# Coat health and food.....and the human brain



## Lucky's mom (Nov 4, 2005)

For the past three months Lucky's coat has sucked...shedding badly, rough, scrappy. Even though I KNOW its due to seasonal shedding ...based on THREE YEARS of experience...I couldn't resist changing foods.

A week into his new food and Lucky's coat looks so much better.....and EVEN THOUGH ITS BECAUSE HIS SEASONAL SHEDDING IS OVER...and new growth will be springing up soon.....my mind tells me its the food.

Does anybody else go through these complexes or is it just me...


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## jnmarr (Mar 7, 2008)

Rusty's coat has had some funky spots in it lately.. we feed Cannidae ALS... I have been giving them salmon oil for about 6 days and already see a difference.. What did you change from and to? Any suppliments?


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## Debles (Sep 6, 2007)

I agree. I switched food,the coats are so much better but they are scratching more!
Whaddaya do?:doh:


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## moverking (Feb 26, 2007)

No crazier than me.....I wanted to see if the Salmon oil really truly made a difference since I feed Salmon frequently to them...so I stopped it a month ago. Well, they are into their seasonal shed too and it's the worst one yet....cyclical or worse cause I stopped the oil? :doh:


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## Debles (Sep 6, 2007)

me too. I had mixed salmon food into their lamb food. I thought that made them itch. But it's be gone awhile now so?


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## Lucky's mom (Nov 4, 2005)

jnmarr said:


> Rusty's coat has had some funky spots in it lately.. we feed Cannidae ALS... I have been giving them salmon oil for about 6 days and already see a difference.. What did you change from and to? Any suppliments?


No suppliments though I might get some today during my shopping. Pointgold sold me on Pro-Plan...which I know is better then the Iams he was on.

Lucky has a cycle....yucky uneven coat June-august, very thin nice coat Aug-mid Oct and , heavy ultra plush November-Mayish.

Really, for Lucky I need to stick with a food the whole year to see how things go.. Genetically he's never had a great coat....it grows a little haywire and cowlicks that can make him look scruffy. But when he has his winter coat...looks very nice.


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## Lucky's mom (Nov 4, 2005)

Nice to know ya'll know what I'm talking about...it is frustrating to figure it out.


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## uhmanda00 (Aug 3, 2008)

Lucky's mom said:


> No suppliments though I might get some today during my shopping. Pointgold sold me on Pro-Plan...which I know is better then the Iams he was on.
> 
> Lucky has a cycle....yucky uneven coat June-august, very thin nice coat Aug-mid Oct and , heavy ultra plush November-Mayish.
> 
> Really, for Lucky I need to stick with a food the whole year to see how things go.. Genetically he's never had a great coat....it grows a little haywire and cowlicks that can make him look scruffy. But when he has his winter coat...looks very nice.


Lucy has the EXACT same cycle... maybe it's just OKLAHOMA!! haha


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## Heidi36oh (Feb 27, 2007)

Mine eat yes Pro Plan by Purina and I never had a problem with their coats. Their always shiny and healthy looking. No shedding yet, and no added supplements.


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## Maggies mom (Jan 6, 2006)

moverking said:


> No crazier than me.....I wanted to see if the Salmon oil really truly made a difference since I feed Salmon frequently to them...so I stopped it a month ago. Well, they are into their seasonal shed too and it's the worst one yet....cyclical or worse cause I stopped the oil? :doh:


MB..I ran out of Salmon oil and hadnt had a chance to reorder it and let me tell you... Maggie and Hootie are shedding sooooooooooooo bad. They normally shed very little since they dont have the big coats, but it has been terrible.There shedding worse than Abbie. I am feeding them Canidae /Innova. As for the Purina...Maggie didnt like it and wouldnt eat it, Hootie lost the shine to his coat and it was really dry, Abbie and Cruiser did alright on it but I didnt want to feed different foods and so far with the Canidae everyone is good....


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## mainegirl (May 2, 2005)

i've been having a problem with moose and the fly-aways. he looks so much larger because his coat is all fly-away. i feed him purina one but am changing to purina pro this week. where do i purchase the salmon oil? would our local health food store have it? i used to have an old fashioned vet that swore by tuna packed in oil. said to put a tablespoon of it (the oil esp.) on my schnoodle's food. that and daily dunks in the saltwater of the ocean cleared up her hotspots. i've tried conditioner and different shampoos (only shampoo once every 2 to 3 weeks). 
what's a momma to do?
also angel's coat is very wirey. the trainer reccommended a new food which has no filler and is not affiliated with china (cannot remember the name, but it's not the common names) tried it for a month in june and it did not help her at all. 
any help would be appreciated.
beth, moose and angel


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## Penny & Maggie's Mom (Oct 4, 2007)

mainegirl said:


> i've been having a problem with moose and the fly-aways. he looks so much larger because his coat is all fly-away. i feed him purina one but am changing to purina pro this week. where do i purchase the salmon oil? would our local health food store have it? i used to have an old fashioned vet that swore by tuna packed in oil. said to put a tablespoon of it (the oil esp.) on my schnoodle's food. that and daily dunks in the saltwater of the ocean cleared up her hotspots. i've tried conditioner and different shampoos (only shampoo once every 2 to 3 weeks).
> what's a momma to do?
> also angel's coat is very wirey. the trainer reccommended a new food which has no filler and is not affiliated with china (cannot remember the name, but it's not the common names) tried it for a month in june and it did not help her at all.
> any help would be appreciated.
> beth, moose and angel


The important thing with the fish oil is to get a high level of the EPA/DHA. THis is a very good product and reasonable priced. http://www.icelandpure.com/salmon_oil.htm


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## mainegirl (May 2, 2005)

what is a high epa/dha number? one thing i saw at petsmart was 12 for both epa and dha. is that good?

thanx beth, moose and angel


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## Penny & Maggie's Mom (Oct 4, 2007)

This site has great articles about fish oil and Omega 3's. Check out all their articles, but this one caught my eye first. http://www.seapet.com/EFA.htm Also, their "gold", high level product has 1500 mg EPA and 1000mg DHA per teaspoon.


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## moverking (Feb 26, 2007)

Maggies mom said:


> MB..I ran out of Salmon oil and hadnt had a chance to reorder it and let me tell you... Maggie and Hootie are shedding sooooooooooooo bad. They normally shed very little since they dont have the big coats, but it has been terrible.There shedding worse than Abbie. I am feeding them Canidae /Innova. As for the Purina...Maggie didnt like it and wouldnt eat it, Hootie lost the shine to his coat and it was really dry, Abbie and Cruiser did alright on it but I didnt want to feed different foods and so far with the Canidae everyone is good....


I've had mine on Canidae since last Feb/Mar? They love it, good poops, no tummy upsets.....I've been using Cosequin for joints and Welactin for Omega-3's (made by the makers of Cosequin). Soooo, I restarted the Welactin yesterday...and will stay the course for 2 months. If still bad coats/shedding, maybe it's time to rethink food? Or will they be in a hair growth phase and look good and fool me again, lol! I do think they are shedding more this cycle than ever, tho...


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## Maggies mom (Jan 6, 2006)

moverking said:


> I've had mine on Canidae since last Feb/Mar? They love it, good poops, no tummy upsets.....I've been using Cosequin for joints and Welactin for Omega-3's (made by the makers of Cosequin). Soooo, I restarted the Welactin yesterday...and will stay the course for 2 months. If still bad coats/shedding, maybe it's time to rethink food? Or will they be in a hair growth phase and look good and fool me again, lol! I do think they are shedding more this cycle than ever, tho...


I have had mine on Canidae for ever 2 years for Maggie , Abbie and Hootie, of course Cruiser started on it when I got him... Im still wondering if this is a bad season for shedding or if running out of the fish oil had something to do with it. There still shedding but its not as bad now....


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## Lynnberger (Aug 12, 2008)

A couple definitions:

EPA: Essential for skin/coat health, mood regulation, and correct hormone levels including thyroid balance, and operates to assist in the anti-inflammatory process (good for allergies, IBD, and arthritis)
DHA: Most vital in brain function, required for proper development of puppies' nervous system, required for some hormones

Both of these are "omega-3s." ALA is a "precursor" to these two vital nutrients, meaning it can be processed into those two. ALA is in many plant oil products.

Dogs don't process ALA nearly as well as oils that have EPA and DHA already available with no processing needed. Some dogs lack the ability to break down ALA altogether.

EPA and DHA are extremely fragile. Some oils take a long time, or high heat, to make them go "rancid." EPA and DHA only require short times, exposure to normal air, and normal temperatures, to go bad and unusable.

Pet food companies try to make their bags airtight, but the EPA and DHA left in those bags by the time you pour out the first bowlful, is pretty minimal. And by the time you scoop out the last, it's all gone.

That why when you _change_ a food, many times you'll see a change for the better in coat quality especially. If you watch carefully, you'd see the same change every time you get a new bag of food, unless you go through food really fast like I did (lol).

A better plan is to _*find a food you otherwise like, that does well for your dog (no itchies, good energy levels, maintain condition), and supplement with fish body oil, the best source for EPA and DHA. *_ Lynn's diet is balanced to provide optimum levels of the omega-6s, or else I'd supplement them as well, omega-6s are actually more important for skin and coat health, but they can't work without the help of the omega-3s.

When you are shopping for a supplementation product, check the label for the combined EPA+DHA levels. Look at the serving size. Sometimes capsules will say two or even three capsules to provide whatever the level of EPA+DHA is! The best bang for your buck if you are supplementing large dogs, is the liquids named previously. Not only are they super-concentrated, but they also are guaranteed free of poisonous metals that are sometimes found in farmed fish oil or fish harvested too close to refineries and such. Seapet Gold also includes vitamin E, which I'll discuss last.

You'll want to provide about 600 EPA+DHA per 25 pounds of dog, roughly. The NRC RDA is much lower, but most of us want to balance out the high omega-6s found in today's meats, plus the effects of pollution, plus probably most of us could use the anti-inflammatory effects that are provided at the higher levels.

When you supplement any oil, also supplement vitamin E. Processing good oils depletes the body's reserves of this antioxidant. You'll want to give 100 mg per 25 pounds, up to and not exceeding 400 mg per day for any size dog.


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## Penny & Maggie's Mom (Oct 4, 2007)

lynnberger said:


> a Couple Definitions:
> 
> Epa: Essential For Skin/coat Health, Mood Regulation, And Correct Hormone Levels Including Thyroid Balance, And Operates To Assist In The Anti-inflammatory Process (good For Allergies, Ibd, And Arthritis)
> Dha: Most Vital In Brain Function, Required For Proper Development Of Puppies' Nervous System, Required For Some Hormones
> ...


excellent Post!!!!!!!!


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## moverking (Feb 26, 2007)

Penny & Maggie's Mom said:


> excellent Post!!!!!!!!


I agree! Added it to my keeper list


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## Memphis & Holly's Mom (Feb 16, 2008)

I'm so glad it's not just me...I recently changed and I tell you the change in the difference in Memphis's coat is amazing I think...but kept wondering if it was my imagination. Holly's coat i great no matter what she eats, but Memphis was itching (no fleas) and biting his paws before the change...I had to give him benedryl daily...now he's fine...and we havent' had rain in a while and need it bad...it's so dry, so I just figured he'd be scratchin' again..I had been attributing all his scratching to grass and seasonal...guess it might have been part food too...and now they actually enjoy eating and clean the bowl (and we have fewer poos a day...a huge plus!!)


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