Cod Liver Oil/ Fish Oil?? Which one is the best?

islandspirit

islandspirit

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My horse is currently at the horsepital in Newmarket and my vet has advised me to feed a fish oil. I have always said horses are vegetarian and therefore shouldn't eat fish but after researching online there is a lot of evidence that it does help with arthritis. My question is that there is a very limited choice to buy in the UK so which one is the best quality? And can anyone tell me if I also need to supplement an omega 6 oil at the same time? My understanding is that arthritic horses tend to have an imbalance of 3 to 6. Thanks, any advice appreciated.
 
Well I wouldn't feed fish to a horse. Linseed has an excellent ratio of omega 3 and 6 oils, so I feed that, micronised.
 
Agree with twostroke, why would you feed a herbivore an animal derivative. That was how BSE started :eek: It was suggested to me recently that I give my mare Evening Primrose Oil for a bit of joint stiffness, but can't find any info about it in horses, although plenty around about dogs.
 
As mentioned in my post, I too believe my horse is a vegetarian and feed linseed oil and for that very reason have always said no to cod liver or fish oils but interestingly I can only find research papers related to the efficacy of fish oils in equines and not linseed oil (to be far, I probably haven't researched thoroughly enough yet). The results were quite surprising. I am also aware that a horse with arthritis may have an omega 3 versus omega 6 imbalance and linseed as far as I am aware contains both whereas fish oil only has omega 3. My horses career is likely to be cut very short, if it manages to continue at all and if Fish oil is better than linseed in eficacy I feel that I should give it a try. The vet who recommended it is very well respected and has recommended it based on their clinmical knowledge which to be honest far outstrips mine :-)
 
Fish oils contain very high levels of vitamin D3 . This is not good!, It is a vitamin which the horse already gets a lot of and an overdose predisposes them to all sorts of skeletal problems. As has been said ,Linseed is a much better alternative.
 
What I will say as well is although my own vets are great and I'm more than happy with them, the advise they Give on feed and feeding is a little concerning at times. I'm not sure the vets are the best to advise on feed and supplements
 
Vets don't have to study nutrition particularly. Had more than one argument with my local vet for the small animals on how I was more qualified to judge their diet than him and that what he was recommending was ridiculous (veg based diet for... cats!)

I wouldn't feed fish oil to horses. I also would steer clear of cod liver oil for humans, v bad for you as puts fat round arteries/heart etc and is impossible to burn off, fish oil is good though.

Pan
 
Fish oil has a higher level of EPA/DHA that cod liver oil. Cod liver oil has more vitamin A and D do if it's for the fatty acids fish oil is better. Horses will convert plant based omega 3 fats into EPA and DHA.

The reason fish oils rather than plant based omega 3s are recommended in people us because high levels of omega 6 in the diet uses up the enzymes of the fat conversion pathways limiting the production if DHA and EPA. This may also be the case in horses in which case fish oil would be better.

However I'd be very surprised if there is good evidence of its efficacy in joint problems in horses - there certainly isn't in people (your mate's experience or some opiniated bloke on the Internet is not evidence), the evidence is for secondary prevention of heart disease.

That said I can't see it doing any harm - probably make a nice shiney coat.

Paula
 
ThaKs Paulag, it was my understanding that omega 6 and 3 can be imbalanced. I'm not one for listening to mates or vague Internet spoutings but found a white paper on the use of fish oils in racehorses compared with a I shall try to find it again and post up the link:)
 
Be interested in seeing any studies. As I said if they haven't found any harm then it's always worth a try - fish oils certainly have an anti inflammatory effect.

But beware using cod liver oil in pregnant mares or with other supplements or feed fortified with vitamin A as it's toxic in large amounts.

Paula
 
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