# Fish Oil and Vitamin E Dosages



## Ivy

What would be the most recommended dosage for fish oil and vit. E?
I read somewhere that 1,000mg for every 20lbs, wow, that adds up to a lot of fish oil. That means I would need to feed 5,000mg and 8,500mg!! Is that right?
Does the dosage of vit. E be the same as the fish oil dosage and does the vit. E need to be fed every time fish oil is given or just a couple times a week? Sorry about all the questions.


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## BearMurphy

i feed 300 EPA/DHA per 40 lbs of body weight I think for fish oil....the bottle will tell you what each pill contains

I actually avoid vitamin E but had always heard that when feeding kibble and supplementing with fish oil you should throw in some vit E to be balanced. I have actually heard people do that for raw too but I'm not sure if they are just carrying over the kibble philosophy


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## Losech

I give vitamin E since I give a LOT of fish oil. When there is a lot of Omegas, they can deplete E in the body, so I give the E to be on the safe side. If you aren't dosing as much fish oil as I do, just a normal amount, then it's most likely not needed and you'll be fine leaving it out.
I feed fish oil every day. Even skipping just one day for my Shiba gives him the itchies. He has an incredibly dry coat, and the fish oil (and raw eggs) really help keep it under control. But for dogs who don't have problems like mine, you probably don't need to give it every day.


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## BearMurphy

After researching this more, I'm a bit concerned. It seems as though fish oil itself can deplete the body of vitamin E? If I switch to another type of omega 3 can I avoid giving Vitamin E? If not, does anyone know of a non-soy based vitamin E supplement or food source I can use to replenish vitamin E? If you feed whole sardines do you avoid this problem altogether?

I give one pill a day to my 45 lb dog (so he's getting 300 epa/dha per day) because most of the meat I feed is low in omega 3's except for the buffalo liver i feed, random organs I find, and goat heads. so the grass fed food i have is not something I feed a lot of...maybe 5-10% of his diet


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## shellbell

BearMurphy said:


> After researching this more, I'm a bit concerned. It seems as though fish oil itself can deplete the body of vitamin E? If I switch to another type of omega 3 can I avoid giving Vitamin E? If not, does anyone know of a non-soy based vitamin E supplement or food source I can use to replenish vitamin E? If you feed whole sardines do you avoid this problem altogether?
> 
> I give one pill a day to my 45 lb dog (so he's getting 300 epa/dha per day) because most of the meat I feed is low in omega 3's except for the buffalo liver i feed, random organs I find, and goat heads. so the grass fed food i have is not something I feed a lot of...maybe 5-10% of his diet


Now I am also wondering if I should go back to giving vitamin E. I did when I fed kibble. But stopped when I switched to raw. Tux gets four squirts of fish oil a day for his allergies, and Cabo gets 2 squirts a day just b/c. Tux gets his fish oil per the recommendation of the holistic vet he sees for allergies though, and I feel like she would have told me if I needed to add in vitamin E. She knows I feed raw too. 

When I did give vitamin E, I used the GNC brand and gave 200 IUs a few times a week. It is a stored vitamin, so no need to give daily unless there is a reason. The GNC brand does contain soy in it, but I’m not worried about that. It is soybean oil, which is different than soy protein. And it is very hard to find vitamin E without some sort of soybean oil included, at least it was for me when I looked.


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## shellbell

Actually, aren't eggs a good source of vitamin E? My dogs get eggs a few times a week....


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## BearMurphy

shellbell said:


> Actually, aren't eggs a good source of vitamin E? My dogs get eggs a few times a week....


yes I found that egg, buffalo meat, kidney, and liver are all sources I've vitamin E but do they have enough to support what the fish oil does?

I'm not sure how much a dog needs...guess I could check AAFCO and then see if I give enough food based Vit E? I'll post an update with what I figure out in case it helps anyone out.

I would love if anyone with a medical or nutrition background contributed to this thread because I don't even have a vet I could ask about this. i tried asking one but she had no idea what I was talking about


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## BearMurphy

shellbell said:


> Actually, aren't eggs a good source of vitamin E? My dogs get eggs a few times a week....


yes I found that egg, buffalo meat, kidney, and liver are all sources I've vitamin E but do they have enough to support what the fish oil does?

I'm not sure how much a dog needs...guess I could check AAFCO and then see if I give enough food based Vit E? I'll post an update with what I figure out in case it helps anyone out.

I would love if anyone with a medical or nutrition background contributed to this thread because I don't even have a vet I could ask about this. i tried asking one but she had no idea what I was talking about


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## Losech

I don't much care about an itty bitty teeny tiny bit of soy from a vitamin E supplement. I highly doubt it'll be bad for my dog, and since I give him a large dose of omegas, he gets the E to be on the safe side. So far there have been no negative effects whatsoever.

I really do not think changing omega sources will stop the depletion effect. It's the omegas in general, not the source, that depletes E in the body. It's not a huge ordeal unless you give very large amounts and never feed food that has E in it. 
One large raw egg gives 0.5 mg of Vitamin E, which is %8 of what a 25 pound dog needs according to NRC requirements. So, no, it doesn't really give enough E for egg to be viable in that regard. They do have more A, D, and some B's than E, but again not enough to be the sole source.


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## BearMurphy

Losech said:


> I really do not think changing omega sources will stop the depletion effect. It's the omegas in general, not the source, that depletes E in the body. It's not a huge ordeal unless you give very large amounts and never feed food that has E in it.


Ok, so you are pretty much saying what I thought before....if I'm replacing the missing omega 3's that should be in the meat i'm feeding, then the fish oil shouldn't be throwing off the Vitamin E balance. i'll do a little more research on balancing a raw diet overall but it sounds like I'm not doing too much damage


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## Kayota

I give fish oil less than once a week mainly because I forget, and the same with eggs, do you think I need to worry about giving vit E? She is doing well so far so I'm erring toward no?


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## Losech

BearMurphy said:


> Ok, so you are pretty much saying what I thought before....if I'm replacing the missing omega 3's that should be in the meat i'm feeding, then the fish oil shouldn't be throwing off the Vitamin E balance. i'll do a little more research on balancing a raw diet overall but it sounds like I'm not doing too much damage


Yup, that's about it. I personally would probably add in a bit of E every now and then, since it's generally a good thing but if you aren't dosing omegas for a therapeutic reason, then daily E isn't necessary. 
Research is never a bad thing, I am constantly learning (and relearning) new things about canine nutrition all the time.



Kayota said:


> I give fish oil less than once a week mainly because I forget, and the same with eggs, do you think I need to worry about giving vit E? She is doing well so far so I'm erring toward no?


Probably won't be an issue, so no, you don't need to give it. You aren't giving a large dose so it most likely won't affect the stored E.


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## shellbell

Found the below articles/websites, looks like not only is the meat of grassfed red meat high in Omega's, it is also high in vitamin E....nature's way of balancing things out I suppose:

Meat from grassfed cattle is four times higher in vitamin E | Rolling Hills Farm

Food Data Chart - Vitamin E


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