Fish Oil Capsules For Dogs

[robblok]

First of all i normally give my dogs pedigree dry food. That is it. Now my dogs both Bang Kaew shed a lot of hair and one of them had constantly infected eyes. I got tons of meds from the local vet and nothing helped.

I bought a load of fish oil tabs (for myself on ebay much cheaper as in Thailand) At one point i got crazy from the dogs loosing so much hair that i started giving them 1 or 2 capsules a day.

The result was amazing their coat started to shine more. The infected eye problems are gone and they loose a lot less hair.

Just telling it here to help others.

Oh dont buy your fishoil in Thailand you will be poor. On ebay you can get quality for humans for as little as 1,3bt a tablet inclusive shipping.

[sulasno]

is it similar to cod's liver oil ?

[engrin]

Try switching them over to raw chicken wings for more improvement. Kibble is like eating McDonalds 3 meals a day.

[thaivisitorTeeVee]

Try switching them over to raw chicken wings for more improvement. Kibble is like eating McDonalds 3 meals a day.

Steam cooked chicken breast without the skin works for me.

[alfieconn]

Some Mackeral in there diet should do the same thing and perhaps even cheaper at about 75 baht a kilo.

[alfieconn]

Try switching them over to raw chicken wings for more improvement. Kibble is like eating McDonalds 3 meals a day.

Steam cooked chicken breast without the skin works for me.

So you get a nice shiny coat when eating this and what do you feed your dog on

[doggie888888]

Raw fish works well (never fresh water fish). GIve it all to the dog, head, guts, tail, bones, scales, gills. They can handle raw bones, no problems.

Best thing I ever did for my dog was to switch her over to a totally raw food diet after a whole lot of health issues (including skin problems) whilst on the super expensive hypo allergenic dried dog food.

[meatboy]

when i had greyhounds in the uk i found vetzyme yeast tabs.kept their coats and health in good condition are they available here.

[meatboy]

when i had greyhounds in the uk i found vetzyme yeast tabs.kept their coats and health in good condition are they available here.

just had a quick google they are available direct,£31.67 for 3000tabs includes shipping.i will try my pharmacy on mon.they are importers.

[alfieconn]

Raw fish works well (never fresh water fish). GIve it all to the dog, head, guts, tail, bones, scales, gills. They can handle raw bones, no problems.

Best thing I ever did for my dog was to switch her over to a totally raw food diet after a whole lot of health issues (including skin problems) whilst on the super expensive hypo allergenic dried dog food.

I think your find doggie that it should be an oily fish such as mackeral rather than any old fish.

On a side note, my dog has recently decided that she doesn't like raw mackeral anymore so we now have to boil it first ( well the wife does, bless her)

[KhunOr]

My dogs eat fresh raw tab tim and pla nin straight out of the pond regularly and love it. Why not fresh water fish?

And as another poster said: the hair dropping out is most likely due to the kibble diet, not lack of fish oil. Fish oil is a great supplement to a regular raw food diet.

As for steamed chicken breast, that's OK as long as you feed raw bones with it too. Never cook chicken bones (any bones) as they become brittle and splinter into sharp pieces. A dog must get the calcium from the bones (which they also enjoy eating more) than the flesh. I feed a whole chicken carcass to each dog as a treat once a week. They demolish it in minutes.

Raw fish works well (never fresh water fish). GIve it all to the dog, head, guts, tail, bones, scales, gills. They can handle raw bones, no problems.

Best thing I ever did for my dog was to switch her over to a totally raw food diet after a whole lot of health issues (including skin problems) whilst on the super expensive hypo allergenic dried dog food.

[MrRed]

Try Coconut oil for the animals coat,it works a treat.

[LeCharivari]

A dog must get the calcium from the bones (which they also enjoy eating more) than the flesh. I feed a whole chicken carcass to each dog as a treat once a week. They demolish it in minutes.

Fish oil, etc - great, but ....before anyone starts feeding their dog raw bones (or any raw food) make sure you do your homework about both the dog and the food. Different dogs need very different diets and what is good for one could be dangerous or even fatal for another. Raw chickens and raw fish bought commercially,for example, have often been chemically treated; this is not a problem if the food is cooked conventionally but can be very dangerous if eaten raw.

Make sure it is suitable for your dog, given his breed, age, health, etc. Humans are far closer to chimps than dogs to wolves, so unless you eat a diet of bananas and leaves the "natural" argument is invalid.

The idea that dogs get calcium from eating bones has become very controversial - many vets and animal nutritionists now agree that bones cannot be digested and that eating bones for calcium/collagen is no more productive than eating brain to improve your brain, heart to improve your heart, etc.

I'm not saying these diets aren't great for some dogs - just that one size doesn't fit all, so do some research first.

[David006]

..OK so all our ( six) dogs are soi type 57s ...we feed 'em steamed rice and 25/30 baht a kilo pilchard like fish ( all done together in a rice cooker) ...generic kibble when we have it as quickie if we are lazy and handful as a snack sometimes..odd times a chicken carcass or two ...They are all a bit feral as they have 80 odd rai as a backyard...seem healthy enough.

Catfish is extremely oily ..probably that would be good for 'em too?

oh yes we most always give 'em the squeezed out coconut after wifey makes coconut milk ..mixed in with the rice..

Edited August 25, 2011 by David006

[doggie888888]

My dogs eat fresh raw tab tim and pla nin straight out of the pond regularly and love it. Why not fresh water fish?

And as another poster said: the hair dropping out is most likely due to the kibble diet, not lack of fish oil. Fish oil is a great supplement to a regular raw food diet.

As for steamed chicken breast, that's OK as long as you feed raw bones with it too. Never cook chicken bones (any bones) as they become brittle and splinter into sharp pieces. A dog must get the calcium from the bones (which they also enjoy eating more) than the flesh. I feed a whole chicken carcass to each dog as a treat once a week. They demolish it in minutes.

I was told to avoid freshwater fish due to (1) presence of some harmful parasites and (2) sea fish is a better source of omega3 oils. HAve you heard otherwise? ALways good to know alternate views.

[Cuban]

For the OP, dump the pills & dry kibble. Give your dog a BARF diet.

Raw chicken carcasses, raw mackerel - I suggest cutting off gill covers and the spines on the fins, otherwise as mentioned above nose to tail gets eaten .

I strongly suggest that the comment about cooking fish for dogs is revised - cooked fish bones are like needles.

Dogs base their decision whether to eat or not purely on the smell of the food. Try taking off the fins, then dip the fish in boiling water for 10 seconds - then remove from the hot water - place in cool water for a minute or so, then see if the dog is interested. If you do need to cook the fish - there must be no bones in it.

[robblok]

For the OP, dump the pills & dry kibble. Give your dog a BARF diet.

Raw chicken carcasses, raw mackerel - I suggest cutting off gill covers and the spines on the fins, otherwise as mentioned above nose to tail gets eaten .

I strongly suggest that the comment about cooking fish for dogs is revised - cooked fish bones are like needles.

Dogs base their decision whether to eat or not purely on the smell of the food. Try taking off the fins, then dip the fish in boiling water for 10 seconds - then remove from the hot water - place in cool water for a minute or so, then see if the dog is interested. If you do need to cook the fish - there must be no bones in it.

I will see because its hard for me to get raw mackerel and chicken carcasses. NOw with the the pills they seem good. One of my dog decides what he eats on basis what i eat. If i can eat an apple so can he. More then once did he steal my apple or other stuff that i was eating. I try to avoid him getting his hands on fruits.

The other one is more a real dog and im sure she could eat like you said. Both are of the same breed Bang Kaew.

[alfieconn]

For the OP, dump the pills & dry kibble. Give your dog a BARF diet.

Raw chicken carcasses, raw mackerel - I suggest cutting off gill covers and the spines on the fins, otherwise as mentioned above nose to tail gets eaten .

I strongly suggest that the comment about cooking fish for dogs is revised - cooked fish bones are like needles.

Dogs base their decision whether to eat or not purely on the smell of the food. Try taking off the fins, then dip the fish in boiling water for 10 seconds - then remove from the hot water - place in cool water for a minute or so, then see if the dog is interested. If you do need to cook the fish - there must be no bones in it.

Good point i will ask the boss how long she boils for :jap:

[alfieconn]

A dog must get the calcium from the bones (which they also enjoy eating more) than the flesh. I feed a whole chicken carcass to each dog as a treat once a week. They demolish it in minutes.

Fish oil, etc - great, but ....before anyone starts feeding their dog raw bones (or any raw food) make sure you do your homework about both the dog and the food. Different dogs need very different diets and what is good for one could be dangerous or even fatal for another. Raw chickens and raw fish bought commercially,for example, have often been chemically treated; this is not a problem if the food is cooked conventionally but can be very dangerous if eaten raw.

I'm not saying these diets aren't great for some dogs - just that one size doesn't fit all, so do some research first.

So if these diets aren't suitable for all dogs what natural diet would you suggest feeding the ones it isn't suitable for ?

[LeCharivari]

So if these diets aren't suitable for all dogs what natural diet would you suggest feeding the ones it isn't suitable for ?

I don't think that any one diet is suitable for all dogs, just as no one diet is suitable for all people. There are simply too many variables such as the dogs' breed, size, age, health and allergies, not to mention your convenience, cost and practicality, which is why I wouldn't suggest any diet without knowing the dog and its history (and even then I'd strongly suggest consulting an expert directly if there are specific problems) and why I recommend people do their homework first without deciding on any particular diet.

I'm not sure what you mean by a "natural" diet. If you mean what would have been "natural" for dogs to eat several centuries or even several millennia ago, long before they became Bassets and Boxers, Salukis and ShihTzus, and Dachshunds and Dobermanns, then that diet would be "natural" for you too (along with some additional fruit). I hope you enjoy it.

Some people confuse a "natural" diet with the "whatever" diet:

The "whatever" diet is a thrown-together diet loosely based on a recipe or feeding plan that someone else came up with, with whatever variations appeal to the pet owner. The justification for this diet is usually something like, "Dogs and cats thrived for centuries on the leftovers of their owners' diets and what they could hunt up or scavenge on the farm. We don't need a degree in nutrition to feed ourselves; why have we let the pet food companies scare us into thinking you need one to feed your pets?" There is of course some truth in that. But there are also some misconceptions. ...... A homemade diet can be the best or the worst thing you can feed your pet .....

[Cuban]

Consider history.

Dogs have been human companions for hundreds of thousand of years, they have shared our foods and cleaned up the meat/bones scraps we don't eat. Dogs provide protection to the human members of their pack and helped in the hunt for meat that humans found provided extra energy/protein to supplement the human foraging diet. Both being daylight hunters we shared a common prey so we were either going to compete for food or develop a symbiosis, I'm sure you can speculate the events that might have lead to the first dog/human partnership.

If we produced a shared meal within a tribal group with access to fire I would imagine it be a type of stew/soup with what food we could find, and that would be shared with the dogs.

The dried dog food you feed is about your convenience.

A better quality diet would be provided by chicken carcasses, buy at market - freeze at home - allow to come to room temperature before feeding to your dog. Make a rice, chicken skin stew with vegetable off cuts as a fresh food or fresh to give later. Best served at slightly above room temperature, add an egg and liver etc. Thai markets sell the chicken heart/liver/kidney as a single pluck fine for dogs as is - or dip in boiling water for a minute - cool down and serve.

Might I speculate that if you are a muscle builder you are used to seeking nutriment solutions in capsule form hence finding the cod liver oil pills, if you feed your dog a can of tinned pilchards you will be giving the omega fish oils, calcium and some tomato as well.

If you look at the ingredients of dry dog pellets it is mostly cereal and cooked bone powder, raw bones are better for a dog. Whole cooked bones should not be given to dogs, they are changed by the heating process to make them difficult to digest and can stick within the intestines and cause obstruction.

Raw fish, chicken, pig etc. bones are good. Cow bones are generally too large and solid.

My dogs can make pig femur disappear in 15 minutes, they have great teeth.

Start with chicken wings move up to pig ribs.

I might bet that your dog's teeth are brown stained - including raw bones in the diet will help clean the teeth and keep them clean. If your dog has a build up of tartar on the teeth to the point of bad breath (caused by bacteria living in the tartar) there might be gum disease damage as well, cleaning is required. If it is bad a course of antibiotics before the tartar is scraped off is recommended to prevent infection from the exposed gum line.

Does eating biscuits clean your teeth or do you use a brush/floss and get scrapped by a dentist from time to time ?

Sorry to sound preachy but I'm very anti dog biscuits - they are not real food.

[robblok]

Consider history.

Dogs have been human companions for hundreds of thousand of years, they have shared our foods and cleaned up the meat/bones scraps we don't eat. Dogs provide protection to the human members of their pack and helped in the hunt for meat that humans found provided extra energy/protein to supplement the human foraging diet. Both being daylight hunters we shared a common prey so we were either going to compete for food or develop a symbiosis, I'm sure you can speculate the events that might have lead to the first dog/human partnership.

If we produced a shared meal within a tribal group with access to fire I would imagine it be a type of stew/soup with what food we could find, and that would be shared with the dogs.

The dried dog food you feed is about your convenience.

A better quality diet would be provided by chicken carcasses, buy at market - freeze at home - allow to come to room temperature before feeding to your dog. Make a rice, chicken skin stew with vegetable off cuts as a fresh food or fresh to give later. Best served at slightly above room temperature, add an egg and liver etc. Thai markets sell the chicken heart/liver/kidney as a single pluck fine for dogs as is - or dip in boiling water for a minute - cool down and serve.

Might I speculate that if you are a muscle builder you are used to seeking nutriment solutions in capsule form hence finding the cod liver oil pills, if you feed your dog a can of tinned pilchards you will be giving the omega fish oils, calcium and some tomato as well.

If you look at the ingredients of dry dog pellets it is mostly cereal and cooked bone powder, raw bones are better for a dog. Whole cooked bones should not be given to dogs, they are changed by the heating process to make them difficult to digest and can stick within the intestines and cause obstruction.

Raw fish, chicken, pig etc. bones are good. Cow bones are generally too large and solid.

My dogs can make pig femur disappear in 15 minutes, they have great teeth.

Start with chicken wings move up to pig ribs.

I might bet that your dog's teeth are brown stained - including raw bones in the diet will help clean the teeth and keep them clean. If your dog has a build up of tartar on the teeth to the point of bad breath (caused by bacteria living in the tartar) there might be gum disease damage as well, cleaning is required. If it is bad a course of antibiotics before the tartar is scraped off is recommended to prevent infection from the exposed gum line.

Does eating biscuits clean your teeth or do you use a brush/floss and get scrapped by a dentist from time to time ?

Sorry to sound preachy but I'm very anti dog biscuits - they are not real food.

ACtually the teeth of my dogs are quite white. Might be because of the bones they get on occasion or the fake bones i buy in JJ.

I buy the fish capsules not for muscle building but for general health. I am not one who likes fish too much so i take these.

My dogs get boiled chicken at times and liver. Day to day they get the stuff you all describe as kibble. Now that i give them the fish oil the dogs look even better as before. I am especially happy it helps the eye problem of one of the dogs.

I once tried giving them the frozen food they have in "formaly" carefour. They would not touch it for some reason. Else they would have gotten that.

I heard never to give your dog rice or curries as its real bad for them. So they dont get it.

I also eat food that is not the best for my health out of convinience. I dont always cook for msyelf but eat out a lot. So i don't feel guilty the dogs are treated the same.

[DEVATSAR]

Hi all

My three dogs are on Yumega, cant get in Thailand yet, STOPS all bad skin conditions, I have seen a dramatic improvement in three weeks, no more fur loss, no scratching, no

more hot spots. You just mix to there food dried/.tinned, This product works ( there is a money back guarantee !! ) Its apparently coming to thailand shortly. costs in uk £11.50p

I bought three bottles will last me 3 months

Look on the there web site" yumeg/lintbells"

Perfect if your dogs got ANY skin problems

Paul

[Cuban]

Cooked rice is fine for dogs. Cook in a water with plenty of meaty bits in it so the smell is absorbed by the rice. Rice based dog foods is the main stay of Western manufacturers specialist diets of "sensitive" dogs, often in combination with lamb meat.

The Yumega is an Linoleic acid & Omega 3/6 oil from Saffflower & flaxseed. You can get the same by feeding ground up flax seeds, some sunflower oil and oily fish, which is cheaper and I suggest it's better overall.

There is a fur conditioning pill for dogs sold in Thailand called Furmeg 3, IIRC it's 10 Baht a pop from vets, but again it's just fish oil.

[transam]

Fish is cheap in LOS. Give them the real thing.

[Gary A]

I buy canned cat food from Tesco for 30 baht per can. I mix about 1/4 can with his dried dog food. His coat stays nice and shiny. Tesco has several different kinds of this cat food. I buy mostly the mackerel in jelly.

[DEVATSAR]

Cooked rice is fine for dogs. Cook in a water with plenty of meaty bits in it so the smell is absorbed by the rice. Rice based dog foods is the main stay of Western manufacturers specialist diets of "sensitive" dogs, often in combination with lamb meat.

The Yumega is an Linoleic acid & Omega 3/6 oil from Saffflower & flaxseed. You can get the same by feeding ground up flax seeds, some sunflower oil and oily fish, which is cheaper and I suggest it's better overall.

There is a fur conditioning pill for dogs sold in Thailand called Furmeg 3, IIRC it's 10 Baht a pop from vets, but again it's just fish oil.

Hi. was very interested to read your reply, I looked on the Yumega Internet site and there is no mention of "Linolic acid", another problem I would ask is how you would you give the correct levels of ingredients to make up the correct quantity of the sixe of the dog ? The product gives recommend dosages of the combined ingredients for different size dogs

Would love to get the stuff cheaper, Tried all the fish/rice/oil remedies etc its definatly cheaper , it didn't really help., I then tried this Yumega stuff from recemmendations from friends in UK, three weeks BIG improvement.

I was really getting fed up with the dogs skin condiion and took a calculated gamble, which so far is paying off !! I hope it contines

I suppose you get what you pay for

Any information/advice greatly appreciated

What is Linolic Acid ? Is it Good for dogs ?

Cheers

Paul

[Cuban]

....there is no mention of "Linolic acid"

Any information/advice greatly appreciated

What is Linolic Acid ? Is it Good for dogs ?

From their web-site: "YUMEGA Dog is a unique blend of natural Omega 3 & 6 oils from coldpressed golden flax and starflower, proven to generally improve dog health, coats and skin."

Borage: also known as "Starflower" (Borago officinalis) is a source an oil rich in gamma-linolenic acid.

"The human body produces GLA from linoleic acid (LA)."

No reason to assume that dogs have a similar ability to produce GLA from LA sources.

Read this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linoleic_acid#Dietary_sources

"Safflower oil 78%

Sunflower oil 68%

Corn oil 59%

Chicken fat 18-23%

Egg yolk 16%"

Dogs have not had bad skin nor poor quality fur coats for the past 200,000 years before pet stores existed.

They have however been used to a diet of leftover foods from the human family meals. As humans have stopped preparing home cooked meals over the past 30 years we produce less left-overs from there preparation and developed a dependence on shop bought "pet food" to fill the gap.

Read this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flax#Flax_seed

Read this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linseed_oil#Nutritional_supplement_and_food

"...extracted linseed oil does not contain the lignans found in flax seed, and therefore does not have the same antioxidant properties. Some brands of supplement have lignans added during production. Flax seed oil is easily oxidized, and rapidly becomes rancid, with an unpleasant odor, unless refrigerated. Even when kept under cool conditions, it has a shelf life of only a few weeks."

Again from the Lintbells web site:

"In fact, because the essential oils in Yumega are so delicate, they can't be included directly** in your dog's food because they would break down in the manufacturing process. So by using Yumega to add them fresh to your dog's meal, you can be sure your dog is getting these key omega 3&6 oils at the highest quality possible."

** Can't be be included in factory manufactured "pet food" as it degraded. If you are feeding a fresh/BARF diet it has these essential oils in it.

Compare the above list of oils and prices for Yumega with Furmeg-3 (...and this carries Vitamin C and zinc as well.) which is already sold throughout Thailand at vets and pet stores.

You mentioned UK sourced products: A UK sourced alternative for Flaxseed. About half the price per "dose" of Yumega.

And for GLA. About a third of the price per "dose" of Yumega.

I suppose you get what you pay for

Yes, indeed this is very true.

I suggest you are paying a premium for something that is branded and marketed for dogs to make up for feeding a poor diet.

We do not have any problem with our dog's fur, skin or teeth. They have a basic BARF diet based on chicken carcasses, the pluck and bits of pig also mackerel/oily fish. They also get some human food left-overs as companion dogs have for thousands of years.

If you dump the un-natural "pet food" diet based on cereal and animal by product derivatives that have been well cooked to maintain a long shelf life you do not need to buy supplement to make up for feeding a nutritionally poor diet.

[LeCharivari]

Dogs have not had bad skin nor poor quality fur coats for the past 200,000 years before pet stores existed.

Cuban, much though I respect that the way you feed your dogs works for them and for you, this is simply wrong.

Dogs have not existed for "200,000 years". The earliest association between man and wolves is generally agreed to date from around no more than 15,000 years ago, when selective breeding/interbreeding of wolves/dingos/jackals took place. There is considerable debate over exactly when and where this happened, but this covers a period of between 11,000 to 17,000 years ago - no more.

Putting the blame for "bad skin" and "poor quality fur coats" on "pet stores" is equally wrong - to see that all you have to do is see the state of many of the feral and semi-wild dogs around which have seldom, if ever, had an "un-natural "pet food" diet" but which survive on a diet of scraps foraged from bins and waste and on any food they catch themselves (something some people would term a "natural" diet).

The diet you support may work very well for your dogs but it has very little to do with the BARF diet, which itself is controversial. Read anything by Dr Billinghurst (who invented the BARF diet and owns the term) and you will see vast differences between what he (and other vets) recommend and your diet - just because your diet includes bones and raw food that does not make it a BARF diet (yours is more a "prey" diet).

While for some people feeding their dogs a "dried dog food" diet may be about "convenience", that is not all it is about for many. A dried dog food diet may not be the perfect one for all (or many) dogs, but convenience is far from the only advantage. First, it is generally consistent - recalls of processed pet food have been for the tinned variety, not for dried foods. It is safe not only for the dogs but also for the people handling it and for children; raw food, particularly raw chicken, is not - there is a high risk of salmonella, ringworm, roundworm, tapeworm, bird flu, etc just from handling raw food without proper precautions and food safety (you are not, for example, defrosting your frozen chickens properly). If you have a number of dogs, particularly of different breeds/ages/sizes, it is also generally universal: feeding a number of dogs the same dried dog food at the same time will ensure that, as long as there is enough, all of them will get a known nutritional balance to which you can add supplements for those needing them - feeding the same dogs a BARF/prey type diet will simply ensure that the biggest dogs get the bits they want (not necessarily the correct balance, even for them) while the smaller and weaker dogs will get the less attractive left-overs (definitely not the correct balance).

There may be nothing wrong with your diet for your dogs, just as there may not be anything wrong with a dried dog food diet for other dogs.

[LeCharivari]

.... Again from the Lintbells web site:

"In fact, because the essential oils in Yumega are so delicate, they can't be included directly** in your dog's food because they would break down in the manufacturing process. So by using Yumega to add them fresh to your dog's meal, you can be sure your dog is getting these key omega 3&6 oils at the highest quality possible."

** Can't be be included in factory manufactured "pet food" as it degraded. If you are feeding a fresh/BARF diet it has these essential oils in it. ....

That's the conclusion that the makers of Yumega want you to make so that you'll buy their supplement, but its one they are careful not to make themselves - you overlooked the word "directly". The manufacturers of dried dog food avoid the problem of the Omega 3 oils breaking down by treating them first and then including them indirectly.

A fresh/BARF diet may contain these oils if it is properly researched and applied; if not, its simply pot luck.