Cod Liver Oil Or Flaxseed Oil?

[chooka]

Hi

I would like to start giving my dog cod liver oil or flaxseed, I am not sure which one to get, or the dosage my dog is 10kilo. Is it ok to give them a brand for humans?His coat is very dull and he scratches alot althought doesn`t draw blood. He doesn`t have fleas and is wormed regulally. Apart from this problem he is a happy healthy dog, I feed him a raw diet with veggies and dry food. I have two other dogs that don`t have this problem Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

Chooka

[TURBOTERROR]

i use flaxseed oil capsules and zinc tab ( human type ) , this has helped in easing my dogs scratching .

my dogs weight is 18 - 24kg, i adminster with their feeds 3 flaxseed capsules and 1 zinc tab . daily.

[cavNrott]

.

Edited May 8, 2009 by cavNrott

[Aequus]

I feed my boy cod liver oil capsules and he is doing great on them. He had dry flakey skin, but now is glossy and skin is great.

He gets 2 capsules about 3 times a week and eats them like a treat. (hes about 35kg)

His diet is based on Eukanuba but does get yoghurt, fresh vegies and lots of meaty bones (lamb).

Hope it helps.

[Zorro_007]

Fish oil is great; cod liver oil has to be given in small doses as it is mega rich in Vit. A and as you may already know, Vit. A is a fat soluble vitamin which means that the body stores it and too much of it can be toxic. I would recommend 'evening primrose oil' which works fabulously for the skin; I give my dogs a capsule 3x weekly...I tend to prefer human vitamins as they are of a purer and more premium quality.

Meg, are you sure that 2 capsules 3 times a week are the right dosage for your dog even though he is a big dog? Sounds like you may be overdosing on the Vit. A....

[chooka]

Fish oil is great; cod liver oil has to be given in small doses as it is mega rich in Vit. A and as you may already know, Vit. A is a fat soluble vitamin which means that the body stores it and too much of it can be toxic. I would recommend 'evening primrose oil' which works fabulously for the skin; I give my dogs a capsule 3x weekly...I tend to prefer human vitamins as they are of a purer and more premium quality.

Meg, are you sure that 2 capsules 3 times a week are the right dosage for your dog even though he is a big dog? Sounds like you may be overdosing on the Vit. A....

[trifecta]

Chooka, you might want to check out Megaderm. Has minerals & vitamins as well as oils that are needed for healthy skin.

[chooka]

Fish oil is great; cod liver oil has to be given in small doses as it is mega rich in Vit. A and as you may already know, Vit. A is a fat soluble vitamin which means that the body stores it and too much of it can be toxic. I would recommend 'evening primrose oil' which works fabulously for the skin; I give my dogs a capsule 3x weekly...I tend to prefer human vitamins as they are of a purer and more premium quality.

Meg, are you sure that 2 capsules 3 times a week are the right dosage for your dog even though he is a big dog? Sounds like you may be overdosing on the Vit. A....

Thanks for the replies.

Zorro, I have some EPO already, you give your dogs a capsule 3x weekly what type of dogs do you have. Lucky weighs in at 10kilo.

Thanks

chooka

[NorthernStarPits]

Flax or the Melrose brand omegapet oils also a ground flax meal/powder alot of people may tend to confuse fish oil and cod Liver oil,i use 1 teaspoon of cod liver per dog every two weeks in there food as a supp they all weigh 30+ kilos, but the omegas everyday.

and there coats/skin are great 1 dog had bad skin but was fixed with flaxseed addition

[Zorro_007]

Chooka, my dogs vary in weight from 40 kilos down to 8 kilos so I give the larger ones an EPO capsule 4x weekly and the smaller ones may get it 3x weekly. Same with fish oil. I don't often give them cod liver oil though for the reasons that I mentioned earlier. EPO is high in Omega 6 which is very good for skin complaints and I have found this to work for my dogs:)

[witheverythingiam]

I personally wouldn't feed my dog cod liver oil at all. Too rich in Vit A as stated.

Flaxseed Oil is given at the rate of ) 0.1mL / 1KG of dog. So a 10KG dog would get 1mL each time.

hope this helps...

-WithEverythingIAm

[larry]

if you want to boost the omega 3 in their diet then flax seed oil is a lot better than cod liver oil. fish oil is also what you want for omega 3 , not cod liver oil, the above comments about too much vit A in cod liver oil are quite valid

too much flax seed oil doesn't taste very good, i prefer to use a omega 3 supplement for dogs, like megaderm or omegamagic plus (omega magic is cheaper than megaderm) that has a balanced omega 3:6 ratio, and added zinc, vitaminA, vit b, Vit E

[noisymina]

Our Dobe gets an average of about 3 tablespoons of Cod Liver oil over 5-6 weeks in her mix.

[Tilly]

When we first got our GSD he used to itch a lot and had red welts on his tummy. I dosed him up on Omega 3 (dose on the bottle was 1 pump per 7kg) - for the first three days I double dosed him and then used the recommended rate for about 2 or 3 months.

I then started to reduced the dose and included sardines in oil in his diet. I don't give him Omega 3 as a supplement any more but he gets about 2 or 3 tins of sardines a week (they love sardines with a raw egg).

[noisymina]

The RDI for adults for Vit A from all sources is 2500iu or 750mcg.

Toxicity occurs at recurrent intakes at 10 times RDI.

So max intake for a human is 7,500mcg or 8000iu, depeding on where you get the info.

4 mils of the Cod Liver Oil I have gives 750mcg or 2500iu

I weigh 60kgs, or twice that of my dog.

So, for arguments sake, say my dog needs half of my RDI or 1,250iu daily - or 2mils of Codliver Oil - 15 mls a week - 90mils over 6 weeks. The tablespoon I use holds 10mls, so she gets 30mils, or one third of her RDI of Vit A in her Cod liver Oil.

I don't know how much Cod Liver Oil they can stick in a capsule, but I hardly think it would be more than a couple of mls - thus 2 capsules, 3 times a week is not actually very much - certainly no more than the 15mils my dobe is getting, which is only 1/3 her RDI.

Toxicity occurs at 10 times RDI -

Or 150mils of Cod Liver Oil a week - used recurrently

OR 8,000iu - 140 mils Of Cod Liver Oil a week - used recurrently

I don't know, of course, whether or not dogs are more susceptible to toxicity, but even so, it seems to me that I would have to give her a whole lot more Cod liver Oil than she is getting - and certainly more than 6 capsules a week - before there is any chance of toxicity occurring.

One site I've found suggests that animals are less susceptible to Vit A toxicity than humans.

HERE

[zayda_asher]

Cod liver oil is for Vit A, not Itchies! Vit A is easy to OD on too, so you need to be careful.

For itchies you want fish body oil which has omega 3s... cold pressed fish oil is what you want, I prefer salmon oil as it is from a single source (one of my dogs is allergic to some of the other fish they use in the blends).

I would use fish body oil over flax as many dogs get the itchies from flax as well...

Dan

[noisymina]

There is nothing wrong with trying Cod Liver Oil for itchies - the Omega 3 might actually help some cases. It just so happens that Cod Liver Oil does have a lot of Vit A in it - if there happens to be a deficiency in Vit A, it will help - if it is not given in huge quantities over an extended period, it will do no harm.

Edited May 4, 2006 by noisymina

[bloss344]

For a dog the recommended amount of Vit A is 75 IU per kg bodyweight ie a 10kg dog would require 750 IU per day.

The capsules do vary in how much Vit A and Vit D they contain. Both of these vitamins can be toxic if given in excess as they are stored in the liver. So if you are going to use it you need to see how much is in each capsule.

Most commercial foods would be more than amply supplied with Vit A and Vit D so caution should be exercised if supplementing a commercial diet.

[zayda_asher]

There is nothing wrong with trying Cod Liver Oil for itchies - the Omega 3 might actually help some cases. It just so happens that Cod Liver Oil does have a lot of Vit A in it - if there happens to be a deficiency in Vit A, it will help - if it is not given in huge quantities over an extended period, it will do no harm.

Actually I have gone through this with Nutritionalists and Dermatologists. The omega 3 in liver oil is negligent and not as good a source as fish body oil. If you are looking for omega 3s, which you are for itchies, you want fish body oil. The oil for omega 3 fish oil capsules is from the BODY of oily fish such as salmon, anchovies and mackerel not the liver. It is much higher quality and does not have the risks associated with OD on Vit A & D.

A theraputic dose of omega 3s for an allergic dog (medium sized) is 3 capsules, containing 180mg of EPA each, a day. If the dog is larger or smaller is will need less or more as appropriate.

Cheers,

Dan

Edited May 4, 2006 by zayda_asher

[bloss344]

I'm with Dan on this one. Cod Liver Oil and Omega 3 Fish Oil are two different things. Most non commercial dog diets can do with the addition of Omega 3 unless the dog is eating a diet based on fish, not just a small amount of fish each week or month. A dog eating a fish based diet would require Omega 6.

Cod liver oil is used to supply vit a and vit d to the diet, again not necessary if the dog is eating a commercial diet. Liver also supplies a high amount of vitamin a so toxicity could occur in some cases. Most people feed enough variety not to need to supply extra vitamin a in the diet and sunshine supplies the necessary vitamin d.