Fish oil in dog diet. Danger of overdose!?!

chilover

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#1
I have been giving my dog fish oil in his food to improve his immunity. But I just read an article in the Whole Dog Journal about benefits and dangers of fish oil. It is very good for dogs. It helps grow strong bones, good for skin and fur, etc., but if given too much can kill a dog. It said that dogs on homemade diet can greatly benefit from it, but dogs on comercial food can be in danger of overdosing on vitamins A and D. I feed my dog Neura Meats lamb canned food that already has vit. A and D added to it. In fact, all canned dog foods have vitamins added already. Should i stop giving him fish oil all together or just reduce the dose? Anybody knows anything about the subject? How much should I give? There is no information on how much vitamins A and D are already in the food, so it makes it even harder to determine proper dosage.
I just don't want to give my 5 lb Chihuahua too much of a good thing....
 
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#2
I was wondering about this too. I used to feed my dog sardines in oil once a week but she's gone off them. I know she likes tuna, and I wanted to start feeding her this once a week along with the commercial dog food she eats. Any info would be great.
 

Athe

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#3
what the WDJ was referring to was fish "liver" oil. It can be dangerous in large quantities for the excess vitamin D and Vitamin A. These vitamins are already added to a kibble/canned diet. So, the rule of thumb I go by is, if I am feeding raw home made long term I will add fish liver oil (cod liver oil). If I am feeding any kibble I just add fish body oil, it's marked clearly on the supplements.
I add canned sardines, canned salmon etc. as these are the whole fish and you are getting the benefits of the omega fatty acids etc. I add these to my dogs kibble a few times a week. I like the whole foods instead of the vitamins or capsoles of fish oil. That is just my preference. ;)

Kibble - no fish liver oil....fish body oil is OK
Raw - yes, you can add fish liver oil (cod liver oil) and fish body oil.
 

Athe

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#4
Just to add, if you are trying to boost your dogs immunity try using the herb Astragalus. I use it for my dogs and it works great. I even use it myself during cold and flu season and havent been sick or even a sniffle for 4 years! :)
 

Athe

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#5
As for Tuna, I am leary about giving too much Tuna to my dogs (there is a reason, but I can't think of what it is off the top of my head! :confused: :) )
I prefer to give Sardines (packed in spring water), or Wild Alaskan Salmon as my fish sources.
 
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#6
So are any tinned whole fishes (sardines, pilchards, anchovies) ok to give to dogs? Its just shadow wont eat sardines anymore and she used to love them. I have some tinned sammon and tuna. is that ok?
 

showpug

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#7
On a little side note, be weary of the type of salmon you give your dogs. Remember salmon poisoning in dogs.... I live in the Pacific Northwest and we have a TON of salmon here and unfortunatley a lot of salmon poisoning in dogs. I stear clear of fish with my dogs, but I do give salmon oil on a daily basis. ;)
 
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#8
where can I get salmon oil? Is it in liquid form or like in a capsule? I gave Shadow salmon this morning for her breakfast, tinned wild pacific pink salmon. she really liked it.
 
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Manchesters

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#9
Feeding Canned Food

I am amazed that no one has commented on feeding a dog on a strictly canned food diet. Canned food has no nutritional value in spite of what it says on the can. It is 78% water, and generally only has 8% protein. The best diet for any dog is a high quality dry dog food. Canned food is excellent as a mixer, to get the dog to eat the dry food. Best if mixed in with warm water.

If the story is that it is too small a dog to eat dry food, the dry food can be pulverized in a blender, then mixed with the canned food and water to the consistency of porridge.

This is not just my personal opinion---it is based upon 30+ years of feeding dogs. Including pregnant and lactating dogs, as well as puppies! And of course the wisdom of a couple people with degrees in canine nutrition.....including Jaima Youngblood, breeder of historically top winning Dobermans (Ch. Initiator v.d. Bross!) I did disagree with her somewhat. She insisted that all the protein a dog needed was 16%. I prefer 21%.

Speaking of dog food, gotta go to Walmart and get some extra bags in case Dennis hits and the roads are impassable. Everyone have a good day.
 
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#10
I was wondering where you'd got to!

Have you visited Mordy's site yet? There's a link in her signature. I think you'll appreciate her work on The Dog Food Project . . .
 

chilover

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#11
Thank you everyone. I give my dog Carlson fish oil in capsules that I take myself. It's not liver oil. So I feel better now giving it to him.
As for dry food, I read that it has too much carbs in it vs. canned food and dogs don't really need carbs or not as much anyway. I have to limit carbs in one of my dog's diet because of yeast problem he is having. And, quite frankly, the ingridients in some commercial dry foods just scare the hell out of me. I don't mean all natural type, but the kind you buy at Wallmart, (Iams, Pedigree, etc.)
I feed all natural and, wnenever possible, organic canned food and I always thought that was the next best thing to home made diet for which I just dont' have the time. Am I wrong?
I just looked at the lable on Neura Meats 95% Lamb can and there is only 7% protein and 78% moisture! How much protein should dog food have?
 
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Manchesters

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#13
Hey!

Hello back atcha! I checked the site you mentioned in your post. It is the same I first read decades ago. The thing is that if we take into consideration what dogs eat in the wild then there is nothing too disgusting to be considered for dog food, roflmbo. The things that might sneak into our dogs' foods are at least pretty much sterilized by the heat process.

As I said, the best way to judge a food is by the effects it has on your own dog/dogs. In fact, I would venture to say that that is the only accurate way to assess a food. I have the advantage of having multiple dogs for many years, and so have had a great number of dogs and puppies to observe.

Good bone, good coat, energetic, good teeth, puppies produced....birth weight, number of pups, condition of dam during gestation, and during lactation, etc, etc. My dogs epitomize good health. They live to an average of 16 years, and are active up to the end. So all I can put forth is that the food I am using (Pedigree Mealtime) does the best job for my beasties.

I seem to have read somewhere that there is an amount of government control over dog foods (canned, anyway) because many, many poor people eat these products.

I am in the process of having a nervous fit since Dennis is headed this way. Running thru a mental list of what I have to do to get ready. I feel that since my trailer survived Ivan with no damage, that we should be all right here, but I really don't want to see another hurricane right now. Many of us are suffering from stress disorder, and don't even realize it. I was in a coma, and down with Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever when Ivan hit. Ended up in the hospital for 5 days, with my neighbors tending to my poor dogs. I don't want to ever go thru that again!!

Best of luck to any others in these groups that might be facing Dennis!!

C
 
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#14
Seems like you guys have been getting pounded these last several years! How much battening down of hatches do you have to do? We lived in Wilmington, NC when Camille came through . . . Wrightsville and Carolina Beaches took a real pounding and our dogs never would go down into the basement again.

I don't worry too much about what my dogs eat wild, since in my mind the problems stem from what we do in the processing of meats and the other 'stuff' that's used in dog food. The stuff they want us to inject in our cattle is frightening! We don't, but once they go to a feed lot they get stoked up on all if it . . . chemicals, hormones, antibiotics . . . all sorts of toxic crap. I always had to fight skin problems with my German Shepherds until I quit feeding them mass-manufactured food. The Terrier never had any problems, but I firmly believe Mickey was just to ornery to succumb to anything, lol! Actually, mine eat a pretty healthy diet in 'the wild.' Fast food (coney, groundhog, squirrel), certain grasses and wild herbs, blackberries, wild strawberries . . . They have an unfortunate taste for the milky poop from baby calves (ugh), and afterbirth, which can be a real pain with the girls as it will occassionally stimulate them to go into a false - or even a real - heat.

I had to laugh at Kharma when I took her and Bimmer to stay with my parents this weekend. She sashayed over to Katie's (my mom's Rattie) bowl, scarfed up a mouthful of food (Pedigree or Purina or something), made the funniest face and spat it out. Then she calmly waltzed over to the bag of food I'd brought for them and gave it a big nudge with her snoot.
 

chilover

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#15
I hope you and your dogs be just fine with Denis and all... Be careful!
I'm glad Pedigree works for your dogs. That's what my friend fed to her yorkie for a long time. But all but one of her dog's teeth fell out and she is only 5 years old. I think it's just like people, some foods work better for some than others... But I do know that whatever dogs eat in the wild the evarage life span for a stray dog is 3 or 4 year, I read somewhere. And also, they don't eat other dogs, and I read that they found that suff in some comercial dog food. Yak!
I read the Yeast article and I looked up the Innova ingredients. I am confused. I am trying to keep my yeasty dog on one source of protein so I can figure out what he is allergic to so I can cure the problem at its' source. And the Innova EVO has i think 3 or 4 different kinds of meat and some grains, if I'm not mistaken. I was told to stay away from grains and feed one kind of meat untill the simptoms clear and then introduce one other ingridient to see if he is allergic to it, etc.
He is on Neura Meats Lamb. And his nose was getting less stuffy until I broke down and gave him duck/potato treats because he is such a good boy, and this morning he couldn't breath, the poor thing, and scratched at his ears more than usual.
I tried to give him garlic too, but that turned his breath just fawl! Like something died in his mouth. i had to stop that.
 

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