cereal.  One easy remedy there is to use grain free foods enhanced with fish oil.  Or, as we have chosen, you can feed your dogs a raw diet.

What if you use a bagged food enhanced with omega 3 fish oil but you still see issues with your dog’s arthritis, allergies, coat or skin?

It’s time for fish or fish oil supplements.

If you choose to feed fish to your dog, please choose your fish wisely. We feed a raw diet and include 6″ long wild caught sardines.  Although we still supplement with fish oil pills, we also like feeding a small, whole, raw fish.  In order to minimize toxins like PCBs and mercury, choose wild caught fish and consult with fish safety lists like this one: http://www.edf.org/page.cfm?tagID=17694

A little bit more . . .

We also supplement with fish oil pills because we notice a lot of health improvements with just a little bit more fish oil.  We especially see this in increased pliability of our old girl’s joints and increased sheen in all the dogs’ coats.  Just as fish is often contaminated, fish oil supplements are often contaminated as well.  This list analyzes the safety of fish oil supplements http://www.edf.org/page.cfm?tagID=16536 HOWEVER, they recommend several that have recently been sued because of PCB contamination.  So please, do your due diligence and cross-reference your supplement choices.  To read more about the fish oils mentioned in the March 3, 2010 lawsuit, follow this link: http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=363337

Guaranteed Purity

If, like me, you just want a supplement you know you can trust . . . from a company that guarantees purity, then I recommend Shaklee’s Omegaguard.  Shaklee guarantees purity and goes above and beyond to do so.  Experts recommend fish oil that is molecularly distilled.  Shaklee’s goes through triple molecular distillation.  Experts also recommend fish oil made from small fish with short life spans.  Shaklee’s is made from small, deep cold water fish with short life spans (they are less likely to absorb toxins).  And Shaklee is a 54 year old leader in the natural nutrition industry and known for its integrity in science.

Just one serving (three softgels) of Omegaguard delivers 1000 mg of fish oil:  545 mg of EPA and 360 mg of DHA. My dogs love them so much that they come running every time I open my vitamin chest!  They eat them whole and pop them with their teeth, getting a yummy mouthful of pure fish oil.  I guess you have to be a dog to appreciate that.

Omegaguard is available at http://lifespring.myshaklee.com/us/en/products.php?sku=20244

Whatever source you choose, as long as it’s a pure, contaminant-free fish oil, your pooch will thank you!

New Studies Prove a Diet Rich in Fish Oil Helps Arthritic Pets Get Their Mojo Back

Dogs with osteoarthritis experience difficulty rising after rest, jumping, climbing stairs and usually progressive immobility. Owners often think this is inevitable and part of the ‘normal’ ageing process. Mobility issues in cats also tend to be poorly recognised because cats tend to react to painful joints by becoming more sedentary, which masks the signs. Now, two studies have just been published by a leading veterinary authority (Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association) that provide conclusive proof that arthritic dogs can get their mojo back by feeding a food rich in fish oils, which contains omega-3 fatty acids.^1,2

• Arthritic dogs improved so much that their owners noticed their dogs were better at standing up after rest and could play more after 6 weeks. After 6 months their pets were also walking better.


• Dogs were also able to put more weight on their affected/arthritic legs.  Those dogs fed fish oil rich food were seven times as likely to show improved weight bearing compared with dogs fed an ‘off the shelf’ food.


• Overall, a ‘significant clinical improvement’ was reported by researchers.

The studies were carried out using food made to the same formula as Hill’s^TM Prescription Diet^TM Canine j/d^TM, which is currently available from vet clinics in the UK. Hill’s^TM j/d^TM remains the only food for arthritic dogs to be proven in clinical studies to help dogs walk, run and jump better in as little as 21 days^3,4. Hill’s^TM Prescription Diet^TM Feline j/d ^TM is also available from vets and is formulated to improve mobility in cats in just 28 days.

How Does it Work?

The vets and nutritionists at Hill’s^TM say this research hails a breakthrough in the understanding of how fatty acids can support the joints of pets suffering osteoarthritis. Fish oils contain high levels of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA). EPA can down-regulate the enzymes that degrade cartilage. Cartilage helps to provide a buffer within the joint and as it degrades, arthritis tends to get worse. High levels of omega-3 fatty acids can also help to reduce inflammation.^5,6

The experts at Hill’s^TM say that in 21 days a dog with mobility problems fed j/d will walk, run and jump better and a cat on j/d will show visible improvements in 28 days. The company vets point out that the level of fish oils that has to be added is significant and needs to be looked at in the context of the whole diet – which may already contain certain types of fatty acids that don’t allow fish oils to exert an optimal effect.

Help for Pet Owners

Pet owners can visit www.hillspetmobility.co.uk for an on-line mobility score card, mobility information and to register for mobility support programme with money-off coupons.

Case Study

Judith was a healthy, active one-year-old Labrador retriever puppy who loved nothing more than running around open spaces, until one day she twisted awkwardly and damaged the elbow joint in her front right leg.

“Within a few months of that, arthritis had set in and Judith had become an ‘old dog’… cranky, reluctant to go for walk or even to get up from her bed some days, and she hadn’t even reached her second birthday. On the advice of my vet, we started feeding her j/d along with her anti-inflammatory medication. We couldn’t believe the change. She got her youth back in days and became the little bundle of energy she used to be… and that was over many years ago. She still loves her j/d twice a day – it’s what’s keeping Judith going strong!”

Susie Harrison, London

References

1. Multicenter veterinary practice assessment of the effects of omega-3 fatty acids on osteoarthritis in dogs. Roush J, Dodd C, Fritsch A, Allen T, Jewell D, Schoenherr W, Richardson D, Leventhal P, Hahn K, JAVMA Vol 236 No 1, Jan 2010 pp 59-66


2. Evaluation of the effects of dietary supplementation with fish oil omega-3 fatty acids on weight bearing in dogs. Roush J, Cross A, Renberg W, Dodd C, Sixby K, Fritsch A, Allen T, Jewell, Richardson D, Leventhal P, Hahn K, JAVMA Vol 236 No 1, Jan 2010 pp67-73

1. Fritsch D, Allen TA, Dodd CE, et al. Dose-titration effects of fish oil omega-3 fatty acids in osteoarthritic dogs. unpublished

1. Fritsch D, Final Report, 10-10-08

1. Dietary modification of inflammation with lipids, P C Calder, Proceedings of the Nutrition Society 2002 345-358


2. Dietary polyunsaturated fatty acids and inflammatory mediator production, James M J, Cleland L G, Gibson R A, Am J Clin Nut 2000: 71 suppl 343S- 358S

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Dog Dandruff and Flaking Skin: Fish Oil and Diet Changes Will Help

Dog dandruff is often accompanied by itching and skin dryness.  Some dogs can have red bumps and an odor as well.  Sometimes when you touch a dog with dog dandruff, a white film is on your hands afterwards.  If your dog has dandruff, a good first step would be to take your dog to the veterinarian to rule out parasites, skin disease, hypothyroidism and other potential health conditions.  Your veterinarian may need to do a skin scraping to determine what is wrong.

Many times, dogs who have flakey skin and dandruff have food and environmental allergies.  While topical rinses may help somewhat, you need to help your dog from the inside out.  The first step is to give your dog a highly therapeutic fish oil.  Fish oil contains essential fatty acids called Omega 3s.  There are MANY fish oil products for pets available but unfortunately most do not contain bioavailable Omega 3s and so pet owners may use them without success.  So many caring pet owners will tell us how they tried a store bought fish oil cap with no results.  The important word here is “bioavailable”—what that means is that it is a fish oil that is naturally processed, free of heavy metals and contaminants and most importantly, in a form that your dog’s body can use.  If it is not bioavailable, the oil literally goes in one end and out the other.  To conquer dog dandruff and flaking skin, you have to use a fish oil that contains a high level of omega 3 fatty acids that your dog can absorb and utilize.

Amazing Omegas

Recommended By Veterinarians,  Sold in Veterinary Hospitals

Amazing Omegas is a premium fish oil that will help dog dandruff, dry dog skin, dog flaking skin and allergies quickly.  You should start to see results within a few days.  Amazing Omegas is recommended by veterinarians because it really works.   Click here to learn more about Amazing Omegas

Be sure to change your dog’s diet to a hypoallergenic, grain-free diet.  Grains and poultry can be big allergens for dogs.  Many pet owners with dogs that are scratching and itching have found tremendous relief using raw frozen diets along with the Amazing Omegas.