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Fish oil for shedding?


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Hi all!

 

Sorry if this has been discussed before but I did do a search and didn't see the answer to this question (doesn't mean its not there, since my search pulled up 3 pages worth of topics...) but I saw an article which claimed that supplimenting with alaskan salmon oil could reduce shedding by 90%!! I wouldn't mind supplimenting and fish oil is cheap, just never heard of the reduced shedding claim...I just assumed it was used for the same reason as it is in humans...you know, reduced heart disease, inflammation, etc. Dixie is not shedding any more than normal, but any reduction in the black and white dust bunnies would be great! She eats Merrick or Wellness food, with occasional Nutro or Proplan if I am short on cash and is very healthy.

The only other concern I have is her breath. She is 5 years old and has had her teeth cleaned once (around age 2 or 3?) and the vet said she could use it again...but I hate having to put her under anethesia if there is some other way to clean her teeth (other than brushing, which I doubt would remove tarter buildup anyway)...she is not a big chewer. She will eat cow ears or rawhide but ignores nylabones (Heidi chews those daily and at age 6 her teeth are in great shape and have never been professionally done). What about "dental" foods? Anything any good? She is a very picky eater.

Thanks,

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What about "dental" foods? Anything any good?

 

Bones are good (if it is ok for you to give her raw bones with some meat on them). At least Kessie's teeth stay nice and clean that way. You wouldn't have to switch her completely to a raw diet - just giving her a bone every now and again would probably help scraping the scum off.

 

Not sure about the shedding...in this heat, I wish Kessie would shed MORE.

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I'm not sure about fish oil, but have you looked into getting a Furminator? They're about $40 or so and also claim to reduce shedding by up to 90% It takes out SO MUCH FUR. No other brush works like it. And it's well worth $40! I bought one last month and I've really seen a drastic decrease in the amount Gypsy sheds. Except from her bum and tail, where the fur is more wavy and the brush can't reach the undercoat :rolleyes:

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Our boys were getting flaxseed oil and not only did their shedding decrease but JJ quit chewing raw spots on his backside. (Vet said he had allergies.) I heard fish oil was better so I switched them. Even though they are getting the same amount of fish oil, JJ has started chewing on himself again. Both, especially JJ, have started shedding again. But then again, JJ has twice as much hair as Jake so I don't know if that actually means anything. They could be shedding more because of the weather. Before I commit to one or the other, I'm going to switch them back to flaxseed oil and see what happens.

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Our boys were getting flaxseed oil and not only did their shedding decrease but JJ quit chewing raw spots on his backside. (Vet said he had allergies.) I heard fish oil was better so I switched them. Even though they are getting the same amount of fish oil, JJ has started chewing on himself again. Both, especially JJ, have started shedding again. But then again, JJ has twice as much hair as Jake so I don't know if that actually means anything. They could be shedding more because of the weather. Before I commit to one or the other, I'm going to switch them back to flaxseed oil and see what happens.

 

Intresting. I've had Riven on fish oil for a while, and she's shedding less, but still chewing her legs. She isnt getting hair off, just chewing lol. So, maybe I'll try flaxseed oil. She's on a raw diet and REFUSES fish. Anyone know about fish oil w/ flax seed oil? Is that overkill?

 

By the way, FYI you have to give Vitamin E with Fish Oil :rolleyes:

 

ETA: Dental wise, I can just say this. Riven had the most horrific breath ever. She was on prescription science diet for it lol. Once we did the raw diet, it went away. Probably the bones I guess. So I'll second Sandras suggestion of bones.

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Donna,

 

Thanks for the fish oil link. I'm going to the store later on today and I think I'll get them some flaxseed oil when I go. Vit E is also a fat soluble vitamin and I read somewhere (not here) too much vit e can be toxic (400iu for months).

 

While they were on flaxseed oil I was still giving them a vit e capsule a couple of times a week when I was giving them 1000iu (flaxseed oil) daily. When I increased it to 1000 iu with each meal (twice/day), JJ's skin cleared up and I had stopped giving them vit e.

 

All dogs are different. There's no 'one size fits all' diet. The best thing I can do is just go with what JJ and Jake 'tell' me. With Jake, he ended up with a yeast infection in his ear. Vet said the yeast infection was a secondary sign of allergies. (I love the boy's vet but I'm beginning to think the word 'allergies' is becoming a catchall word.) I had stopped adding yogurt to Jake's food because he is lactose intolerant. When he got the ear infection, DH suggested adding yogurt again. I did (1/2 as much) and he hasn't had an ear infection since (or gas, thank goodness).

 

Christy, we buy large soup/stock bones at the grocery store for the boys. Not the flavored kind. We ask the butcher working in back. They usually have them. And the boys stay occupied for at least a couple of hours.

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Vit E is also a fat soluble vitamin and I read somewhere (not here) too much vit e can be toxic (400iu for months).

If you happen to find where you read that would you let me know? I've been giving Riven fish oil with vit e every other day or so for a few months now. That is the bad thing about supplements. One person says this, then someone disagrees, then the vet says something else... argh. :rolleyes:

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I will definitely give the bones a try...I was a bit apprehensive about them because a friend's dog scraped the enamel off one of her teeth chewing on one, but the bad breath has got to go!

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Vit E is also a fat soluble vitamin and I read somewhere (not here) too much vit e can be toxic (400iu for months).

Donna asked for a source for this information. Brenda may have been thinking of a 2004 study on older humans:

 

High dose vitamin E death warning

 

Not everyone accepts the conclusions of that study:

 

Vitamin E ... A Good Vitamin is Bad Mouthed

 

Here is what the NIH (National Institutes of Health, which is pretty much the most reliable source of accepted scientific knowledge about human health in the United States) has to say about the risks to humans of taking too much vitamin E (link):

 

Most studies of the safety of vitamin E supplementation have lasted for several months or less, so there is little evidence for the long-term safety of vitamin E supplementation.

 

The Food and Nutrition Board of the Institute of Medicine has set an upper tolerable intake level (UL) for vitamin E at 1,000 mg (1,500 IU) for any form of supplementary alpha-tocopherol per day. Based for the most part on the result of animal studies, the Board decided that because vitamin E can act as an anticoagulant and may increase the risk of bleeding problems this UL is the highest dose unlikely to result in bleeding problems.

The following excerpt from a 1997 article by veterinarians, writing about dogs, explains in a bit more detail why vitamin E can increase the risk of bleeding disorders (link):

 

Vitamin E supplement must be approached in a prudent manner and extremes avoided. Vitamin E is absorbed into the body by the same route as the other fat soluble vitamins (vitamins A, D and K). It is possible that excessively high levels of vitamin E could compete with the other fat soluble vitamins resulting in lower absorption of these necessary nutrients. For example, excessively high levels of vitamin E intake in normal dogs resulted in bleeding disorders due to an induced vitamin K deficiency (too much vitamin E “squeezed out” the vitamin K and prevented it from being absorbed at the amounts required for normal blood clotting.) Excessive levels of vitamin E have also been associated with nausea.

 

The rest of the article is worth reading, though bear in mind that it is now 10 years old.

 

If you are going to take over responsibility for formulating an ideal diet for your dog, you probably need more information than "if you use fish oil, you also need to supplement with vitamin E." A lot of good (and bad) information is out there on the internet, but it's necessary to dig deep and read critically. Do you know why you should supplement fish oil with vitamin E? Are you aware that there are multiple forms of vitamin E? Do you know which one you are using?

 

Link to an interesting article about types and sources of vitamin E by Steve Brown of Steve's Real Food who is not a vet nor a professional nutritionist. Read this critically too -- other articles (lots of them) say that alpha tocopherols are indeed the primary form of vitamin E needed by dogs on a high fat diet.

 

For all we know about nutrition (in dogs or people), there is still more we don't know, so don't expect to find perfect answers. Feeding fresh, whole ingredients, rather than supplements or food processed in factories and stored in bags on shelves, is a good general policy (for dogs or people). Moderation is a good general policy. But keeping track of the results you get with the diet you feed (vs. automatically assuming that something you read, no matter what the source, will be right for your dog) is one of the most important policies of all.

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"But keeping track of the results you get with the diet you feed (vs. automatically assuming that something you read, no matter what the source, will be right for your dog) is one of the most important policies of all. "

 

Alaska,

Thanks for your reply. That's what I try to do. I slowly increased their protein, omega 3 then their vit e-one at a time, little at a time. When I found out JJ's skin cleared up without adding the vit e when I gave him the flaxseed, I kept him on that. I heard fish oil was better than flaxseed so I switched him. I found a scab on his backside day before yesterday where he had started chewing on himself again. He's going back on the flaxseed. Keeping track of their diet until I found one that works is time consuming but the vit e controversy is so confusing to me, I don't feel comfortable giving it to them until more studies have been done. Hopefully, they get enough of it in their (I feel) high quality dog food. And the fact JJ is no longer on those nasty allergy pills makes us feel better.

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As for the teeth cleaning, we brush all four of our dogs teeth every evening. None of them has ever had to have their teeth cleaned under anesthesia. The are now 12, 9, 5 and 2 years of age. So yes, brushing CAN prevent tartar buildup, especially if they also have opportunities to chew on bones or dental toys. If one of them gets a bit of tartar, we can get it off with a good fingernail. Or you can get a dental scraper.

 

Kathy

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Fish oil intake has a direct consequence on Ouzo's shedding volumes, without a doubt. The one time I stopped giving him fish oil caplets (the 1000 IU kind), out of fear I wasn't providing Vit E along with fish oil, his hair output quadrupeled almost instantly. As soon as I got him back on fish oil (which he swalows or chews whole as a treat), we got his shedding back under control. I was shocked of the cause-effect reaction as well!

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I will definitely give the bones a try...I was a bit apprehensive about them because a friend's dog scraped the enamel off one of her teeth chewing on one, but the bad breath has got to go!

 

Some of the harder bones (weight-bearing bones of big animals) are too hard for BC teeth. I give ours lamb ribs, chicken parts, turkey necks, etc. I guess pork ribs would be all right, too. I think raw chicken is a good place to start (plenty of bones, but no big hard ones).

 

Good luck, I hope she likes the bones!

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