Help overcome dog food dangers: which oils for cancer??
Dr. Demian Dressler is internationally recognized as “the dog cancer vet” because of his innovations in the field of dog cancer management, and the popularity of his blog here at Dog Cancer Blog. The owner of South Shore Veterinary Care, a full-service veterinary hospital in Maui, Hawaii, Dr. Dressler studied Animal Physiology and received a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of California at Davis before earning his Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine from Cornell University. After practicing at Killewald Animal Hospital in Amherst, New York, he returned to his home state, Hawaii, to practice at the East Honolulu Pet Hospital before heading home to Maui to open his own hospital. Dr. Dressler consults both dog lovers and veterinary professionals, and is sought after as a speaker on topics ranging from the links between lifestyle choices and disease, nutrition and cancer, and animal ethics. His television appearances include “Ask the Vet” segments on local news programs. He is the author of The Dog Cancer Survival Guide: Full Spectrum Treatments to Optimize Your Dog’s Life Quality and Longevity. He is a member of the American Veterinary Medical Association, the Hawaii Veterinary Medical Association, the American Association of Avian Veterinarians, the National Animal Supplement Council and CORE (Comparative Orthopedic Research Evaluation). He is also an advisory board member for Pacific Primate Sanctuary.
Updated: December 12th, 2018
Rochelle Lesser, who created and manages a great site for Golden Retrievers (and dogs in general), asked about krill oil on a recent post. Here’s the skinny on why I like its cancer-fighting benefits (krill are those tiny shrimp that whales eat).
First, krill oil helps offset the omega 6 fatty acid excess I wrote about in the post before last, by supplying needed omega 3 fatty acids. This helps block the inflammation and suppression of cancer-fighting white blood cells caused by excess omega 6’s. Too much omega 6 fatty acids are found in many commercial dog foods in corn products, vegetable oils, meat fats and more.
Other good sources of omega 3’s are fish oils of various kinds, with Chinook salmon, mackerel, menhaden, and sardine also being up there. So giving these oils stimulates cancer-fighting white blood cells, and decreases inflammation (inflammation is a central part of cancer development). Omega 3’s can also help fight cancer weight loss (cachexia), slow tumor growth, and lessen spread in many cases. So krill and fish oil both are good in these regards.
However, with our understanding of the link between depression in people and cancer, it becomes obvious that this is a massively overlooked problem in dogs. To my knowledge, this is an area that has not been addressed in any formal way and will be viewed at as “out there” by many conventional vets. I firmly believe that this line of thought is on the leading edge of a whole new way of looking at dog cancer.
With this in mind, back to krill oil. Krill do not accumulate heavy metals, so this is not a concern in their oil. Additionally, they are rich in EPA, the omega 3 fatty acid that has been shown to fight depression and inflammation. Krill has more EPA than fish oil. Here is more info. Since depression in people increases cancer, addressing this in dogs is very logical. On top of this, Krill has the capacity to actually restore the size of brain parts that have literally shrunk in depression. This may be due to its phospholipid content, of which krill has more than fish oil. Amazing!
Yes, krill oil costs more than fish oil. However, you can get away with less, probably about 1/4 less than fish oil. I would recommend about 4-6 of the 500 mg krill oil capsules daily for a 40 lb dog, costing roughly $3 daily. Not cheap, but good!
To be safe, stop fish oil or krill oil about 10 days before your dog has any surgery.
Thanks to Rochelle of The Land of Pure Gold for the great question!
Best to all,
Dr Dressler
Dr. Demian Dressler is internationally recognized as “the dog cancer vet” because of his innovations in the field of dog cancer management, and the popularity of his blog here at Dog Cancer Blog. The owner of South Shore Veterinary Care, a full-service veterinary hospital in Maui, Hawaii, Dr. Dressler studied Animal Physiology and received a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of California at Davis before earning his Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine from Cornell University. After practicing at Killewald Animal Hospital in Amherst, New York, he returned to his home state, Hawaii, to practice at the East Honolulu Pet Hospital before heading home to Maui to open his own hospital. Dr. Dressler consults both dog lovers and veterinary professionals, and is sought after as a speaker on topics ranging from the links between lifestyle choices and disease, nutrition and cancer, and animal ethics. His television appearances include “Ask the Vet” segments on local news programs. He is the author of The Dog Cancer Survival Guide: Full Spectrum Treatments to Optimize Your Dog’s Life Quality and Longevity. He is a member of the American Veterinary Medical Association, the Hawaii Veterinary Medical Association, the American Association of Avian Veterinarians, the National Animal Supplement Council and CORE (Comparative Orthopedic Research Evaluation). He is also an advisory board member for Pacific Primate Sanctuary.
Hi Lilly,
First, try Krill Oil. Start with one bottle (a little more pricey than fish oil). They are usually 500 mg caps, so get the double dose caps or give double dose (if possible). Try popping them and mixing liquid in food. Menhaden is good too. Rochelle from Land of Pure Gold likes wild sockeye salmon oil, also good.
Second, let’s look at Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA), which is the biggy in safflower oil that you are using for mycoses fungoides, in the next few blogs!
Ok, how do you get 18 grams of fish oil in the dogs!! I am using fish oil but it has strawberry or lemon flavor in it and my dog doesn’t always take it. I have read of the use of menhaden fish oil used in studies (Ogilvie) for dogs with lymphoma. 1)Where do you get menhaden fish oil or oil without a flavoring that repulses the dog?
Also, a question about safflower oil. Although an Omega 6 and theoretically a cancer promoter, a small study in Michigan done on about 6 dogs or so found that dogs fed safflower oil that had Candy’s kind of cancer, Mycosis Fungoides, Cutaneous T cell, went into remission with mega doses. This doesn’t sit right with me though especially since she has some liver enzyme elevation. Also, how reliable is a study of about a half dozen dogs. They found that it worked with Mycosis Fungoides but hey were not recommending it for other kinds of lymphoma. See where I start to get crazy—there seems to be a lot of caveats for lymphoma that are contraindicated. This is why I am trying to get some concensus on whta to actually do. I do give her fish oil and SOME safflower oil but not in the therapeutic clinical dose used in the study. Her body skin seems ok now but it is the redness in her mouth and the depigmentation around her eyes and nose that concern me.
Lilly F.
Greetings,
I did not see this post of mine (that I submitted yesterday 8/22/08) added to this thread so I am reposting it today.
This is the thread that I was ‘referring to’ in my post on August 21 regarding our Golden Retriever’s diagnosis of mast cell cancer stage 3 and pain. I also read your post saying that Krill oil is probably even better even though more expensive. I also read the post from a subscriber saying that he/she used K-9 Immunity (Beta Glucan) with seemingly success for extra months of life for a diagnosed dog. And your response Dr. Dressler.
Firstly, one has to decide to use one of the three methods above. MEGADOSES of Omega-3 fatty acids for dogs already diagnosed with cancer or Krill oil or K-9 Immunity. IF ANY. Or, let nature take its course.
Secondly, here is the dilemma in our household:
After our furry daughter’s diagnosis earlier this month I wrote to Rochelle and she was the one who guided me to this site/blog! After reading the first post about getting as much Omega-3s into the dog as possible (15-22 capsules daily) for bigger dogs like our 80 pound dog Golden angel – I told my husband about this. We already had/have a large jar of 500 mg capsules because our veterinarian suggested using these in February for her worsening dysplasia. It did nothing for her dysplasia is so we still have plenty left over. COSEQUIN worked for her though!!!
Anyway, after telling my husband about the Omega-3 MEGADOSE suggestion by you he was okay with starting her out with one a day and now we are up to two a day (after two weeks). He is way too leery to try anything close to those megadoses. A few days ago I said that, if it were up to me, *I* would be giving her five capsules a day by now but my husband’s response was that we “would have a sick dog on our hands”.
Since I am a quadriplegic it is my husband that has to feed her, give her all her medications and supplements, clean up after her, etc. and being my primary caregiver taboot. And HE recently had surgery (that is not healing) so things are harder for him. <— Huge understatement! And there is no one else.
Even though she is just like a child of his own to him (and he has three adult children) and would do anything in the world for her — I can’t see him budging on this. Megadoses I mean. And the more I nag him about ‘anything’ the less he wants to do it. He knows about it, like I said, and he read my post and your response regarding pain and cancer in dogs. So he knows about this blog as well as Rochelle’s dedication to the cause. I cam across her wonderful website about five years ago!
From one of his comments I think he also feels that it is all experimental and there is no REAL proof of trying this, or that or that then this, etc, etc, etc, etc. Only a testimonial here or there. and probably feels very much the same way about all of this in exactly the same way Rochelle expressed her opinion on Krill oil.
We both are “medical people” so to speak but when it comes to many things (including the big “C”and there are many personal experiences in the medical field) I can understand his reservations. BUT, at the same time, *I* would say it couldn’t hurt to keep increasing the dose. But I am not the one in control of that.
I’m sure there are many out there who find themselves in such a conundrum. So that is a topic in itself!
I am just so thankful that our beautiful Golden (Brandy) did not have any terrible symptoms (or any symptoms for that matter) prior to her diagnosis or now. She is still acting the same, eating the same, going to the bathroom the same, etc. etc. Unfortunately, Goldens seem to be much more prone to cancers and bigger dogs do not usually live longer than smaller dogs. I chalk it up to ONLY THE GOOD DIE YOUNG when it happens no matter what we try in the human world or the other animal world.
Now I am off to try to find the Aug 21 post you referred me to yesterday (21st also) as I could not find it earlier. It is sometimes difficult to find things on blogs even using the search box.
Any suggestions on household dilemmas as described above are welcome!
Thank you,
Lori Michaelson
and you, Rochelle, are pure gold!!
You are a treasure, Dr. Dressler. But, you are lucky I am the only person so far taking you up on your mission to help us dog lovers to become more empowered as health advocates.
I have one last response on this topic, that probably only we two are probably reading. The fish oil that I recommend and use is not a combination of oils and it is very high in antioxidants as it is pure 100% Wild Alaskan SOCKEYE Salmon Oil. Honestly, I have been very happy with this oil. I have seen big differences with respect to joint issues and coat. But, again, I give a huge amount in comparison to what the average dog person does and I certainly do not use the liquid oils put out by pet companies or any of the other generic fish oils that have questionable testing practices.
Oh yes, one more. Concern over diarrhea is unjustified. I see much more diarrhea with things other than krill oil. Any supplement taken by mouth has this potential, some more than others. Krill is not high risk in this regard, definitely less than 10% of dogs in my experience develop diarrhea on it when introduced properly. To be safe, I recommend starting slowly and working your way up to the recommended dose over 10-14 days. Sorry, put that in a previous post but not for this one…. 🙂
Four comments! Okay, here ya go:
Comment 1 response: This is an example of a study used to gauge environmental toxin levels, across the board. Using sea life as indicators of environmental pollutants is a common way for groups, including our own Environmental Protection Agency in this country (and not just Italy). As you can see, both fish (rockcod) and krill have the toxins in them in the abstract you provided (and penguins too..). This does not provide us with helpful information in the context of this discussion, but does highlight the global nature of old time pollutants like DDT still being found in the environment, many years after being banned in the US. Some say the environment toxin profile lags behind what is actively being produced by as much as FORTY years. Scary.
Comment 2 response: your point in the “Krill Kraze” is very well taken. I too dislike hysteria driven by emotional agendas and marketed for profit. Krill has certain benefits that are lacking elsewhere in the context of dog cancer though.
It has a bit more EPA than fish oil. EPA has more anti inflammatory effect than DHA, a central issue in cancer development and progression. The antioxidant topic will be dealt with in future blogs (it is NOT as strait forward as some think). I am also not interested in the gobs of miracle effects krill is touted to treat. However, do a search for EPA (a component of krill oil) instead of krill oil and you will find lots of information. The link provided in the blog copy highlights the depression issue, totally overlooked in dog cancer development.
Comment 3 response: do a search for EPA (eicosapentanoic acid, in the UK spelled eicosapentaenoic acid), instead of krill, and you will get gobs of abstracts, not two as stated by this chiropractor.
Comment 4 response: this person responded that one could go into anaphylactic shock if one takes krill oil. Yes, if one is allergic to shrimp (almost unheard of in canine medicine, ask any experienced vet). One could say the same thing about any allergy to any food. Yes, if you are allergic to something, you get a reaction. So if I am allergic to fish, I should not take fish oil. If I am allergic to chocolate, I should avoid chocolate. Does this mean eating chocolate for the average person requires an Epi-Pen (epinephrine injection)?? Of course not.
This line of reasoning is unhelpful for our discussion.
Both fish and krill oil have a slight, potential blood thinning effect. However, experienced vets know that the blood thinning effect of Metacam, along with the other commonly used drugs of the NSAID class, like Rimadyl, Deramaxx, Etogesic, Piroxicam, etc, is clinically very, very mild. They have other effects that need much more consideration. To be safe, as stated, stopping both fish oil and krill oil 10 days before surgery is a wise precaution. However, both fish oil and krill oil are used together with the NSAIDS often in real-life clinical practice, including mine, frequently and with no problems by real-life, practicing doctors.
In conclusion, be careful of a reaction to a Kraze….but don’t throw the baby out with the bath water!
Further thoughts on Krill from Dr. David Seaman, Clinical Chiropractic Consultant for Anabolic Laboratories
“The problem with advancing krill oil as the premier oil to supplement is that we have virtually no studies on animals or humans.Only two human studies seem to have ever been published on krill oil, and both are published in a nutrition company’s journal that is indexed on medline. One study looked at krill oil versus fish oil in the treatment of hyperlipidemia, and the other evaluated clinical outcomes in patients with premenstrual syndrome and dysmenorrhea. Both studies indicate that krill oil is superior to traditional EPA/DHA fish oil supplements. More studies need to be published.”
And, I read this as well:
1. The level of DHA is lower than that for fish oil.
2. It does not act as an effective anti-oxidant in the body. The anti-oxidants present are for the preservation of the oil.
3. Kill oil is backed by few scientific studies currently, as compared with some 10,000 studies over 40 years, concluding that fish oil helps prevent heart disease, sudden cardiac deaths, Alzheimer’s disease, depression, pain and
arthritis.
Despite claims that krill oil is “an extremely powerful source of vital DHA and EPA omega 3’s,” as well as antioxidants, it actually provides only one-third to one-half the omega-3 and virtually none of the antioxidants as top quality fish oil.
Dr. Dressler, I do see all the craze on the web of late with respect to krill, but the jury may still be out on it. And, the sustainability for these little shrimp is in question.
But, I do appreciate your taking the time to address my questions. Healthy debate is surely a positive thing for us all.
But, what about this?
Krill Oil is an unrefined product and therefore has more toxic residues in it
than purified fish oils.
Occurrence of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) and their enantiomeric
signatures, and concentrations of polybrominated diphenyl ethers
(PBDEs) in the Adélie penguin food web, Antarctica.
Corsolini S, Covaci A, Ademollo N, Focardi S, Schepens P.
Department of Environmental Science G. Sarfatti, University of Siena,
via P.A. Mattioli, 4, I-53100 Siena, Italy. corsolini@unisi.it
Concentrations and enantiomeric signatures of organochlorine
pesticides were determined in Antarctic krill, emerald rockcod and
Adélie penguin from the Ross Sea, Antarctica. HCB and DDTs were
prevalent contaminants in penguin eggs. The highest concentrations of
SigmaHCHs (1.35 +/- 0.72 ng/g) were found in the rockcod muscle, where
gamma-HCH (1.23 +/- 0.67 ng/g) was the principal isomer. The ratio
gamma-HCH/alpha-HCH was evaluated. Enantioselective gas chromatography
was used for the evaluation of enantiomeric fractions (EFs) for
alpha-HCH and oxychlordane. An increase of 14% in the (+)alpha-HCH
enantiomer was found from krill through penguin, suggesting the
enantioselective biotransformation increased proportionately with
trophic level. Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) were measured
and their concentrations were 5.6 +/- 1.12, 5.81 +/- 2.32, 4.57 +/-
0.17 and 3.06 +/- 3.27 ng/g lipids in krill, rockcod muscle, rockcod
homogenate and penguin eggs, respectively. The detection of BDE28,
BDE47, BDE99 and BDE100 in Antarctic organisms confirmed their global
transport and distribution; the detection of lower brominated
congeners suggested a potential long-range transport. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16183185)
I’m baaaaaaaaaack lol. I just asked a good friend about Krill Oil. I greatly trust this person’s judgment due to their having worked with veterinarians and compromised dogs for many years now, and having seen many krazes before of the next best thing to fix all. This is what was said:
“In all my years of research, Krill cannot measure up to wild salmon oil.If people want a great combination, they should be having wild salmon oil and hemp oil. Hemp is amazing, and there are other oils on the horizon that are going to be amazing too, for example, cranberry oil and blueberry oil (too expensive right now, but its time will come).
Let’s say that you have an allergy to shrimp and you decide to have Krill oil, you could go into anaphylactic shock!
I have seen loose stools and diarrhea in dogs fed Krill oil. I still have my bottle right here. When I first explored Krill oil, any person I spoke to, had not heard of it.
Krill oil should not be taken if you are on blood thinners or an anti-inflammatory medication, so a dog on Meticam could not take Krill oil.
Krill oil can increase the risk of bleeding, so if a dog is taking a herbal combination that contains Gingk Biloba, they should not have Krill.
There is even a cautionary note about Krill not being taken if a person is eating garlic.
As far as I am concerned, I will be sticking with what I know and what I have seen for over a decade, and believe me, I have worked with more supplements than I could ever possibly count over the years.
There is a note I must try to find you some time, but companies who make supplements have no right to say that something cures something or promises a cure, and that it is according to the FDA regulations, and Neptune Krill Oil promises many things and they are surely riding on the coat tails of the tried and true. (I spent a summer in the Eastern Arctic on Baffin Island. I don’t just talk the talk, I have walked it and walked it and walked it!).
Krill oil is called a breakthrough for a whole host of conditions: cholesterol control, AHHD in adults, chronic inflammation, arthritic pain, skin cancer, autoimmune murine lupus, PMS.
Rochelle, I WON’T be putting Krill Oil on my “list of things to take” . . . nothing like having to have an Epi-Pen on hand for a supplement.”