Flaxseed Oil

[Guest]

On advice of my vet I have been giving a very small amount (half a teaspoon if that) of liquid parafin in my dogs boiled chicken and rice to stop "gurgly tummy'. It has worked wonders and he has been fine for the past 6 months. BUT I have been told by many forum members that liquid parafin cam stop the absorption of vitamins and minerals that dogs get from their general diet. I was suggested to use flaxseed oil. I have been told that flaxseed oil is also good if your dog has skin irritations.

Can anyone give me any info about this oil. Should I substitute it for the liquid parafin or stick to what it working now.???? ;)

[morgan]

Personally I would never give liquid paraffin for those reasons, it doesn't even have any nutritional value itself like the flaxseed oil does. Flaxseed is high in omega 3s which are essential for your dog's health and great for his skin.

Try the Flaxseed oil and if the gurgly tummy comes back you might have to go back to the paraffin but add a ver good vitamin/mineral supplement.

What else does your dog have in his diet apart from boiled chicken and rice? These two foods alone would not make a balanced diet which could affect the tummy.

[frufru]

I would want to know why my dog has a "gurgly tummy".

[Guest]

Personally I would never give liquid paraffin for those reasons, it doesn't even have any nutritional value itself like the flaxseed oil does. Flaxseed is high in omega 3s which are essential for your dog's health and great for his skin.

Try the Flaxseed oil and if the gurgly tummy comes back you might have to go back to the paraffin but add a ver good vitamin/mineral supplement.

What else does your dog have in his diet apart from boiled chicken and rice? These two foods alone would not make a balanced diet which could affect the tummy.

His daily diet now consists of: 6.30am wake up, (and wake everyone else up ) 2 cups of IAMS dry biscuits for seniors (these do not go down all at once, but generally he picks at them until they are finished) a small amount of 'sloppy' (no sugar) porridge and 1 800mg slippery elm tablet. Only fresh water and what ever dry biscuits are left are there until his dinner time.

4pm; 2 Spoonfuls of boiled chicken, rice and vegies warmed for 20 seconds in microwave then a teaspoon of flaxseed oil mixed in well, after that his has a raw chicken wing to keep his teeth clean, again another slippery elm tablet. If any biscuits are left in his bowl they are lifted up out of his reach so he can't gorge in the night. I was finding that if he was bored he'd stuff his face then drink alot of water and then end up being sick, bringing up swollen biscuit. About 6pm he has a acidophilus 'yakult'. At present he is fine with no tummy upsets at all, I think I may have got it right (fingers crossed). I'd rather be using the flaxseed oil than the parafin.

[Guest]

I would want to know why my dog has a "gurgly tummy".

You and me both, I've had second and third opinions. All weren't overly worried because there was no vomiting, no diarhea and his stools had no blood in them. But comment was passed about how dry his stools were and that was when the parafin was suggested. I was concerned about "colitis". Though the symptoms are similar they are not quite the same, that's when we (the vet and I) just started calling it 'gurgly tummy' for want of a diagnosis.

It's been nearly 3 weeks on the flaxseed oil and slippery elm and all seems to be going well. I am cautiously optimistic and crossing my fingers tightly.

Like I mentioned before, he was going along fine for the past 6 months only using the liquid parafin, until the short stint of prednisone for flea bite inflammation. Now he's off the prednisone he seems back to normal. That's another reason why I changed to the flaxseed because I'd been told how good it was for skin and fur.

[Poodle wrangler]

Liquid paraffin is a laxative. If your dog's stools are fine now, keep giving that mixed with food as it's only a small amount.

You could try adding a little flaxseed oil to his porridge-kibble meal.

Is his porridge oats+milk? I wouldn't feed it to my dogs as many dogs have trouble digesting milk and dogs don't need so much carbohydrate/ grains (you're already giving rice). That said, your dogs sensitive stomach is OK with what you're giving right now, so why change? I don't think the extra flaxseed will upset him, but go slow and see how he goes.

[Guest]

Thanx heaps everyone!!!! Like I said, he's going great guns at the moment, so I'm hoping with come to the end of it!