Fish Oil Capsules?

[Erin]

So Hershey was at the vet the other day. I was concerned because she seemed to be chewing on and licking her paws pretty often for the past couple weeks. The vet said her paws looked ok but a little dry, and that it could be a slight allergy to food or to something outside. My theory is that she is allergic to cut grass... The vet gave me a bottle of fish oil capsules to give her once a day, to moisturize her dry pads and help with a slight allergy.

I smear a little peanut butter on the capsules and she swallows them, no problem. But her breath and her face smells like fish! Ugh!! Anybody else deal with this? Do the doggie breath mint treats actually work?

[Maryann,Roo and Tigger]

I know just what you mean! Only it was my breath that smelled like fish, when I tried fish oil capsules for heart health. There are several doggie products that contain omega 3 and 6, and don't give fish breath. Not sure if these have all the benefits of fish oil or not.

[Adrianne Matzkin]

2 suggestions although I don't know if either will help.
1. My doc told me to go to the health food store and ask them which fish oil doesn't leave the smell.
2. Is she breaking the capsule when she eats the peanut butter? We had a Bearded Collie that for 12 of the 13 she was with us, she had to take meds for Addison's Disease, twice a day. We used turkey ham, in peices just big enough to cover the meds so she would just swallow them and not chew them.
Have a great day,
Adrianne

[fergie11]

I've just started giving Fergie fish oil too. Haven't had a problem but I think suggestion #2 above would be good. Someone told me they might get diahrea from the fish oil too but Fergie has not. I've taken fish oil and never had a problem with that either. I bought the cheapest that Walgreen's had.

[Dianne Carter ~ Trinity Doodles]

Hi there! I just wanted to add some information for your consideration. All fish oil is not created equal. Fish oil is a rendered product. Depending upon the means of rendering you may or may not be getting the benefits you think you are for yourself or your family, including the furkids. I actually developed a heightened awareness of this after an in depth conversation with a Champion Food (Orijen and ACANA) representative at a global show. One instance where looking out for our pups best interest caused me to also investigate those that my family were using. I too used to buy the gigantuous bottle at Sams club that also had flax seed oil and more. It is not a good value if you are not getting what you think you are getting, worse you may be getting some things you would never make an informed decision to ingest ;(

While I cannot say with accuracy of the reliability of the source of this article, they are not selling a product and it contains some very thought provoking questions you may want to consider in making your fish oil supplement choices.

http://www.vaughns-1-pagers.com/food/fish-oil-summary.htm

Further I will pop in after a bit with some specific fish topic stuff for our furkids (have to make it look like I am actually accomplishing something today) as well as the fish breath thing. I would use extreme caution in selecting breath mint treats, many are garbage - and with all the dedication we invest in their diets it seems kind of silly to use some of these.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Jack needs EFA supplementation as well for severe inhalant allergies, which include several grasses. His specialist originally recommended fish oil capsules, but after some digestive upsets, she switched him to evening primrose oil capsules...they contain the same omega 3 & 6 fatty acids, and have no smell. Jack does very well with them.
You might try getting Hershey to just swallow the fish oil capsules rather than chew them; that would eliminate the odor. Jack is a picky eater who will not chew a supplement no matter what it's covered with, and I just put the capsules down his throat as you would any medication that has to be swallowed.

[Moose&Mica]

Hmmmm, I feed mine two 1000 mg fish oil capsules a day. I get big bottles of human grade at Costco. I've never had a problem with fishy breath or fur. I toss them the pills like I'm tossing them a treat. Moose swallows his whole, but Mica chews hers up. They eat them like M&Ms. :) They also sell a salmon oil in a pump bottle at some of the pet stores. You add so many pumps to the dry food. Now that might cause a fishy smell. ;)

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

It does...really stinks, lol!