Fish Oil for Dogs

The family pet has become a part of the American family and should be treated with the same care that you would treat your children or parents. Most dogs gain huge benefits from the fatty acids in fish oil. Most people wouldn’t think of giving something like fish oil to a dog, but the studies have shown may problems with your dog can be mitigated by including these supplements in their diet.

Some ailments that fish oil can help dogs are:
Allergies
Kidney disease
Arthritis
high cholesterol
Inflammatory issues
itching due to dermititis
Dull coat
Ear infections
Cancer
Colitis

These are just a few of the problems that may be benefitted by including a fish oil supplement in your dog's diet. You should always talk with your vet before starting any kind of supplement treatment plan for your pet. Your vet will have the correct dosage and make sure that any other medications will not interact with new supplements. It is possible that your dog may have adverse reactions such as stomach aches, lethargic behavior or loose stools.

Now days, there are specialty liquids for dogs that you can purchase to make the dosage and usage even easier. These almost always come in liquid form that you pour over your dogs food once a day. These liquid forms can be found most anywhere or you can oder them from the web. You can also use a human form softgel by puncturing the capsule with a small pin and pouring the liquid out onto their food. This can be tiresome and difficult to get the full dosage onto the food. It is highly recommended that you invest in the liquid form of fish oil for your dog's health.

The dosage for dogs will vary with the weight of the animal and only a vet can tell you how much should be given to your animal. For large dogs, weighing more than 20, most vets will recommned about 20 mg of EPA per pound of body weight as a good starting point for your dog. It is important to remember that the labels can be confusing and you should make sure that you can get 20 mg out of a dose from any vendor.

Some people say that their dog is getting plenty of Omega3 fatty acids because their bag of food says that it contains essential fatty acids, omega acids, or fish oil. This is not the case because any fish oil product needs to be fresh to allow the body to make use of it. If the fish oil is cooked, as in prepared dog food, the fish oil becomes useless and a waste of time. Cooked or treated fish oil is not only not helping your dog, it has the potential to be harmful if taken over a period of time.

If your dog is a part of your family and you value their health, you need to make sure they get their full dose of omega3 fatty acids every day. This will help insure that your dog lives a long and pain free life. Make sure you are providing everything your dog may need in their diet.