[Katherine W]

Hey everyone! My dog was diagnosed with Chronic Pancreatitis last year. We’ve been giving him enzymes since his last episode and it has helped tremendously. Along the way, we got a new vet that I don’t particularly like. And he advised to stop giving him salmon oil (this was during the last hospitalization, not since we’ve started hardcore with the no extra anything’s)… but when I read online most places say salmon oil can actually help. My dog is a lab and so his coat gets miserably dry during the cold season, and we used to rely on the salmon oil to help keep his coat nice instead of getting baths or spraying him every day… anyone have experience with this, or any other vets on here with an opinion on salmon oil and pancreatitis? Thanks!

[anonymous]

No veterinarians are affiliated with this site. Ask over here https://www.reddit.com/r/AskVet/

Salmon oil is high in fat. Fat triggers pancreatitis. I would trust the vet that told you to stop it.

[Patricia A]

Katherine don’t know what form the salmon oil is in but I know my two dogs cannot tolerate fresh salmon broiled. I can give them a little when we have it for dinner for only one meal. When I ever gave for two dinners in a row over kibble they would both end up with diarrhea . I imagine the high fat.

• This reply was modified 5 years, 11 months ago by Patricia A.

[aimee]

Hi Katherine W,

I don’t think there is a straightforward answer, which is why you can find various advice on the matter. Omega 3’s have been shown to be beneficial in pancreatitis in other species. Not sure that there is research done in dogs. I think having Omega 3 as part of a low fat diet can potentially be beneficial.

Is supplementation is safe for your dog? I think that depends on the total fat content of the diet, how much fat is added as an Omega 3 source (this will vary depending on the concentration of the supplement). and how fat tolerant/intolerant the patient is

Adding together all sources of fat how many grams of fat/day is your dog consuming? What percentage of calories is coming from fat? What is the current EPA/DHA intake?

It sounds like your vet wants to trim down the fat content in your dog’s overall diet. It may be that moving to a lower fat food an appropriate supplement could be used, and still be lowering the fat content overall.

These are all things that could be discussed with your vet. (A bit of nutritional number crunching will be needed here) It could be that your vet has taken all this into consideration and for your dog thinks the risk outweighs the benefit.

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