Flax Seed Oil

I have been giving Franklin Fish Oil on the recommendation of my vet who said to add Omega 3 fatty acids to his diet for some limping issues he had a while back. Well recently I read about all the benefits of Flaxseed Oil vs Fish Oil and I'm wondering if anybody uses Flaxseed Oil and how much you give? The only "good" fish oil I could find was wild salmon oil, and this may sound stupid, but I really don't want to be feeding a supplement made from wild salmon since they are on the brink of becoming an endangered species. Honestly I'd much rather have an oil made from farmed fish where the wild population wasn't being hammered for the sake of my dog's joints. The flaxseed oil I got is 1300 mg per soft gel and I've been squirting one soft gel over his breakfast. Do I need to add any other supplement to make it more effective? I've read that mixing it with non-fat cottage cheese makes it more effective? Any suggestions?

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Permalink Reply by Sam Tsang on July 19, 2011 at 2:56pm

Don't give the oil, too potent, stick with fresh grind.

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Permalink Reply by Melissa and Franklin! on July 19, 2011 at 4:03pm

do you just grind with a coffee grinder and add to the food? How much do you add? Frank is going to the vet today for his annual exam and we will be doing bloodwork to check to make sure his organs are all ok from when he got into raisins last year so I'm going to ask the vet her opinion as well for what type of supplement to use. Its a different vet than the one who recommended a supplement so it'll be good to have a different point of view.

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Permalink Reply by Sam Tsang on July 19, 2011 at 4:38pm

yup, 1tsp in a coffee grinder fresh, keep the bag of flaxseed in your freezer, avoid sunlight. Don't pre-grind or heat the flaxseed. If you give it whole, it'll go straight through the digestive system as extra fibre and you will not get any omega 3 that way.

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Permalink Reply by Beth on July 19, 2011 at 3:06pm

My understanding is that dogs and cats have a harder time converting the fatty acids in flax to something they can process.

According to all my fish guides for sustainable eating, wild-caught Salmon (from Alaska) is in fact one of the most environmentally safe fishes to eat.

http://www.edf.org/page.cfm?tagID=1521

Instead of fish oil, what we do is give the dogs some canned sardines or canned salmon a few times a week. There is some extra salt, but since they don't get any other human junk food and their treats are all high-quality (and salt free), I figure it's not enough to make a difference. I reduce the kibble by a couple tablespoons and add the fish. They adore it. So does the cat.