Salmon oil - do you add vitamin E supplement?

[darby]

Hi all,

First post in a while. I have just ordered some Healthy Hounds salmon oil for my cockers - mainly as I have an older cocker with a slight heart problem. I am hoping the salmon oil will help in some way.

Online alot of people seem to be adding vitamin E supplement as it is needed when using fish oils - supposedly.

I am wondering what vitamin E supplement you use (prefer oil)? And how many vitamin E IUs do you add per dog weight? And how often - daily or how many times per week?

Healthy Hounds kinda think I might be OK without as there is some in my dog food (Burns) but added that I still should supplement with vitamin E as it has other good properties?

Anybody do this? Or what are your thoughts? Thanks, darby

[butterflywings21]

I'm not much help but i give Tilly yumega plus, this has golden flax oil, salmon oil, starflower oil vit e and for breeds up to 10 kg they have 2.5 mls aday, 10-25 kg have 5-7.5 mls aday....

[darby]

I'm not much help but i give Tilly yumega plus, this has golden flax oil, salmon oil, starflower oil vit e and for breeds up to 10 kg they have 2.5 mls aday, 10-25 kg have 5-7.5 mls aday....

I was looking into flaxseed oil aswell. I know some people who show and flaxseed gives a great shine to the dog's coat.

Though browsing online I found conflicting information. Both salmon oil and flaxseed oil provide omega-3 but with flaxseed the dog has to do extra work to convert it. Supposedly this can be more difficult for older dogs, espcially ones with a heart condition. (www.dogaware.com explains this.)

Whereas with salmon oil the omega is assimilated into the system quicker. Some salmon oil manufacturers: Grizzly, Kronch and Salmopet say that no extra vitamin E needs to be added. Healthy Hounds say that I might get away without adding any but they still think it is a good supplement to add.

On www.dogaware.com they say that by taking salmon oil that the dog's vitamin E reserves are reduced so you need to supplement. They recommend 200 IU of vitamin E for a medium sized dog - every day at the start but after a while 2/3 times a week. I just have to make sure I don't give too much.

Confusing or what!

(BTW on www.lintbells.com they talk about adding vitamin E if you use salmon oil.)

[Anita D]

Hi, I buy my salmon oil from fish4dogs and have emailed them to ask. Will let you know if/when I get a reply.

[Jane57]

Ive always gave riley evening primrose oil with his breakfast and kronch salmon oil in his dinner.

[butterflywings21]

Everything is so confusing, conflicting info everywhere you go. x

[Abbi]

I'll be interested what Fish 4 dogs say as I give their salmon oil too. I didn't know about the vitamin E supplements being necessary. I do give a multi vitamin daily by Higher Nature but not sure how much of that is vitamin E.

[Jane57]

I put no where near as much thought to my diet as I do with rileys .

[Jane57]

Checked kronch salmon oil and it has 10/15 mg vit E per 100ml.  Not sure now.

[praia]

I don't believe there is a set defined rule, but generally people recommending 200-400 iu of vit E per 1000 mg of fish oil.  We don't supplement vitamin E as we believe they get enough of it from their meat and offal. 

Fish oil is more easily processed by dogs than flaxseed.  Many people supplement with flaxseed and see the results they want, but I prefer to feed my dogs strictly fish oil along with a diet heavy in fish.  Evening primrose oil is also a common supplement, but it provides omega 6, which a dog should get more than enough of in kibble, meat, eggs, etc.  One should find a good balance between omega 3 and 6, but because omega 6 is already so common in a normal dog diet this is why supplementing omega 3 is recommended.

[darby]

Checked kronch salmon oil and it has 10/15 mg vit E per 100ml.  Not sure now.

I got an email from kronch UK saying a vitamin E supplement wasn't needed.

[darby]

I don't believe there is a set defined rule, but generally people recommending 200-400 iu of vit E per 1000 mg of fish oil.  We don't supplement vitamin E as we believe they get enough of it from their meat and offal.

The funny thing is, it is mentioned alot on websites but yet I still haven't found a definite way of calculating how much vitamin E to add based on the omega content in the oil being used.

Lintbells (makers of yumove, yumega, etc.) have a good article on why you should add vitamin E if using an oil:
http://www.lintbells.com/articles/dog-health-and-vitamin-e

They say: "Adding oils or oily fish to your dog's diet also increases the requirement for Vitamin E. Omega 3 & 6 oils are particularly good for your dog's health, but it is extremely important to add Vitamin E at the same time."

Also: "The exact amounts of Vitamin E required depend upon the levels and precise mix of polyunsaturated omega 3&6 oils being added. If you know the precise fatty acid analysis of the oil, it is possible to calculate the exact requirement for vitamin E."

Yet Lintbells resell Salmopet salmon oil too and they say for that product you don't need to add vitamin E.

So I am not sure. Would it be in the brand's interest to say that you don't need to add vitamin E? Its confusing.

With Healthy Hounds, initially when I enquired, I was told to add some. But they are planning on selling a vitamin E product themselves too! 

[Neon]

I'll be interested what Fish 4 dogs say as I give their salmon oil too. I didn't know about the vitamin E supplements being necessary.

Me too, I had no idea vitamin E needs to be given as a supplement. 

[Anita D]

Here's the reply from Fish4Dogs.
-----
Thank you for your enquiry regarding Salmon Oil and Vitamin E.
If you give a dog oily fish they need extra Vitamin E as polyunsaturated oils increase the need for Vitamin E as metabolising long chain fats uses up vitamin E.

We are already way over the vitamin E requirement in our foods – declared levels are 3.5 x FEDIAF guidelines and actual levels are 11 x so we are way over the levels required and more than enough to compensate for the extra consumption of Vitamin E created by the metabolising the fish oil.  There is no danger from these high Vitamin E levels as you can’t overdo vitamin E

If I can be of any further help, do let me know.
 
Kind regards,
 
Francesca
 
Francesca Reece
Customer Service Advisor

-----------------

I read that last para as meaning they have enough E supplement in their own brand kibble to aid the digestion of their fish oil supplement.

I feed raw and don't feel I need to add an E supplement as it's found in Liver and Kidney and so hopefully they should get enough.  What are everyone elses feelings on this?

[Neon]

I've just found this on another breed forum, very interesting.  I've come to the conclusion that if you feed Fish for Dogs food, you will be giving enough vitamin E.  Otherwise it looks like we need to supplement.