The benefits of dog food containing omega 3 are worth including it in your pet’s diet. This article lists the importance, sources, and side effects of this dog food.
Dogs have their special nutritional needs just like their owners. One such extremely important nutrient is omega 3 essential fatty acids, which avoids inflammation and inflammatory diseases. The first thing to understand here is that the dog’s body cannot produce omega 3 fatty acids and hence, it may suffer from several health problems like arthritis and joint pain.
In order to avoid such dog health problems, you must add omega 3 to the regular diet of your dog. As a matter of fact, most of the top brands of dog foods are rich with many nutrients, but they lack omega 3. Some brands contain loads of omega 6 fatty acids, but not omega 3. Such foods can create an imbalance in the fatty acid levels of the dog’s body.
Benefits of dog food with Omega 3
The Omega 3 fatty acid is a real life saver for dogs. It avoids inflammation, acts as a great cancer resisting agent, and maintains joint and cardiac health of the dogs. It is a quality fat that must be a part of your dog’s food. It is unfortunate that AAFCO (the Association of American Feed Control Officials) doesn’t mention it as an essential nutrient.
However, if your pet is not getting enough of it in its meals, then it is your responsibility to provide the same. You can give omega 3 supplements to your dog as well. However, you need to be very specific and careful while adding both omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids in the dog’s food. A healthy dog food must contain 2.2% omega 6 and 0.3% omega 3. Smallest irregularity in this ratio can cause various dog health conditions.
Sources
There are numerous sources of omega 3 like fish oil, flaxseeds, soybeans, walnuts, and canola. Even though they are inexpensive, avoid using soybeans and prefer using fish oil for dogs. You can also include fish in the regular home-cooked dog food. Fish are naturally loaded with omega 3 and they also contain natural proteins.
Most dogs love fish and hence, there should not be any problem for you to include them in their daily diet. Another option is the omega 3 supplements that are available in drug stores. These supplements are helpful for treating high cholesterol levels, skin allergies, and joint inflammations in dogs. Many of these supplements also contain vitamin E, which is a great antioxidant for the dogs.
Finding the Food
You don’t need to take special efforts for adding omega 3 into the dog’s food. All that you need to do is to add 3 Oz salmons/canned salmons to the dog’s meal. You can bring home a regular tin of canned salmons from Bumblebee. A 14 Oz tin provides you about 5 servings. The second thing that you can do is to add 2 to 4 drops of vitamin E oil into the dog’s food. You can also add Glucosamine and chondroitin in the treats. SeaPet pet food products are pretty good for that.
There are many brands that you can consider while thinking of dog treats with omega 3. Honest Kitchen Force Dog Food, Orijen 6 Fish Dog Food, Taste of the Wild Pacific Stream, Canidae’s Grain Free Salmon, Acana’s Wild Prairie, Wellness’s Core Reduced Fat Recipe, Canine Caviar’s Venison and Split Pea, Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover’s Soul’s Adult Dog Formula etc., are some of the dog food products that you can find with omega 3 as a significant ingredient.
Precautions
Proper precautionary measures must be taken while adding omega 3 in your dog’s food. A general dosage formula is 180 mg omega 3 per 10 lbs of the dog’s total weight. This ratio may vary for each dog, hence ask your veterinarian to set the correct dosage for your dog first. Overdose of omega 3 can cause several side effects.
The most prominent and severe side effects include thinning of blood and lack of blood clotting. Hence, you always need to be cautious about the amount of omega 3 you feed to your dog. In case the dog shows several ill effects after consuming it, then stop feeding it immediately and consult a veterinarian as soon as possible. Providing healthy and home-cooked food with healthy fatty acids is also a good option to avoid such side effects.
It is agreed that you need to provide the healthiest dog food with omega 3 essential fatty acids to your dogs. However, it is even more important to administer it in a proper dosage, and only after consultation with the veterinarian.
