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Fish Oil or Pills??

9K views 75 replies 12 participants last post by  NancyJ 
#1 ·
Can dogs take fish pills? Someone told me that wouldn't be beneficial to them and the oil on the food is what should be used. They said its better to work from the outside in and not vice versa. Is that true? Can pills work? How is it determined how much to give if it can be given?
 
#4 ·
I use the fish oil capsules and just use a tack to poke a hole in it to squirt on the food, then throw the rest of the capsule in the bowl.


If you give fish oil, make sure to give vitamin E. I give 400 iu daily with fish oil. I've heard of giving as much as 800 iu, I assume depending on the amount of fish oil you give? But vitamin E is not water soluble so can build up in their system if given to much. So I stick with the 400 iu and 2000 mg of fish oil for Jax.
 
#8 ·
Woolf and Shadow get fish oil capsules 2000 mg and vit e 400 iu daily. The fish oil is split between the 2 meals.

The Princess (Shadow) gets a hole poked in hers and squirted on the food. Woolf gets it whole. The goofball treats it like dessert. Leaves it for last, chomps down on it and gets the oil, then walks around for a few minutes chewing the capsule like gum, finally swallowing it.
 
#12 ·
This might sound stupid but what is the iu mean for the dosing of the vitamin e? Are both pill form? I'm seeing that it looks like a quarter of vitamin e is given of the fish oil? Does that sound right? So I can just buy both in pill form? All of my dogs are 55 pounds and up, is there a dose that is good for all of them that is the same? Do both have to be given daily or can I give fish oil one day, vitamin e the next? I don't want any issues for them.
 
#11 · (Edited)
Fish oil depletes the dogs vitamin e so when you give fish oil it is recommended to give E every few days(or in whole food form, organ meat and eggs contain E)
E is stored not flushed out of the body, so I don't give it daily.
DogAware.com: Supplements for Dogs
I put 2 1000mg fish oil caps in my dogs raw meal daily, they eat them right up.
 
#13 ·
So there is vitamin e oil that can be put into the water? I don't think that would work in my house because they all drink the same water and one has the potential of having more then the other.
 
#18 ·
Yea that's not a problem. Vitamin e giant harmful in any way. I learned from an er Dr i work with treating food and water is a quick way to have an animal respond to a vitamin. Because obviously they eat and drink. Some dogs are absolutely against being pilled. And will find pills put in food. But vitamin oil they don't even know they are getting. And its not large doses.
If one dog needs it more then the other simply put it in their food and feed them separately.

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#20 ·
I also feed my dogs human-grade fish oil capsules -- often the ones from Costco!

For vitamin E, try get natural (non-synthetic) vitamin E with mixed tocopherols, if possible. I can't find that at the big box stores or chain drug stores. It's an item I either have to order (Vitacost.com or Drugstore.com) or get at Whole Foods. Again, I buy a human-grade supplement. The common synthetic Vitamin E isn't as well absorbed.
 
#21 ·
vitamin E and Omega 3 are not the same at all, nor are they interchangeable .
Vitamin E sold in capsule is hardly worth the while with little vitamin acitivity . At best most of it is only alpha tocopherol , whereas complete E has 8 compounds , or at worst unnatural L series sourced from petrochemicals. http://gpsdairy.com/ServiceDocs/Nat_vs_Syn_Vit_E_4-09%20LOWRES.pdf

Vitamin E can be found in Eggs, spirulina , barley grass (a good source ! - including alpha tocopherol succinate ) , sunflower seeds, almond, red palm oil, rice bran oil ..... also fish flesh , salmon , but here there may be concern with heavy metal and toxins which attach to a protein but do not attach to the OIL portion .

Vitamin E used as a preservative in kibble is not natural -- and being sensitive to air and heat , won't have much benefit .
 
#27 ·
And I got the information from the Dr on how it helps nails and skin from the same Dr. When halo was a baby her nails peeled a lot it was gross. Her fur had that nasty dry dead flake look to it I took her to work with me. The Dr said to get vitamin e oil and brush it on her nails like nail polish to help build strength in them fast. And after that put in her food. So yes not only does vitamin e support the immune system its awesome healthy skin hair and nails. I posted a story from dogchannel.com. someone else got the same advice
http://dogs.lovetoknow.com/wiki/Herbs_Vitamins_for_Hair_Growth_in_Dogs
http://www.dogchannel.com/dog-infor...rittle-cracked-nails-painful-dog-problem.aspx
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#28 ·
breathe. nobody is arguing with you about the skin, hair and nails.

What I posted above "arguing" was saying that is not the reason you take it with fish oil. It's important people know that if they feed fish oil, they need to feed vitamin E or else it could cause a deficiency.

And Carmen's point is...the way you phrased the above sentence, it could be construed that you are using them interchangeably. Anyone with a little reading comprehension could take that from that sentence.
 
#30 ·
It was Dr. Recommended halo on her first vet visit with me showed a lot of inflammation around some joints. The Dr suggested fish oil. Because she's sensitive to some of the pills they tried.

I always thought fish oil helped with skin.and what too. But it didn't seem to affect that nasty look her skin and coat and nails had. That's when he suggested trying the vit. E

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#32 ·
What about the Wild Salmon oil made for dogs? Does that need to bad supplemented with vitamin e too?
 
#37 ·
coconut oil is a good alternative. Vitamin E isn't effective alone. What are you feeding? Diet plays into itchy skin dry skin and coat, and having humidity in the environment helps both humans and animals. But too much can be a problem too...balance is key
 
#41 ·
I give my dog one Nordic Naturals Ultimate Omega a day. I take two.
The pills do contain Vitamin E alpha form as a preservative.
I really have been pleased with the Nature's Logic which contains no synthetic vitamins.
 
#47 ·
Well........if its working for you, good..THAT overrides a lot of other considerations. "But that's a breed specific food. So its beneficial" -I don't know that they have any evidence that is so; seems like marketing hype to me. It has ingredients I would chose not to feed, personally.
 
#48 ·
I asked her Dr. It has a lot of stuff to help gsd in areas. Sensitive skin, glucosamine easy digestive. Granted its not like "Dr prescribed levels" or whatever. But its helped her. She was born with hip dysplasia she has papers from her first Dr visit. I didn't even know dogs could be born with that. But she moves like she doesn't even know its an issue. And her skin cleared up. Not to a perfect level but a manageable one. So she just needed help with something else. I was very skeptical when I talked to a person at petsmart. I was fully prepared to return it.

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