Salmon Oil

Question
QUESTION: I see one question posted regarding this, but the answer is different from that given me by my vet.  I have the same salmon oil by Rexall (2000 mg of salmon oil, 180 mg EPA, 220 mg of DHA, 400 mg of Omega 3).  

I have 2 dogs.  One weighs 113 pounds, and the other weighs 40 pounds.  

My vet said to give my big guy a total of 4000 mg per day.
Is that the dosage you would give?  How much do I give the my smaller 40-pound dog?

My big dog has lick granulomas that I'm hoping to try to heal.  Have tried absolutely everything, prescription and nonprescription, including vitamin E.  He also has arthritis, so hoping he'll benefit all around.  Have you had any feedback regarding use of Omega 3 for lick granulomas?

Can you help me determine the correct dosage for both dogs?  My big dog had his 1st 4000 mg this morning, and he gobbled it right up (unusual for him), while the smaller one was wondering where hers was!  It's certainly easy down the hatch except it's so slippery.  It appears my smaller dog will like it, as well.

Thank you for your help.

ANSWER: This is a topic that I really need to know what you are feeding the dogs before I can try and help out here. Could you give me that information please?

I'd also like to know what sort of exercise and play they get over a week's time. Do they go to a dog park? For walks or runs? Frisbee in the back yard?

Have you had the thyroid tested?

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QUESTION: Thyroid test on Max (my big dog) was fine last month.  He's also on Deramaxx for his arthritis.  I feed both dogs Purina One Healthy Weight at the advise of our vet (since December).  Max has had Purina since age 7 weeks (he's now 7-1/2), whereas we just adopted Teala 2 years ago, and don't know what her diet was until she came to us.  She's been on Purina for 2 years.  (Max should weigh about 95 pounds, and Teala should weigh about 35 pounds).  

They have free food and water, so I combine the directed amount for both dogs in 1 feeding bowl for the day.  On most days, the bowl will be empty the next morning, but not always.  

Exercise:  They stay outside.  Their kennel run is 65' long, so they have quite a bit of exercise room.  Teala is extremely active, whereas Max was not until we got Teala 2 years ago.  Now he is starting to act almost like a pup again.  They chase each other and play very actively except on days when Max seems to revert back to his dog house (these are days I think his knee must be bothering him?).  

The vet said I'd know when we could resume walking on the leash again as the Deramaxx began to work, and did urge us to exercise.  I think he is ready to start walking again (slowly) as he's running quite a bit in the kennel now.  He's been on the Deramaxx since December.  Our usual routine is 1-3/4 miles daily, (from home to the park and back) about 5 days a week.  Hopefully we'll be back to that shortly.

Max is aggressive and unpredictable towards others, so he's either in his kennel, or on a leash so I can control him, whereas Teala is friendly with everyone and often takes a brief run to visit the neighbors.

Hope this helps.

ANSWER: Sorry to take so long to answer but I wanted to be sure I was giving you the best advice possible so I put a lot of research into it. This is a complicated situation and there could be several factors at work.

I'm not fond of kibble of any kind but I find the ones for reducing weight the worst. The one you are feeding is full of corn which will go right through the dog undigested. Dogs are carnivores and sometimes just feeding any kibble will cause weight gain because they can't deal with the high carb content. Do them a huge favor and switch to a species appropriate diet of real meat, bone and organ meat. Just this alone could change many factors they are dealing with, and they will lose weight.

Lick granulomas are controversial because the cause is not definitely known so there are several things thought to be the source. Whatever the cause, you need to remove *that* instead of using something else to hide the problem. Hopefully just the changes I recommend will help but I think a dog like Max really needs a good going over by a homeopath since he's got several issues. Look for a "classic homeopath" which means they will use a single liquid remedy once and then see what the reaction is.

The fish oil is about the right dose for Max while Teala should get about 1000 a day. Depends on what food they are eating of course.

A lot of times I've found that aggressive dogs are like that because of being vaccinated too many times. I had such a dog and when I stopped vaccinating her she slowly lost the meanness. The homeopath could give you a lot more info on that. There is a good chance that other symptoms come from vaccinations as well.

For arthritis a better solution would be glucosamine, chondroitin and MSM. Deramaxx has been used by about 1 million dogs since its 2002 launch. The FDA's data include 2,813 adverse-event reports for Deramaxx, including 630 dogs who died or were put down. The numbers aren't real high but there are just better solutions.



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QUESTION: Do you know of a dog food brand consistent with the diet you recommend above?  I'm finding corn to be a main ingredient of most of the dog food brands on the market.

Answer
Honestly most commercial raw foods have things in them that really aren't necessary like veggies and I don't recommend any of them long term except for this one. They are also very expensive and are usually ground. Dogs really enjoy chewing their food up so it's better to feed large chunks (or even a whole roast or chicken) than ground. It helps them feel full sooner too.

http://www.raiseapaw4raw.com/

I just buy food from the supermarket including chicken leg quarters (easy meal, just toss each of them a quarter or two), pork ribs, beef heart, kidney, green tripe, any turkey, venison, lamb, the more variety the better. Organic is best but I can't afford that for myself so they don't get it often either. You can study raw feeding at these links.

http://www.rawlearning.com/rawfaq.html
http://www.rawfed.com/myths/

There are raw food co-ops all over the place. You can find one near you at
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/CarnivoreFeed-Supplier