I am recent to the Zone (Soy Zone), and now that I am benefitting from this and the fish oil, I would like to add the oil to my small dog's diet. Everyone seems to have larger dogs on these posts. My dog is almost 14 years old, and I would like to make the rest of his life as good as possible (wish I had known about this sooner). Based on his weight of 18 pounds, can anyone tell me how many mg. to give him per day? Thanks. Spiritdoctor

This is disheartening--no one seems to have the answer. Is there another place I might post this question where it will get more traffic? :( Thanks. Spiritdoctor

What about dog oil for my fish? 8)

I'm sorry to say that I don't think there is an authoritative answer to your question- that is, nobody has ever determined the ideal amount of fish oil per unit of bodyweight for dogs. What I can tell you is this: some fish oil is better than none, and it's unlikely that you could get into too much trouble if were to overestimate the ideal amount for your dog. After all, it's just fat, so you don't have to worry about toxicity provided that you're using clean stuff. Given that Dr. Sears reccommends 4g per day of pharmaceutical-grade fish oil as the maintanence dose for humans, I would think that 0.5-1.0 grams/day would be along the same lines for an 18lb dog. Perhaps you could give the dog 1 large capsule every other day, or one mini-capsule every day. Just my suggestion, I'm no expert. but I think that amount should be enough to at least ensure that your dog isn't omega-3 deficient.

Thanks, Brian. That sounds like a good place to start. I will take your suggestion and start conservatively. I appreciate the input. I've also had him on glucosamine with MSM for a few weeks. He seems to be moving around easier. I am not deluding myself that he will live for a miraculous amount of time (he also gets treated for a thyroid condition), but I hope to make his quality of life as pleasant as possible, no matter what. :) spiritdoctor

Sorry to leave you dishearted and wondering if anyone was going to respond. Its been a hectic week and I havent had a chance to get onto the forum. My dogs are 16 yrs old , weigh 17Kgs each and I feed them 2 capsules of 1000mg each with their food once a day. However....as Brian said dont start your dog at that dose!!!!! Remember that when humans start on fish oil there can be constipation due to the toxins ( see other posts in this forum for the details). there can also be the opposite effect as the toxins are washed from the system. I used to give my dogs 1 tablespoon of olive oil 2-3 times per week before i became a zoner and then I switched them to FO. I dont use PGFO and usually buy the health food brands Omega 3 - which ever is on special. I figure that for the extra couple of years or months that this may make to their existance that the extra grade is not worth it ( just my opinion). To combat the constipation I use human physlium husks that I can buy in the supermarket, once gain starting them on small dose and working up to a small teaspoon when I think that they need it. Remember to add extra water if you feed them physlium husks. My dogs have a very moist diet which includes lots of vegs that I cook for them myself. One indication that I followed was that my dog ( one in particular, the one with a heart condition) just LOVES the stuff and licks the bowl for 10 minutes after it is all gone. You can pierce the capsule and only use half, or buy a container of oil ( even the good old cod liver oil - they love the taste, if you can stand the smell) to start on lower doses. OK in summary: start with small amounts watch for reactions combat constipation with extra water and psylium husks if runny then cut back a little on the oil &/or add 1/4 teasp psylium husks As to timing my [b:28b94b4ea2]guess[/b:28b94b4ea2] would be that it would take about a month or so to get him up to a couple of caplsules a day. If you feed him more than once a day then divide the dose accordingly Hope that helps cheers Top You may also like to try the peanut butter as covered in another thread

I am very interested to know the results from giving your older dogie fish oil. Please advise, or contact me at my e-mail addy: smac50@gmail.com

Thank you.

Your dog will benefit very much from the Omega3's... You can give him anywhere from 1g to 2g a day (about 3/4 teaspoon or up to 3 caps of OmegaRx). Since he's aged it's better to try upping the dose a bit more...

Some of the companies that produce high quality fish oil products offer specific ones for pets. Check nordicnaturals.com Most of their products are not as concentrated as Sears, but the standards in Norway are very high and their products are very good. Bill

Greetings..Just wanted to add my thoughts on fish oil for pets. My German Shephard was given less than 6 months to live because of a swelling spleen. I guess spleen problems are common with shephards. The vet told me the spleen would continue to swell until it ruptured if I did not have it removed. Well I love my dog but a few thousand for surgery was not in my budget. I felt so guilty, he's only 8 loving, active, smart, super with the kids. He started to lose weight because the spleen pressed on his stomach and made him full too fast. He stopped wanting to play fetch and was having strange stroke-like symptoms that would come and go.How can I just let him die????
I thought mmmmm inflamation....why not try......so what the heck... started him on 4g a day of fish oil. I split it into 2 smaller meals a day. Within 2 weeks he started perking up. His appetite improved, he brought his favorite ball to me. He put back on 6 lbs in the first month, back up to his ideal weight of 80lbs. I can no longer feel his spleen when I grab both sides of his body. He's active, back to his playful loving old self. He is now on 2g a day as kind of a maintenence.
Oh and by the way.....this all happened July 2006.......Little more than 6 months hey????

That's great Pamela!

Wow! That is great! Have you had him into the vet to check on the status of th swollen spleen? What did he/she have to say about that?

Looks like he has outlived the prognosis by a good year, and no sign of worsening. Did you use Dr. Sear's brand? Just curious.

Hi, I'm new here, but I"ve been giving my pets fish oil for about 5 yrs. We had a 17 yr old beagle (about 20 lbs) who I use to give 500-1,000 mg/ day of omega 3's. I think you'd be safe with that range for sure. I also made sure I had her on a high quality dog food with glucosamine sulfate in it- I like either Eukanuba or Nutro-- even tho she was a small dog, we fed her & my big dog the same "large breed" food- as that has more glucosamine in it than normal food does. You can also purchase it in powder or capsule form & mix it into some soft/canned dog food or peanut butter.
I am sure that the combo of the glucosamine (she had bad knees & virtually zero disc in 2 segments of her spine) and fish oil helped her live a longer, better life.

We now have 2 new dogs that I am giving the same combo to- they have shiny coats & are healthy so far!
Best of luck with your pup.

Hi, I would check the archived articles. I remember Dr. Sears replying to a lady that wanted to give FO to her cat and he gave the suggested amount according to body weight for cats and dogs. I'll see if I can find it again... it was at least 2 years ago.