Flax seed.

cyndr03

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I have horses and feed them flax seed for the Omega 3 supposed to have anti inflammatory properties and promote shiny coat and strong hooves.  Flax seed is also highly touted for humans.  Anyone feed flax seed to cats?  If so how much?  
 

betsygee

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My vet recently recommended that I put flax seed oil in my cats' food to help with the dry skin/'dandruff' they had this winter. She said about 1-1/2 teaspoons per day.  I confess I haven't tried it yet.  
    I'm planning to start out with a small amount, a few drops, to see if they will eat it.  
 
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cyndr03

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I did a little searching on the web since my post and apparently cats don't benefit from flax seeds.  They do best getting their Omega 3's from fish products. My kitties are getting older (13 and 14) and I wonder if they might benefit from vitamins/supplements.  
 

chwx

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I'd opt for fish oil over flaxseed for kitties since they can't process ALA (O3's in FS) into DHA/EPA which is the type of O3 in fish oils. I squirt 1000mg over my cats food now and again. If fed on the regular, you should supplement vitamin E too since fish oil needs E to process in the body and can deplete the vitamin in the body if you're feeding it regularly.
 
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cyndr03

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I am also wondering if there is a good "does it all" type supplement for cats- vitamins, promotes healthy skin and coat, anti- inflammatory, joint support.  
 

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I don't know about the "one pill does all" supplement, but I did use to give my cats fish oil. My cat Wiggies gets quite bad dandruff every winter from the dryness. He used to like a squirt on his wet food every day. I ended up throwing out the bottle though because it went off before I used it all up, and that annoyed me because it was expensive. I remember thinking that I'd buy the capsules next time and just open one each meal and that way they'd last longer, but I have to confess I never got back into giving the oil.
 

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I don't know about the "one pill does all" supplement, but I did use to give my cats fish oil. My cat Wiggies gets quite bad dandruff every winter from the dryness. He used to like a squirt on his wet food every day. I ended up throwing out the bottle though because it went off before I used it all up, and that annoyed me because it was expensive. I remember thinking that I'd buy the capsules next time and just open one each meal and that way they'd last longer, but I have to confess I never got back into giving the oil.
It does make more sense to give fish oil than flax--especially for the taste.  Interesting that my vet suggested flax.  
 

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I'd go for fish oil (Capsules, not the pump stuff because it goes rancid really fast. I use the human stuff.) and probably a good joint supplement. Assuming you're feeding a good diet and kitty is eating well, there shouldn't be a need for added vitamins. Fish oil and a joint supplement would help with skin & coat, joints, inflammation, heart health, ect.
 
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cyndr03

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Thanks all.  I am not sure the amount of fish oil that my two cats should get.   For myself I buy fish oil capsules from costco.  Each capsule has 1000 mg of fish oil (purporting to provide 300 mg of Omega 3 per capsule).  The people dose is 3 capsules per day.  I have no idea what the kitty dose would be.  Any thoughts?
 
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cyndr03

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I am also wondering if there is a good "does it all" type supplement for cats- vitamins, promotes healthy skin and coat, anti- inflammatory, joint support.  
My horses are fed a product called Platinum Performance which is highly touted for horses among horse folk.  This company makes a supplement for cats BUT interestingly a main ingredient is flax seed!  I'm surprised at this given that people are saying cats can't obtain omega 3 from flax.  I am going to contact the company and ask "What's up with that?"

https://www.platinumperformance.com/Platinum-Performance0174-Feline/productinfo/FPLAG1/
 
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ldg

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If your vet wants to recommend non-fish based omega 3s, he/she should recommend Evening Primrose Oil. It contains GLA, which cats can convert to the usable DGLA.

An appropriate dose of fish oil or Evening Primrose oil is 500mg a day for an adult cat.

If you're interested, here is some info on fats in cats: http://www.chiro.org/nutrition/FULL/The_Essential_PUFA_Guide.shtml

http://www.blakkatz.com/fat.pdf

And omegas and cats: http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=24+1306&aid=665

I do recommend a high quality fish oil if you're going that route. Salmon or krill oil, preferably.
 
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