Fish Oil

Just wondering, for those of you who feed a balanced commercial diet, do you add a fish oil supplement in addition to the food?

Tofu is apparently having some pretty severe skin issues right now and although the vet suspects it's allergy-related, he brought up the point today that sometimes overdoing the oils can cause skin problems, i.e. itchiness.

Tofu is fed mainly a wet commercial diet with approx. 500 mg of fish oil nightly. I'm trying to figure out if I'm "overdoing" it and causing more harm than good. He's battling a case of ringworm right now and has 5 sores on his face. The vet said these are not typical ringworm lesions and highly suspects something else is going on and then the ringworm is a secondary infection and not necessarily the root of his itching problems.

Here's one of the five sores on his face currently. The rest are under his chin and on the other side of his face.



Thanks!

[Edit] I forgot to mention that on top of the wet, he gets about 3 meals of raw every week.

I do. A couple of times a week I add a few drops of fish oil (sold as a skin & coat supplement) to their food. It has made them silky/shiny and Stan's dandruff is getting better (but still not totally gone).

Just have to be careful not to give too much IMHO 500mg does sound like a lot.

If the vet suspects the fish oil is at fault, I would stop it altogether for at least two months, to see if the skin condition improves.

It might be a good idea to do a prescription allergy food trial for this same eight weeks. You need to rule out the possibility that he's reacting to the fish oil or allergic to something he's eating.

Originally Posted by emmylou

If the vet suspects the fish oil is at fault, I would stop it altogether for at least two months, to see if the skin condition improves.

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He doesn't suspect it at this point yet, just brought it up as a possibility, and we're going through the diagnostic steps right now, waiting for some blood test results first.

He wanted to wait on the results first before discussing other possibilities - I don't think he even asked me how much oil I'm giving him. He's a vet that likes to take it one step at a time. However, I'm just curious to see how many people actually do the fish oil on a commercial diet. I know most or all do on a cooked or raw diet, so just comparing to see how likely it is that he's getting too much omega 3 in his diet.

And yes, we nay end up doing an elimination diet to check for food allergies, but again, will wait until tomorrow when I speak to him again.

I have used salmon oil in the past

Originally Posted by sharky

I have used salmon oil in the past

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Sharky, do you remember how much you added and for how long?

about a tsp for a few months.... pump dispenser = appr dose

Related question: why use fish oil at all? I thought fish was a no-no ? What are the benefits of using a fish oil supplement?

Originally Posted by Snake_Lady

Related question: why use fish oil at all? I thought fish was a no-no ? What are the benefits of using a fish oil supplement?

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Good fatty acids for skin and coat.

Originally Posted by chris10

Good fatty acids for skin and coat.

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OIL is a good source of fatty acids... these help with "lubricating skin and coat...Fish is high in Omega 3 s or linolinic acid which is also a natural anti inflammatory ...IMHO fish is okay in small amount s like a oil which is supposed to be 100% fat with NO proteins to cause a potential allergic reaction

Originally Posted by sharky

OIL is a good source of fatty acids... these help with "lubricating skin and coat...Fish is high in Omega 3 s or linolinic acid which is also a natural anti inflammatory ...IMHO fish is okay in small amount s like a oil which is supposed to be 100% fat with NO proteins to cause a potential allergic reaction

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ahhhh, I see. Thanks for the explanation

I don't add fish oil or anything else to my cat's food. His coat is good, and most of the good cat foods already contain ingredients that promote coat health.

Originally Posted by emmylou

I don't add fish oil or anything else to my cat's food. His coat is good, and most of the good cat foods already contain ingredients that promote coat health.

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they do ... and be thankful :_)

many cats on some of the "best foods" still have issues since they need more than the std amounts

I've recently started giving fish oil supplements to my CRF kitty as his coat was terrible. I've seen a noticeable improvement and it supposedly can help with kidney function due to its antiinflamatory properties.

Can I give a human grade fish oil??

I just don't trust the source of SO many fish oils out there. I represent a company that sells nutritional products. EXTREMELY high quality, like organic un-denatured grade 7 whey protein, there is NO soy in ANY of our products (well, soy lethicin, but it isn't Soy in the way people think about soy. It's very different)

Our fish oil is sourced from small fishes in deep, unpolluted waters in the world, which then goes through a molecular distillation process that creates the most concentrated sources of DHA and EPA omega-3 essential fatty acids. Each batch of molecularly distilled fish oil is third-party tested to verify undetectable levels of heavy metals (arsenic, lead, mercury, cadmium and iron), PCBs and dioxins.

is it okay to poke a hole in the capsule and put a little in her food? Not the whole capsule obviously. I know it's ok to poke a hole and use the oil for humans. So that is not the issue for me. The issue is simply, can I give her human grade fish oil.

Yes, this would be an excellent source of Omega 3s! :nod:

LDG said:

Yes, this would be an excellent source of Omega 3s!

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YAY! Thanks!!

I know someone who used to give their dog fish oil capsules as a supplement for his joints. He loved them, and it really helped when giving him his meds. It did him good, but like all things, in moderation.

I don't feed my cat fish oil often but when I feel like it is really dry in the house or her coat is getting a bit rough, I supplement her with fish oil from time to time.  I do notice a definite improvement when I do.