Essential fatty acids for felines

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Essential fatty acids not only give your cat a smooth coat and healthy skin, they can also help reduce inflammation and protect against cancer.

We hear a lot these days about reducing our fat intake, not only in ourselves, but also in our animals. But the important thing to remember is that not all fats are bad. They are an important part of your cat’s diet and some fatty acids are actually ‘essential’ to keep them healthy. These fats are considered essential because the cat cannot make them in its own body – they must be provided through food. The main essential fatty acids that your cat’s diet should include are arachidonic acid (AA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA).

Focus on fish oil

As a physician, I usually don’t worry too much about whether or not my feline patients are getting the adequate amounts of essential fatty acids they need. I am generally more concerned with how I can use essential fatty acids, especially fish oil (rich in omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA), to improve the health of my patients and help me fight disease naturally. Due to their ability to reduce inflammation in the body, omega-3 fatty acids are helpful for many inflammatory conditions that occur in cats. These conditions include, but are not limited to, skin diseases (especially allergies), asthma, gastrointestinal diseases (especially inflammatory bowel diseases), arthritis, immune system and any type of cancer.

Omega-3 fatty acids are most commonly found in high amounts in cold-water fish like salmon and tuna (and some plant sources like walnuts and flax). Fish oil works in several ways to reduce inflammation and fight disease. In general, though, keep in mind that by using fish oil, you are actually changing your cat’s cell biology! This is because the EPA and DHA in fish oil are actually incorporated into its cell membranes, changing their biochemistry. Cats that eat diets high in more inflammatory omega-6 fatty acids also tend to have these fatty acids in their cell membranes, which can lead to disease. When you feed your cat fish oil, you are essentially replacing some of the omega-6 fatty acids in your cat’s cell membranes with healthier, less inflammatory omega-3s.

Omega-3 and cancer

Omega-3 fatty acids (primarily EPA and DHA) have been shown to retard cancer growth and inhibit tumor development and metastasis. EPA and DHA inhibit the pro-inflammatory enzyme cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2), an enzyme that causes inflammation and therefore promotes cancer and many chronic diseases.

Omega-3 fatty acids activate a cell membrane receptor called peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR), which is a key regulator of fat metabolism, but is also capable of shutting down proliferative growth activity in many cells in the body, decreasing the chances of cancer developing. Fish oils have anti-proliferative effects in high doses, reducing the growth of cancer cells. Fish oils also suppress activation of NFKB, a pro-inflammatory gene switch (transcription factor) that is important for cancer cell initiation, promotion and survival.

Dosage determination

Probably the most important message to take away from this article is to learn how to properly dose fish oil for your cat. Standard doses of most supplements may be enough to keep your hair shiny, but they are far too low to be used in the treatment of various diseases. Here is a quick guide to proper dosage.

Look at the product label, whether it’s a liquid or a capsule. Forget the amount of fish oil in each daily dose (the label will define the daily dose as one capsule, one teaspoon, etc., depending on the product). What you’re really looking for is the amount of EPA and DHA in each dose. Add the amount of EPA and DHA from the recommended daily dose to get the total dose of active omega-3s.

For most cats, I recommend 500mg of EPA + DHA twice a day. For example, if a capsule contains 500 mg of EPA+DHA, your cat will receive one capsule twice a day. If one capsule contains 100mg of EPA + DHA, your cat will receive five capsules twice a day. That’s why it’s a good idea to choose the most concentrated product you can find so that you don’t have to give your cat too many capsules at each meal.

Fish oil is one of my favorite supplements for maintaining feline health and treating sick cats. A high quality product at the right dose will help protect your own cat from the damage of inflammation and reduce their risk of developing cancer.
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