Oil in Dog's Food? (border collie, vet, black, skin) - Dogs - - City-Data Forum

brightdoglover · 06-03-2008, 02:18 PM

My 12-year-old Border Collie/Corgi always had a beautiful top coat of sleek black fur. Last year he got his annual body shave, and then had to start on Prednisone for cutaneous lupus (the more mild version). His top coat never grew back. Also, his neck had been shaved to put on a pain med patch after an injury, and has barely grown back. I gather this can be a side effect of Prednisone.
His undercoat is very thin, fuzzy, and his skin seems quite dry. The groomer gave him an oatmeal bath. Can any readers suggest oil in his food? I've seen salmon oil advertised in dog supply catalogues. Would regular vegetable oil be any good? I remember my childhood dog getting peanut oil in his food for dry skin.
Kona's dry skin doesn't seem to bother him or be itchy or anything. He just looks so... scruffy, after being sleek like a seal for almost 12 years.

ShepsMom · 06-03-2008, 08:10 PM

Salmon oil is perfect for dogs, 1000mg per 10lb body weight! I buy gel capsules (human grade), or you can get it liquid, whichever you prefer. I give it to them may be 3-4 times a week.

Good luck, sorry to hear about your pup.

leorah · 06-03-2008, 08:49 PM

I concur with ShepsMom on the salmon oil. I also give my dogs a tsp of flaxseed every day. It has good fatty acids that help the skin.

cleosmom · 06-03-2008, 11:35 PM

I would not go with veg. oil. 100% Salmon Oil would be first pick, extra virgin olive oil second.

While the olive oil is great for the coat, the salmon oil is great for skin, coat, heart and joints

brightdoglover · 06-04-2008, 12:19 AM

thanks for the responses, I'll go with the salmon oil.

He's the most vigorous 12-year-old you could find. Apparently, the cutaneous lupus isn't holding him back, just making him very scruffy.

2goldens · 06-04-2008, 02:41 AM

My Mom gave her German Shepards olive oil and crushed garlic a few times a week.
Interesting answers about salmon oil.

truckzter · 06-04-2008, 02:46 AM

We give our dog olive oil and flaxseed oil (I found some made for pets), but you gotta be careful .. fatty cysts often form because of too much fat in the system (it happened to our dog). And so we cut back, and they have pretty much gone away.

mdtoaz · 06-05-2008, 08:32 AM

My dog has skin allergies and was losing some patches of hair. The vet now has us adding fish oil to his food. We use the gel caps. He won't eat them, so we poke a hole in them and squeeze out the oil onto his food.

I found some in liquid form at a health food store, but it was quite expensive. We got it to make it easier on our dog sitter while we went away for a wedding.

songinthewind7 · 06-05-2008, 10:04 AM

I give my dog organic coconut oil about every 3 days in her food. I use 1/2 cup. She likes it and it keeps her coat sleek but it's also good for the joints.

Dashdog · 06-05-2008, 10:17 AM

Virgin Coconut oil was one of the things I gave my mom's dog to get him through his big lupus flare up and keep him from having another one. He was almost bald and had a ton of lesions and all the vet did was up his steroids and antibiotics that did nothing. I Changed his diet put him on Innova ( from Iams), Added The missing link, Fish oil, Coconut oil and Co Q10 and and we sprayed him with Willards water and had him drink it in his water too. It did not take long for his coat to grown back and look beautiful, his lesions to heal and he perked up and looked so good. Whole Dog Journal did stories on both Virgin Coconut oil and Willards water.