16 replies to this topic

[Cheri]

The topic of supplementing our dogs' diets with fish oil came up in another non-related thread, so I thought I would start a thread with some more info on feeding Omega 3s, the benefits, dosages, etc. Here is a link with a lot of good information. This is by Mary Straus, a very well-respected expert in the area of canine nutrition, and a frequent contributor to the "Whole Dog Journal" magazine. It's from her Dog Aware website, which is a treasure trove of information on canine health and nutrition.

http://www.dogaware....ts.html#fishoil

[dobeluvr]

Well, I am happy to see that I am not overdoing it with the fish oil. She gets two gel caps a day of people fish oil capsules and now she comes flying to the kitchen when I go to take my own vitamins. She loves the sound of the capsules in the bottle clinking around. It sounds like "cheese" to her .... lol ....

[LibbyTea]

Thank you very much.

[Arda]

Well, she certainly won't have squeaky hinges.

[LibbyTea]

Has anyone tried using sardines for their dog?

[Cheri]

Yes, I give my dogs sardines, and they love them! Again, like the fish oil we were talking about above, sardines are an excellent source of Omega 3 fatty acids (the good fats!). For that reason, I get the ones that are packed in water instead of oil, since they usually use soybean oil, and that's just adding Omega 6s, which they don't need. I also get no salt added, if its available, but if not, I don't worry about the small amount of salt. I have two dogs, so I split a can between them, but if this would be a new kind of food for your dog, I'd recommend starting out by just giving them one fish with their regular food and make sure there are no digestive upsets. I also occasionally give mine canned mackerel. With sardines or mackerel, I pour the liquid over their food, too, as I figure a lot of the good fish oil ends up mixed with the water in the can.

I know people who feed raw sardines, too, as part of a raw diet, but I think you were probably asking about canned, right?

[LibbyTea]

Yes - I did get canned in water and have started to use them. The cats now expect to get some too. They all seem to be enjoying them. My dad and I use to eat sardines on crackers, I haven't had any in years!! I was surprised that the lady at the food store here in town said that dobes should not have the oil because it can cause pancreatitis - she was saying that it is a problem with dobermans. But wouldn't that be to much omega 6? She talks to the other dobe rescue. I did not think that pancreatitis was a big problem with dobes. She also thinks that is why dobe females leak. Anyone have a thought on that?

[Cheri]

I do know what pancreatitis is, and in 25 years of being involved with Dobermans, I have never heard that they are a breed that is highly susceptible to it. If it concerns you, ask your vet, do your own research, make your own decisions armed with all the knowledge you can gather. Here is what I believe is a pretty good overview of pancreatitis in dogs:

http://www.dogaware....ncreatitis.html

I just looked at my cans of sardines. The entire can has only 7 grams of fat, total, and most of that is polyunsaturated and monounsaturated, what are commonly called the good fats. For comparison, a tablespoon of canola oil has 14 grams of fat, 3 ounces of raw ground round has 12.

I typically spilt a can of sardines between my two Dobermans. I am completely convinced of the benefits of the essential Omega 3s, and I believe today's modern diets (both canine and human) are deficient in Omega 3s and have way too much Omega 6. So I supplement Omega 3 to try to correct that imbalance.

All this is JMO, based on my own research and personal experience. I am not a health professional.

I'm confused about the last part you mentioned, that "She also thinks that is why dobe females leak." You mean because they have pancreatitis, or because they are given fish oil supplements???

Edited by Cheri, 10 February 2014 - 06:38 PM.

[Cheri]

Oh, good grief!!! So I signed out a while ago after trying to fix two blank posts, then I sign back on a little later to have a look, and there they are, the ones I was originally trying to post. Unfortunately, those are the ones I wasn't done with, and I was having trouble with a tiny font size in one of them, and needed to go in and remove spaces in another. But I give up. I do apologize for muddying up this thread with multiple posts.

P.S. Okay, I signed on again and was able to clean up the duplicate posts above. I am still having a lot of trouble with the board, typing, posting, editing if needed. It's frustrating.

Edited by Cheri, 10 February 2014 - 06:46 PM.

[Arda]

For a very long time, when we get very thin Dobes in here, I feed them a large amount of butter in their food to give them the fat they need fast. We have never had a problem with this method. It was mentioned to me not long ago, but I have never seen it. And the leaking in these old girls is from the lack of estrogen not pancraetitis.

[LibbyTea]

Thank you Cheri and Arda, You confirm what I had always thought but because this information was suppose to be from a dobe person I wanted to run it pass you. Our gordon setter had a bout of pancraetitis but it was from getting into the cat food. Lillydale is a sneaky little beast. After her fasting and a rice and turkey diet she has been fine. Libby loves the sardines!! Do you know if there is a natural supplement they can have for the leaking? I was thinking maybe red clover

[LibbyTea]

But I should mention Libby has not leaked much at all - just a few drips now and then

[doberpagegirl]

Some people say corn silk. Some people say grapefruit seed extract. Some people say pumpkin seed oil . There are also homeopathic "leak" meds. I have tried all of those things and I finally gave in, admitted defeat, and put Al on Proin. 25mg morning and evening and not a drop since.

I should mention Al was not dripping, she was pouring. I was going through 4 or 5 blankets a day and trying to keep her laying on one at all times. The laundry was killing me.

[Diana]

I use Corn Silk on Nixx and it works good, but she was only doing small dribbles, not puddles, so far, so good.
We also use fish oil tabs, 1,000 daily, but we heat with wood and we all get dried out, so it helps with skin and coat.

[LibbyTea]

Thank you I will see what helps - Libby just seems to drip a little not even every day - Do you think it is better to start finding what will work for her right away or do you wait and see if its going to get worse? My other dobie girl only dripped a tiny bit until her back became really bad then it was puddles. But she had numerous health issues

[dobeluvr]

If you look under "incontinence" you might find a whole old thread on this. We have used DES successfully, Proin successfully, and a combination of both successfully on our females each with the trial and error method, no two dogs alike. But there was always an occasional accident. Just sleeping too soundly or whatever the cause may have been. The meds were a blessing for all of the problems we had with this.

[LibbyTea]

thank you i will look