A Note on Supplements: I just posted a note about a product I like, Immune Dog, by Animal Naturals. This has resulted in a lot of insightful questions from FB friends. The bottom line is that: (1) There is great variation in the qualities of supplements that seem similar, as they are barely regulated; (2) Some are complete frauds and dont work at all; (3) Some are HIGHLY effective, though usually not for every single dog, as dogs differ; (4) WHAT YOUR DOG REQUIRES BY WAY OF SUPPLEMENTATION DEPENDS ENTIRELY ON WHAT YOU FEED AS HIS BASIC DIET, AND ON THE INDIVIDUAL DOG! In other words, if you are feeding a lot of raw meat, your dog is unlikely to require a taurine supplement, as meat is taurine-rich. (I mean, dogs dont need taurine the way cats do; its not considered an essential amino acid for dogs, but its wonderful for them.) I recently posted about an article in DOGS NATURALLY Magazine. Frankly I find this publication often both irresponsible and poorly written -- the only reliable publication on canine health for consumers is the Whole Dog Journal -- but DOGS NATURALLY does address important topics. It included an article recently called Supplementing Kibble on what it recommends you add if you feed an all-kibble diet...which I dont, and many dogs here eat no kibble…but I DO think that is a very useful article. The author, a vet, recommended these supplements for a kibble diet: 1) Omega 3. (This means an oil, whether fish or krill or other, that is high in Omega 3 and NOT in Omega 6, as almost all kibbles have a disproportionately high amount of Omega 6s…do NOT use flaxseed oil, as it is high in Omega 6s.) 2) Whole Food Vitamins. No idea where to buy these but they are derived from real food, rather than synthesized in a lab, probably one in China. (I dont use whole food vitamins as every dog here gets at least some whole food every day, whether a raw turkey neck or a chicken breast or whatever.) 3) Probiotics. 4) Enzymes. 5) ?? There may have been another, but I think its a miracle I remembered four. LOL Putting in my own two cents worth, Id say for Shelties you might want to add Milk Thistle and/or Sam-E, which support gallbladder health (as Shelties tend to have vulnerable livers/gallbladders). Incidentally, you might think that if you are feeding a fish-based kibble, you dont need to add fish oil. Ironically, that might or might not be true! Some fish-based kibbles have very little Omega 3 (which should tell you something about processed food). Read the labels; many kibbles will now TELL you on their label what the ratio of Omega 6: Omega 3 is in the product. You want it to be about 4:1…youre in trouble when your kibble has 6 or 7 times as much Omega 6 as Omega 3…THATs when you need to add an Omega 3 supplement. BTW, there actually now ARE some kibbles that have plenty of Omega 3, though I cant remember which ones offhand. Read labels! This will be in the Nutrient panel, if its included, not on the Ingredient panel. Its also possible to buy EGGS that are rich in Omega 3. It used to be that ALL eggs (and chicken, and beef) had plenty of Omega 3 but that was back when chickens and cows themselves ate a diet rich in Omega 3…now most chickens and cows eat genetically-modified corn, which is high in Omega 6, so the food made from them has too much Omega 6. Sad. So today you need to look for special eggs (and chicken, and beef) to get food that has plenty of Omega 3. If you added some Omega-3 intensive scrambled eggs to your dogs kibble on a regular basis, youd be getting both (some) whole food vitamins AND some Omega 3…so it might be worth the money to find those eggs. I know Trader Joes sells them, as does Ralphs…but Food4Less sure doesnt. Sigh. I hope this is helpful…xo
Posted on: Thu, 03 Apr 2014 23:44:10 +0000
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