Research - Fish Oil and Omega-3 Fatty Acids for Dogs
Skin and Coat
"Dogs receiving marine oil showed a significant improvement in pruritus [...], self-trauma [...] and coat character [...] over time. When compared to the corn oil control over time, marine oil supplementation significantly improved pruritus [...], alopecia [...] and coat character [...]. This study demonstrates the effectiveness of high doses of marine oil as an alternative anti-inflammatory for canine pruritic skin disease."
"Omega-3 fatty acid-enriched diets can be used to control inflammation associated with dermatologic conditions."
"Results supported the use of EPA- and DHA-enriched diets as part of anti-inflammatory treatments for dogs with chronic inflammatory diseases."
Brain
"The high-DHA group had significantly better results for reversal task learning, visual contrast discrimination, and early psychomotor performance … Dietary fortification with fish oils rich in DHA and possibly other nutrients implicated in neurocognitive development following weaning improved cognitive, memory, psychomotor, immunologic, and retinal functions in growing dogs."
Docosahexaenoic acid and neurologic development in animals
"Feeding dams a diet enriched with DHA during gestation and lactation has been associated with improvements in neurologic development of their puppies. Also, feeding diets or supplements containing DHA may improve memory or learning in young dogs."
Joints
" … dogs fed the test food had a significantly improved ability to rise from a resting position and play at 6 weeks and improved ability to walk at 12 and 24 weeks, compared with control dogs … Ingestion of the test food raised blood concentrations of omega-3 fatty acids and appeared to improve the arthritic condition in pet dogs with osteoarthritis."
"The change in mean peak vertical force between days 90 and 0 was significant for the test-food group (5.6%) but not for the control-food group (0.4%). Improvement in peak vertical force values was evident in 82% of the dogs in the test-food group ... dogs fed the test food had significant improvements in lameness and weight bearing on day 90, compared with measurements obtained on day 0 ... At least in the short term, dietary supplementation with fish oil omega-3 fatty acids resulted in an improvement in weight bearing in dogs with osteoarthritis."
Heart
"n-3 PUFA supplementation can reduce AF vulnerability in a new canine pacing model of atrial cardiomyopathy."
Omega-3 fatty acids in Boxer dogs with arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy
"These data suggest that fish oil, but not flax oil, supplementation for 6 weeks reduces arrhythmia in Boxers with ARVC and that it could be useful in treating this common disease."
Prevention of Sudden Cardiac Death by Dietary Pure ω-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids in Dogs
"These results indicate that purified omega-3 fatty acids can prevent ischemia-induced ventricular fibrillation in this dog model of sudden cardiac death."
NOTE: The omega-3 fatty acids were administered intravenously.
