# Fish ?



## nickiklaus (Dec 10, 2011)

Hey everyone 
i am a bit confused about feeding fish, i am planning to do fish once a week but when feeding fish, is it really whole? head,fins,sharp small bones and all? for a small 5.7kgs (12lbs) dog 
And is it just fish? no bones or other meats?
If so, Where i live the salmon is already deboned head cut off ect i can't seem to find it whole so in this case do i have to give the salmon as part of the 80% meat and then give 10% bone? 
I hope this is understandable everything is jumbled in my head XD 
Also the sardines in the store are big ! lol i thought sardine was small like in the cans but it is about 4 times the size of that ! but maybe this is only in Japan? where you live are the sardines small? 
Any help is so appreciated 
Thank you


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## naturalfeddogs (Jan 6, 2011)

None of my bunch much cares for fish, so I supplement with fish oil. As far as I know, fish can be fed whole, head and all, bones and scales too. Or you can feed fillets bone in or boneless. Someone who knows more will give you better info, but this is a start.


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

I would feed the whole sardines since they're fresh. Just cut them in half or whatever to make an appropriately sized meal. Feed them whole, bones and all as the bones are actually a lot softer than any other source of bone. 

As long as the salmon isn't caught in the pacific northwest you can feed it fresh, if it is from that region you have to make sure you freeze it for several weeks before feeding it to kill off the potential parasites that cause salmon poisoning disease in dogs. If you only feed the flesh, it counts toward meat only.


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## tem_sat (Jun 20, 2010)

Your Yorkie is the same size as my Doxie. Just trim the fish down to a little over 100 grams (4 ounces). For example, 1 mackerel makes 4 meals. The mackerel does not have sharp fins like Tilapia, so I do not trim those off. My Doxie also has no problem with eating the head and teeth! lol... The same should apply for sardines.


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## Liz (Sep 27, 2010)

Mine just got fresh sardines this week. I just fed them small chunks that were still frozen and they all loved it - even my picky prima donna. Mine tend to like their fish frozen, they gets salmon heads and love those frozen.


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## GoingPostal (Sep 5, 2011)

I found the same thing as Liz, I'd bought some fish to try out on my critters, nobody liked it thawed but the dogs ate it frozen like it was great stuff.


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## kathylcsw (Jul 31, 2011)

I'm lucky because Lola eats fish with no problems at all. I have given her canned sardines and mackeral. Recently I got a couple of pounds of trout from someone on CL and she has eaten it great too. The other day I gave her the end piece with the tail fins and she even ate that. I have yet to give her anything raw that she WON'T eat.


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## nickiklaus (Dec 10, 2011)

Great advice it really cleared things up for me thank you all so much :smile:
It will be interesting to see how she will eat the fish  
Is it better to cut up the fish into bite size pieces ? or give it as one big piece
And is other fish from the pacific okay?


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

If she will eat them whole, feed them whole. Som dogs will only eat fish cut up, not a big deal. 

I would freeze all fish from the pacific northwest.


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## Liz (Sep 27, 2010)

When we next give sardines i will just give the shelties each half as that will be size appropriate for them but the collies will get them whole. I sliced it up because they had never had fresh sardines before - just out of a can. They do love it though.


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## monkeys23 (Dec 8, 2010)

I finally gave up, mine just don't like fish. I do not supplement with fish oil, but they get homegrown eggs, game meat, and alot of natural raised beef parts, so I feel they are good on their essential Omegas.


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## pogo (Aug 28, 2011)

I feed fish whole, generally once a week, but my two really enjoy them, i don't bother gutting them either.


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

mine won't eat them fresh, so they get fish-cicles....

they used to get larger pieces, but they get enough workouts with other proteins...so now we cut them into bite size pieces.

we also try to feed fish that are high in omega threes, which include sardines, mackerel, herring and anchovy in season.

since we live in the pacific northwest, we've decided it's not worth the risk feeding a fish where even a year of freezing is not a guarantee that a particular parasite will die...and is always fatal to dogs.

feeding fresh frozen fish is a good idea especially since we can't always get grass fed/grass finished proteins.....and it provides good balance.

we don't gut ours, either, nor do we feed white fish, such as tilapia....or farmed fish, which are nutritionally deficient.


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## nickiklaus (Dec 10, 2011)

Ok thank you i will first try giving it whole and if she doesn't like it ill try cut up / frozen 
Since i live in japan most fish is from here , from the pacific ocean is that ok to give raw? it's not pacific northwest but it is from the pacific


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

nickiklaus said:


> Ok thank you i will first try giving it whole and if she doesn't like it ill try cut up / frozen
> Since i live in japan most fish is from here , from the pacific ocean is that ok to give raw? it's not pacific northwest but it is from the pacific


japan has some of the nicest fish.....what you want to feed is an oily fish...like mackerel, sardines, herring, anchovies.....those are high in omega threes.....you can feed once or twice a week....especially if the price is right.

i would freeze any fish, regardless where it originated....and i would never buy farmed.....


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## nickiklaus (Dec 10, 2011)

Ok thank you ! 
I will freeze it for a few weeks before giving it to my dog


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## nickiklaus (Dec 10, 2011)

oh dear god... i just bought 2 whole horse mackarels to prepare in advance and started to cut them up to put in freezer bags and it was soo gross ! all the organs...the blood the eyes the mouth BLERK i should have partially frozen it before cutting it up ! XD 
but it's done now 2 mackarels cut up into small pieces luckily the weight of the whole fish was just the right weight for her meal! 
But on the outside of the fish some of the bones were sharp ! like a cactus so i cut them off


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## nickiklaus (Dec 10, 2011)

However something i found odd was in the disgusting guts of the fish near the head there was a small white round thing i am guessing it is a worm since there wasn't in the other fish i removed it.. but does it mean the fish is infected and i shouldn't feed it?
maybe i shouldn't have included the fish organs? :s



kind of worried... sort of tempted to just give fish oil supplements not whole raw fish if it is the same thing


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## Noodlesmadison (Sep 18, 2011)

I've fed sardines whole (but they are so small so no worries for me there).
Bigger fish worry me because I'VE been stabbed by fish bones, so what's to say my little dog won't get stabbed in the eye or gums?


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## trikerdon (May 14, 2011)

Sheba will not eat fresh fish, frozen or not. She will eat the canned in water sardines and canned salmon. So that is what she gets.


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## nickiklaus (Dec 10, 2011)

Noodlesmadison said:


> I've fed sardines whole (but they are so small so no worries for me there).
> Bigger fish worry me because I'VE been stabbed by fish bones, so what's to say my little dog won't get stabbed in the eye or gums?


yes unfortunately the sardines here are big the same size as the horse mackarel (150-200g)
I am worried about the fish guts parasites :s


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## Puff_The_Magic (Sep 1, 2011)

We supplement with a Fish Oil capsule since some of my dogs are picky; but I am considering trying again. Couple questions...

1. How is smelt for them? We can buy those whole, cheap, and they are the perfect size for my little dogs. I know at least 2 of mine would eat it, as they'll eat anything....

For those who feed the canned fish; does it matter that it isn't raw...? Or can they still get the Omega-3's they need from it? I was never sure about that, as I was under the impression that the canned stuff was NOT raw. Yet I often hear of people who feed PMR giving their dogs them.

And also; if I were to pick up something canned do you guys count it as just an Omega-3 supplement; or as a "meat meal?" As in, what does canned fish contribute to in the 80/10/10 ratios?

And lastly... if I were to get something like either fresh/frozen smelt or herring; OR canned sardines; how many fish equal a single 1000mg capsule? Just trying to figure out if I'd need to adjust the "dose" at all. We usually give a fish oil capsule to each dog twice a week. They are all roughly 5lbs. So I'm wondering how much "actual" fish I would need them to eat to replace a single capsule.


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## doxieluv (Aug 8, 2011)

Raw is preferred. Some dogs refuse raw fish and for some it wrecks havoc on their stomachs. My two dogs were is both categories. Colby loved it but he couldn't stomach it and Rayne refused to eat it. The canned fish is not raw but it's the second best option to get them a variety and the omegas if you still want to feed fish. So I now feed canned sardines and canned salmon in water once or twice a week that come in 3.75 ounces and 16 ounce cans respectively. You want to stay away from the fish in heavy oils. There are soft fully digestible bones in the canned fish but I don't count it towards their bone content. For me it only counts as a meat meal.


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

Puff_The_Magic said:


> We supplement with a Fish Oil capsule since some of my dogs are picky; but I am considering trying again. Couple questions...
> 
> 1. How is smelt for them? We can buy those whole, cheap, and they are the perfect size for my little dogs. I know at least 2 of mine would eat it, as they'll eat anything....
> 
> ...


if you can get smelt, that's great. 

i can't answer about canned. i never fed it. when my dogs balked at fish, i fed it frozen.

i don't know if you will need to continue the fish oil, although we did, when our dogs were on salmon oil.....

they eat fish once or twice a week, and we were still giving them salmon oil. 

neither one of my dogs tolerates salmon oil, so we've switched to other oils....on a rotational basis, but if your dogs tolerate it, then i would continue to give it.

i don't know how to determine how much fish oil a dog needs...but you want to give vitamin e also that is not based in soy.....


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

Smelt is great and I can get it for next to nothing here (which is weird for any fish) but I think think it has the good oils that tuna, salmon, etc do.


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