How do your open the Krill gel cap?

I waste more than I get into their dish. No matter what I have tried, it gets all over my hands and the implement. Is there an easy way I am missing?

I have tried snipping the tip with the scissors, poking it with the tip of a knife, and simply squeezing it until the seam splits. I am not happy with any of these methods. A pin might work, but wouldn't really be washable, so I'd be throwing away an awful lot of pins. Plus I am not sure my hands would be able to hold a pin. Plus, I don't know...are pins even safe to use on food articles, I'd have to use a needle, and those are costly.

Is there a better way?

Yes, buy the Mercola brand that is in a pump container. I hate trying to get oil out of capsules. 

http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/krill-oil-for-pets.aspx

When I add fish oil to my raw recipes I put the capsules in a bowl of warm water to soften the capsule. Then I squeeze the capsules while they are under water to pop them open and just dump the water plus oil into the food. You could take the soften capsules out of the water. They would be easier to prick. 

Thanks for your reply. Your tips on softening may help. I was just holding it in my fingers, but just letting it sit in some warm water for a few seconds would be better, thank you!

Hmm...I do like the pump idea. But...it has other stuff added. That seems always to be my problem when I consider the Mercola products. I get all excited, then I read the product label and find the "other ingredients". I just don't like for them to have "other ingredients" when it can be avoided. Sigh.

In the case of the krill pump, medium chain triglycerides (which, incidentally, are bad for cats), silica and tocopherols. Argh.

I'm able to pierce the NOW gelcaps with a knife. :dk: But if it's not traumatic to pill whoever gets the krill oil, you can just pill it. Flowerbelle doesn't like the krill but needs it, so I just pill her with it.

Thanks Laurie, I have been using a knife, but I have trouble with fine motor activities because of the arthritis in my hands and wrists. My fingers just don't always want to do things the way I tell them and holding a tiny object and piercing it is really a problem on some days.

I'm going to try the piercing with the knife after softening the capsule in warm water (hope it doesn't get too slippery). While I am not modest about my skill in pilling cats, I would prefer not to add that daily stress to them or me, unless absolutely necessary. Tolly, thankfully, since he took multiple pills daily all his life, was a lamb always about being pilled, and Ootay learned, with practice, to tolerate it in her elderly years, but none of these three accept that kind of handling easily. They will allow it, because they trust me, but...it is just a stress I don't want to add, since they will eat it on their own, once I get it in their food.

I just hate the waste, plus it is very difficult to wash OFF my fingers. I've tried wiping it on their fur, but that didn't go over well, in fact they got quite upset, I wonder if it stings the skin?

I understand wanting to avoid additives but you might want to consider if you are making things more difficult for yourself for little reason.

As for the medium chain triglycerides: 

http://winnfelinehealth.blogspot.com/2010/06/cats-and-dietary-medium-chain.html

The authors concluded that inclusion of MCT in diets of cats did not result in feed refusal and had minimal effects on lipid metabolism. Diets such as described may be useful for both clinically normal cats and cats with metabolic disorders. [VT]

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I doubt the silica is really any cause for concern either. Dr. Becker is a holistic vet and is pretty adamant about only providing healthy products.

Your choice though.. 

I use an ice pick to open our salmon oil caps.  (But I'm not sure if the krill caps are a different material.) 

I found the tall thin design of the mercola supplements containers absolutely infuriating.  I was always tipping it or dropping it (and I don't think I'm an unusually clumsy person.)  I ruined an almost new bottle of ubiquinol (with the same design as their krill supplement) by knocking it onto the tile floor.  It burst open and there was $20 down the drain.  Very disappointing.  I was trying to be careful too so I know I can't buy that design again....sure to break it.   (ETA....if you don't have a tile floor then having the bottle hit the floor might not be an issue.  Everything breaks on tile because it is so hard.)

I feel confident in the information given to me by my vet about the danger of medium chain triglycerides and cats. I will not, ever again, knowingly give them to any cat. I know what silica and tocopherols are, too. Safe or not, why are they in there? Filler? Why does krill oil need filler? To make it cheaper to manufacture, of course.

Dr Becker's products are perhaps safe but the ones I have investigated always have something that doesn't need to be in there, in my opinion. The digestive enzymes have cellulose, for example. I e-mailed them and asked the source of the cellulose and why it is in there.

They answered promptly. I was told the cellulose is derived from tree roots, and is added as fiber. In other words most likely the same sawdust that is used in cat food. The question about actual country of origin was not answered, and the location of their manufacturing plants are "proprietary".

I enjoy Dr Becker's articles, and I have learned some good things. Probably her products are safe and wholesome. But....so far none of the products I have wanted, that she sells, are ones I would use for my cats.

Regardless of brand, almost everything these days has things in it that don't seem necessary, their safety is debatable, and the country of origin is always questionable, it seems. So we have to pick and choose what we feel is right for our own, and I am really glad there are choices.

otto said:

I feel confident in the information given to me by my vet about the danger of medium chain triglycerides and cats. I will not, ever again, knowingly give them to any cat. I know what silica and tocopherols are, too. Safe or not, why are they in there? Filler? Why does krill oil need filler? To make it cheaper to manufacture, of course.
 

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I understand your suspicions but additives are frequently added for completely non-nefarious reasons. Powders in capsules usually require some type of flow agent to aid in the manufacture of the capsules for example. And such additives are frequently present in minuscule quantities.

But, if you are uncomfortable with a particular additive of course don't use the product. 

I set them in some warm water for a few seconds. They were slippery, but opened more easily. I still got it all over my fingers though, but maybe just need practice with the new method. I could just kind of mash the capsule in a teaspoon of warm water and mix the whole thing into the food, but....I'd rather not give them the gelatin capsule if at all possible.

otto said:

I could just kind of mash the capsule in a teaspoon of warm water and mix the whole thing into the food, 

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That's what I do except I mash them with my fingers and I remove the empty capsules before dumping it into their food. 

Oh, right. Just take the capsule part out. Duh! :lol3: For some reason I didn't catch that, in your first reply. I am easily confused sometimes, is my only defense. heehee

Gail, have YOU been taking the krill oil? I was hoping it would help your arthritis...

I won't be taking krill for myself until I use up all the "fish oil" I bought by mistake. the brand of salmon oil I was taking, which I was very happy with, had a buy one get one free sale, so I stocked up, only to discover after I opened a new jar that I had bought "fish oil" instead of salmon oil. Actually I didn't notice it right away, I first noticed it when I began to no longer feel the benefits of the salmon oil. I was thinking one day that my hair just seemed stringy and dry and my skin dull, which is unusual since I started the salmon oil last year. THAT was when I noticed that I was taking "fish oil" instead of salmon oil.

I do believe the krill will help with inflammation, but I can't bring myself to chuck the "fish oil" even though I really think it isn't doing me any good at all.

Even after it is used up....I don't know if I can afford to take the krill myself. I will probably have to stick to salmon oil for me.

I wish I could get my mother to take Krill. it would help her SO MUCH, I know it would make a huge difference in her quality of life.

Yeah I just poke capsules with a knife to get the liquid out. In the middle. Be very careful though!

mschauer said:

That's what I do except I mash them with my fingers and I remove the empty capsules before dumping it into their food. 

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Well I still got it all over my fingers, doing this. AND some of the krill stuck to the bowl and did not pour out with the water.

However, I think I've found the solution. The trick is to pierce the capsule right at the seam. At the SEAM, not at the tip, like I was trying to do. A tiny prick, then gently squeeze and all of it comes out through the seam, into the food dish, and not on my fingers. Hardly any on the knife point either. Hallelujah. Hope it works that way every time.

otto said:

I feel confident in the information given to me by my vet about the danger of medium chain triglycerides and cats.

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I remember when I tried coconut oil for Chumley's "allergies." At the time (late 2010/early 2011) there were several threads on coconut oil, and I remember you posting a photo of text from some type of reference book. I've been unable to find that thread, that post, or that picture.

And the inconsistency between the information provided by your vet from whatever reference that was and the information I've found on cats and medium chain triglycerides has nagged at me, being the analyst I am.

I haven't found anything that says that medium chain triglycerides are bad for cats - I've only found the same information mschauer posted, which is that they are unpalatable to cats. Now - in the studies, they always used hydrogenated MCTs, and when using something like coconut oil, it's always recommended to use cold pressed, virgin, etc. etc. (non-hydrogenated) oils.

But I've seen a number of vet type sites and referenced pieces recommending Evening Primrose Oil (or Borage oil) for cats for various specific conditions - and Evening Primrose Oil contains some medium-chain triglycerides. This conflict and seeming contradiction, like I said, bothered me.

And I think I've resolved it. I'm pretty sure I've finally found the source of that information from your vet: the Nutrition Research Council's Nutrient Requirements of Dogs and Cats. It would be considered a definitive resource. :nod: This is the information on which the AAFCO bases its "balanced and complete" requirements for pet foods. The exact quote that I believe I remember from that photo is on P. 83 of the 2006 version of the NRC's book. The relevant section reads,

Overall, MCTs do not have the same energy value because of their shorter chain length, although their more direct route of absorption may provide other benefits (Remillard and Thatcher, 1989). In spite of this potential benefit, MCTs reportedly decrease food palatability for dogs (Remillard and Thatcher, 1989) and appear to be contraindicated in cats (MacDonald et al., 1985).

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It's that word "contraindicated" that stuck with me. But it's really important to note the "appear to be." There are two other references in the NRC to cats and medium chain triglycerides, and ALL of the references in the book are cited to that MacDonald study.

And this is the MacDonald study: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/4070410

I haven't paid for the whole article, but the abstract provides us with enough information:

Young, specific-pathogen-free cats were fed purified diets containing different sources of fat. Food intake was depressed and cats lost weight when the diet contained either hydrogenated coconut oil (HCO) or medium-chain triglycerides (MCT). With an MCT preparation enriched in 8:0 (MCT8), cats would not eat after first tasting the diet. When cats were offered a choice of two high-fat diets, they chose the basal diet over a diet containing 30% HCO, by a ratio of 4.5:1. Low levels of MCT8 (5% or 10% by weight) were also rejected, whereas cats did not reject 5% or 15% MCT12. Caprylic acid, at 0.1-1.0% of the diet, was rejected. In other studies, food intake and body weight decreased when HCO was added to a fat-free diet. Cats fed 25% or 35% HCO lost weight. When 5% safflower seed oil was added to the HCO diets, body weights and food intake improved, but were still less than optimal. These studies indicate that the food intake depression in cats fed dietary HCO and MCT is primarily a result of impalatability, and that the fatty acid moiety may be responsible for the aversion.

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So the issue with medium chain triglycerides in cats is not that they are dangerous. It is not that they are unhealthy. It is that cats don't like hydrogenated medium chain triglycerides (in the form of hydrogenated coconut oil), and they lost weight when it was a significant part of the diet, because they didn't eat enough food.

So I understand you may still choose to not feed any form of medium-chain triglycerides to your kitties, no matter the quantity. But for other people reading the thread, the issue is not that they are in any way dangerous or unhealthy. They are "contraindicated" for cats - in that pet food manufacturers (basically for whom the book is written) should not use large amounts of them in pet food, because they make the food unpalatable.

The NRC also details a bit about the MacDonald study:

P. 25

Medium-chain fatty acids per se or in triglycerides have a negative palatability for cats (MacDonald et al., 1985). As little as 5 percent medium-chain triglycerides or 0.1% caprylic acid resulted in an immediate avoidance the first time cats had an opportunity to select between these diets and a diet containing hydrogenated beef tallow as the fat source. Cats would not eat enough diet to maintain their weight when hydrogenated coconut oil was provided at 25 percent of the diet (MacDonald et al., 1989).

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Don't know if this will help... I puncture mine with a needle (My vet teck brough me a bunch - the ones used for injections, easy to grab) and squeeze them with a nice and heavy Stainless Steel set of pliers..... :lol3: Works great for both the soft type and the hard mega red ones - quick, easy, and gets every bit out of the gel caps.