Has anyone tried the California Natural skin and coat supplement ?

    • Silver

    Has anyone tried the California Natural skin and coat supplement ?

     I bought this for my crew the other day thinking it'd be great because they're all crazy about garlic and it has vitamins in it already whereas reg flax oil doesn't.  Well  I had to force them to eat their food. It's pretty pungent. Think I'll go back to the Omega Dog camelina oil. They seem to like that much better.

    • Gold Top Dog

    Its mainly sunflower oil, isn't it? I think the dogs would prefer, (and it would be better for the skin and coat) to put them on a supplement with fish body oil, like alaskan salmon oil.

    • Silver

     Actually I rotate a number of different oils. My dogs and cats actually DO NOT prefer salmon oil for some strange reason. I  use flax, walnut, coconut, camelina, safflower, sunflower, borage and evening primrose oils. My dogs have the most gorgeous coats you've ever seen and are extremely healthy. BTW... Coconut oil can do pretty much everything Salmon oil can and more and there's no concern about PCBs or mercury, etc if the Salmon oil isn't pharmaceutical grade ( which the majority ARE NOT ).    I did take the Cal Nat oil to try out on the cats and they seem to like it because they have this really weird LOVE of garlic. Go figure.    Confused

    • Gold Top Dog

    Coconut oil is not the same as fish oil. It's medium chain fatty acids, and fish oil is omega 3 fatty acids. Fish oil contains DHA, and coconut oil does not. Coconut oil may help with nice coats (and it does! It helps fight off the yeasty beasties, too), but it doesn't have the benefits to the brain and heart that fish oil does.

     
     

    • Gold Top Dog

    It's fine to rotate oils for a healthy dog, but be aware that oil is not oil is not oil.

    First, most dogs utilize the omega-3s in animal oils much better than those in plant oils.  And some dogs seem entirely to lack the ability to process ALA into DHA and EPA.  So, since all the omega-3s in flax oil are in the form of ALA, for such dogs they may as well not be there.

    Second, fats have different functions in the body.  Besides energy and skin and coat health, the endocrine system uses fats to create hormones, and the immune system uses fatty acids too.  Plus, neural receptors require fats to build new connections.  Each function uses a different type of fatty acid.

    Thus, while it's nice to provide a variety of oils to a dog that tolerates it well, it's best to do some research as some oils need to be balanced and provided at a consistent level (too much omega-6s will interfere with the uptake of omega-3s, for instance).