Fish Oil for Veterinary Use

I ran across something I posted in April and thought it might be good to print it again.

Good News For A Change – Fish Oil As A Veterinary Supplement for CRF Kidney Disease and other Inflammatory Problems

Posted: 27 Apr 2007 07:55 AM CDT

I have been wanting to write this post for quite some time but there has been too much recall news to keep up with. So I’m just MAKING myself write it. After reading this, you will want all of your pets, especially if they have illnesses, to be on fish oil.

I am a vegetarian and after learning about the broad health benefits of fish oil , I became a believer so yes, now I take a daily fish oil supplement.But this post is about veterinary use. (To learn about fish oil for humans, check this blog article).

Holistic foods often do not make special needs medical diets, and unfortunately, animals with kidney problems, diabetes, and pancreatitis CANNOT eat the dry holistic brands because they have too much protein, carbs, fat, or phosphorus. The veterinary brands get their protein sources from grains and in that case, it’s what is needed for our poor babies.

But there is a lot of veterinary research on the use of fish oil to treat the inflammation that is often found in the the kidney, pancreas, etc., and so that is something that you CAN do for your pets.

I am not a veterinarian and cannot give you medical advice. But I can give you a few links, a little info, and encourage you to speak with your veterinarian about possibly using fish oil as an adjunct or complementary treatment for your sick dog or cat.You can google on “fish oil” and “veterinary” or “fish oil” and “companion animals” or “fish oil” and “kidney disease” and “feline” or “canine” and get a number of great articles on fish oil. Dr. Andrew Weil, the holistic MD found online at http://DrWeil.com, has this to say about fish oil for pets:

Fish oil is good for dogs – and cats! Veterinarians first used omega-3 fatty acids in the form of fish oil to treat canine allergies but now recommend it for a wide variety of conditions ranging from kidney disease to arthritis and high cholesterol. Adding fish oil to your dog’s food provides anti-inflammatory effects and can help relieve itching due to atopic dermatitis, an allergy-related skin condition.

The Veterinary College at Colorado State University found that fish oil helped with toenail loss in dogs!

Toenail Loss In Dogs – Lupoid onychodystrophy is a disease in dogs that causes them to lose their toenails. A research team studied the effect of fatty acid supplementation (for example, fish oil or primrose oil) in treating dogs with this condition. This study compared the fatty acid concentrations in the blood and nails of normal and affected dogs. Studies showed an improvement in the conditions of dogs with lupoid onychodystrophy, but researchers don’t know if the improvement is due to the anti-inflammatory characteristics of fatty acids or if affected dogs developed the condition because of a fatty acid deficiency.

It won’t take you long to find good articles on fish oil.

Here’s one last one by

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FKA/is_2_62/ai_61361463

Thanks to medical advances, cats are now able to survive some conditions and illnesses that were once fatal. But these same problems — hyperthyroidism, heart problems, urinary tract obstruction, and diabetes can damage the kidneys. Strays are at particular risk, since they are more likely to have been exposed to toxins that can damage the kidneys, as are aging cats since their kidneys may not function very well.

Omega-3 fatty acids may help improve kidney function. Be sure to supplement with fish oil, not flax seed oil, since cats can’t convert the linoleic acid in flax seed oil to the final form, arachidonic acid. How much? Pop a hole in a fish-oil capsule and give your cat about 2 drops daily.

Quality Counts

Let me just refer you to this page on fish oil quality so you can see that you need a pharmaceutical grade fish oil with certain very high IFOS ratings.

Get the oil, not the capsules, if you plan to use if for your pets. It’s just easier!

Dosage is as follows:

Large dogs – Full human dose

Medium dogs – Half human dose

Small dogs and cats – 1/4 human dose

So, in the wake of all these acute kidney failures, there is at least ONE more healthy thing that you can do for your pets.
Teresa Holladay, “The Pet Food Lady”
http://holisticpetfood.wordpress.com