# Fish, Fish, Fishy, Fish



## HayleyMarie (Jul 6, 2011)

So Im having a heck of a time finding Mackrel for Teagan, so right now she has not been getting fish.

And I pefer not to give her store bought salmon, just because of the mercury issues.

So what other fatty fish can you guys think of that I can try and find and perhaps give Teagan?

-Hayley


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

I just ordered a bunch of cod. My dog's digestive systems arent' crazy about salmon. We'll see how it works out.


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## whiteleo (Sep 7, 2008)

Mercury is not the issue with salmon it is the Pacific Northwest parasite, and it needs to be deep frozen to kill it. I don't personally feed my dogs much fish anymore and the fish they get was canned mackerel, salmon and sardines. If you feed a lot of grass fed red meats then Teagan will get the Omega's from that. If not, you can feed canned, just rinse it under cold water to help rinse out the sodium content.

Where are you and what fish do you have access to?


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

i won't feed salmon from the pacific northwest, just because i err on the side of caution with the disease that freezing will probably kill, but maybe won't.

but i do feed sardines, herring, mackerel, and hopefully, this summer, i'll get anchovies....not dried.

try asian markets. that's where i can find frozen fish....i don't buy it fresh because i freeze it anyway, but at least it was fresh before.

and, even though i do feed lots of grass fed/grass finished...my dogs get eggs which are not as clean as i would like....they do get pork ribs, not often, but they are not what i would call as clean as i would like....

so i like the idea of giving them fish rather than supplements, which you could do also. my guys didn't do well on supps.


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

xellil said:


> I just ordered a bunch of cod. My dog's digestive systems arent' crazy about salmon. We'll see how it works out.


cod's a white fish, better suited for you.

get your kids some sardines, herring or mackerel...


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## DeekenDog (Aug 29, 2011)

I usually feed herring and sardines- fresh-frozen, not canned. I get them at the local asian market.


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

One Fish At A Time | Hook, Line and Sinker

i find this helpful.


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

magicre said:


> cod's a white fish, better suited for you.
> 
> get your kids some sardines, herring or mackerel...


Well, I read that it is has lots of omega 3s - not true?

Like from this page:
Cod-fish is an excellent source of Omega-3 fatty acids!

I can't find any fresh sardines. I have those cans but I am just not convinced they are safe to feed Snorkels.

I feed them whitefish but I know it's not high in omega three oil.


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

if i remember correctly, for dogs, the fish to feed are cold water, oily fish....herring, sardines, mackerel, anchovies, all wild caught...some feed wild caught salmon, since domestic is farmed and useless.

even for humans, probably the number one fish is alaskan wild caught salmon.

cod is okay for humans. i wouldn't feed it to my dogs.


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

I really, really would like to find some fresh sardines. They love salmon but i can't give them enough at a time to do much good, I don't think. 

They gotta eat the cod because I just ordered it from a raw pet food supplier. Maybe I'll find an Asian market over in Dallas and see if I can find some sardines.

I also found some tuna at the store once like big steaks - they loved that but I haven't seen it in a long time.


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

xellil said:


> I really, really would like to find some fresh sardines. They love salmon but i can't give them enough at a time to do much good, I don't think.
> 
> They gotta eat the cod because I just ordered it from a raw pet food supplier. Maybe I'll find an Asian market over in Dallas and see if I can find some sardines.
> 
> I also found some tuna at the store once like big steaks - they loved that but I haven't seen it in a long time.


i'd not feed tuna, merely because of the mercury content in relation to their sizes.....

but cod is fish. fish has anti oxidants. some are better than others.

worry not.


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## Gally (Jan 28, 2012)

How much fish do you feed a week? What percent or how many meals?

I couldn't believe how inexpensive herring is here so I'd like to feed that as often as would be healthy to help bring cost of feeding raw down.


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

Gally said:


> How much fish do you feed a week? What percent or how many meals?
> 
> I couldn't believe how inexpensive herring is here so I'd like to feed that as often as would be healthy to help bring cost of feeding raw down.



i feed it twice a week, simply because my dogs, whilst they mostly eat a grass fed/grass finished diet, there are some things that aren't....

the pug gets a three ounce meal and the corgi mix gets a 4 1/4 oz meal twice a week.


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

Gally said:


> How much fish do you feed a week? What percent or how many meals?
> 
> I couldn't believe how inexpensive herring is here so I'd like to feed that as often as would be healthy to help bring cost of feeding raw down.


Where do you get herring??

No tuna then - I do have some canned tuna but it's all got some kind of salt in it.


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## Sprocket (Oct 4, 2011)

I have only given them a little fish. Its too expensive from what I have seen. They do get salmon oil and I plan to feed them whatever strippers we catch while fishing. Hopefully we get something this weekend 

Of course I will be freezing it for a long while.


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## Caty M (Aug 13, 2010)

I like whole ungutted mackerel, sole, sardines, salmon trim is great, too!


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## swolek (Mar 31, 2011)

I feed whole sardines and herrings . My pups get fish at least once a week as a whole meal.


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## twoisplenty (Nov 12, 2008)

If I cant find frozen mackerals or sardines, I just give them a fish oil capsule in their food. One of mine refuses to eat fish. I have tried feeding frozen, thawed and pureeing it in the blender and mixing it with other meats. One sniff and she walks away so she just gets fish oil capsules daily, lol.


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## whiteleo (Sep 7, 2008)

twoisplenty said:


> If I cant find frozen mackerals or sardines, I just give them a fish oil capsule in their food. One of mine refuses to eat fish. I have tried feeding frozen, thawed and pureeing it in the blender and mixing it with other meats. One sniff and she walks away so she just gets fish oil capsules daily, lol.


This is why I was feeding canned, as I have one who WILL NOT touch a whole fish, even the nice whole flash frozen sardines we got from our co-op for $1lb. I had to sell the box to someone else, totally sucked but you do what ya gotta do!


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## jenv101 (Oct 13, 2010)

HayleyMarie said:


> So Im having a heck of a time finding Mackrel for Teagan, so right now she has not been getting fish.
> 
> And I pefer not to give her store bought salmon, just because of the mercury issues.
> 
> ...


If you ever are in Calgary, I'm sure you can find some in chinatown! They are usually in the frozen section at asian markets. Take a cooler with you next time you go and stock up! I can also get frozen whole sardines at No Frills - so you might want to check a Superstore or similar chain, they might carry them, in the frozen meat sections.  In the meantime just give her fish oil and she'll be fine!


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## BoxerParty (Nov 9, 2011)

I got frozen sardines (zero sodium!) at WalMart here in Victoria. We also have some fresh mackerel that I have since frozen - was on special at my grocery store, so I bought 10.


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## funshine (Jan 21, 2010)

xellil said:


> Maybe I'll find an Asian market over in Dallas and see if I can find some sardines.


Dallas seems to have at least Ranch 99 :smile: It's not the cheapest Asian store there is, but definitely one of cleanest one and they have a wide selection of everything. You can probably find any fish you want from there and they also carry goat and duck (all kinds fresh, but I've only got the cheapest frozen ones). At least the the store in Houston does and I don't see why the Dallas one would offer anything less.


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## GoingPostal (Sep 5, 2011)

I can't get hardly anything for fish locally, it's all just fillets and $6 a pound, I bought some whole sardines and herring from hare today, I bought some pollack local which was cheap, probably not that good for her but I need something less expensive for transition. There's four canned options at my store and they are all full of salt.


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## Gally (Jan 28, 2012)

xellil said:


> Where do you get herring??
> 
> No tuna then - I do have some canned tuna but it's all got some kind of salt in it.


Asian supermarkets are the cheapest here, I usually go to T&T. I am guessing they are relatively inexpensive because we live on the coast?


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## schtuffy (May 17, 2010)

xellil said:


> I can't find any fresh sardines. I have those cans but I am just not convinced they are safe to feed Snorkels.
> 
> I feed them whitefish but I know it's not high in omega three oil.


Ugh, if you didn't live so far I would give you all of mine. I've had good luck finding anchovies, smelt, and mackerel at Asian markets, but the little fat sardines I found at Whole Foods. I don't think I will ever get Louis to eat fresh fish, but I can't bring myself to chuck them either, so they are just taking up space in my tiny packed freezer.


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

schtuffy said:


> Ugh, if you didn't live so far I would give you all of mine. I've had good luck finding anchovies, smelt, and mackerel at Asian markets, but the little fat sardines I found at Whole Foods. I don't think I will ever get Louis to eat fresh fish, but I can't bring myself to chuck them either, so they are just taking up space in my tiny packed freezer.


That's too bad! Surely there is someone closer to you who would want them?


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## chowder (Sep 7, 2008)

Bringing up the fish topic again, I decided to try my guys on real fish instead of canned again. So I looked at my store today and they had three whole choices of frozen fish (we don't live in a real healthy eating area!). My choices were Tilapia, whiting, or something called Swai. I got the Swai because it was on sale and I had no idea what it was.

Is there any nutrition at all in a "swai fish" for the dogs? They are eating it tomorrow for breakfast, but just to make sure they are happy, I got them beef ribs for snacks!


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## Sprocket (Oct 4, 2011)

What the heck is ‘swai’?


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## chowder (Sep 7, 2008)

Sprocket said:


> What the heck is ‘swai’?


I did read that same article and it says it is light and flaky with a mild taste and great with butter and lemon (not that I'm going to grill it for them!). But it didn't say anything about whether there was actually any fishy goodness and nutrition in it. At $3.50 a pound, would I be better off buying them cans of salmon?


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## Sprocket (Oct 4, 2011)

chowder said:


> I did read that same article and it says it is light and flaky with a mild taste and great with butter and lemon (not that I'm going to grill it for them!). But it didn't say anything about whether there was actually any fishy goodness and nutrition in it. At $3.50 a pound, would I be better off buying them cans of salmon?


How about this one?

Nutrition In Swai Fish | LIVESTRONG.COM

Actually that one isn't great. Personally I think, at that price, I would find a different fish.


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## chowder (Sep 7, 2008)

Sprocket said:


> How about this one?
> 
> Nutrition In Swai Fish | LIVESTRONG.COM
> 
> Actually that one isn't great. Personally I think, at that price, I would find a different fish.


Thanks! That's kind of what I thought. I may have to start searching harder for fish for them. Since I grew up in Buffalo, the only fish I ever saw were the ones floating dead in Lake Erie. I really know nothing about fish (except that I have 3 giant fancy goldfish in a 55 gallon tank that are looking more and more like dog food every day!).


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

Nutrition In Swai Fish | LIVESTRONG.COM


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

i'm thinking whiting would be okay...

Nutrition For Fresh Whiting Fish | LIVESTRONG.COM


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## chowder (Sep 7, 2008)

magicre said:


> i'm thinking whiting would be okay...
> 
> Nutrition For Fresh Whiting Fish | LIVESTRONG.COM


Whiting is actually a little more expensive then the swai. I think I may try a different grocery store and see what I can find. I would love to find them some sardines or something along that line. I had gotten a bag of frozen whiting one time at Walmart and both dogs just looked at it like I put something nasty in their pan! For that price I'd rather get them something they'd actually like.

Now my husband says he wants to eat the Swai!! He thought it was for him, not the dogs. Silly man!


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

before our co op started supplying sardines, i went to my asian grocers. they have frozen fish, cheaper than fresh...and i would want it frozen anyway. 

surely, you have asian markets....raleigh can't be THAT backwards LOL


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## chowder (Sep 7, 2008)

magicre said:


> before our co op started supplying sardines, i went to my asian grocers. they have frozen fish, cheaper than fresh...and i would want it frozen anyway.
> 
> surely, you have asian markets....raleigh can't be THAT backwards LOL


We actually have one big Asian market not that far from me. I just have to be brave enough to go to it. For someone who worked at a vets all their life, I really don't like to see things like tongues and whole fish with eyes staring at me in food bins! It totally grosses me out! I haven't eaten a chicken since the dogs have been on raw (unless it was cut up and disguised).


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