You should seek the advice of your veterinarian if your pet is ill as only he or she can correctly advise on the diagnosis and recommend the treatment that is most appropriate for your pet.

The scientific evidence to support the administration of nutritional supplements to pets is often very weak. Best evidence are randomised controlled trials (RCTs)

Omega3 fatty acids – eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) (n=2 RCT; n=1 non-RCT)

Positive results in a non-RCT study (n=22) has been reported (Miller 1992). However in an RCT involving 77 dogs in which primary outcome measures included objective force plate analysis (Hielm-Bjorkman 2012) there was no significant pain relief from giving deep sea fish oil over placebo in dogs with OA.

In an RCT in which a diet was supplemented with omega-3 fatty acids subjective owner assessment was of improvement compared to control animals (Roush 2010a and b) but the base diets being fed to the two groups of dogs were different. The evidence to support the benefits of omega-3 rich dietsh in the management of OA in dogs cannot be solely attributed to the omega-3 fatty acid content as the content of the base control diet and test diet were different in many respects. (see Therapeutic diets)

Evidence : WEAK – Conflicting results

References

Hielm-Bjorkman A, Roine J, Elo K, Lappalainen A, Junnila J, Laitenen-Vapaavuori O. (2012) An un-commissioned randomised, placebo-controlled double-blind study to test the effect of deep sea fish oil as a pain reliever for dogs suffering from canine OA, BMC Veterinary Research 8:157

Miller WH, Scott DW, Wellington JR. (1992) Treatment of dogs with hip OA with a fatty acid supplement. Canine Practice. 17:6-8

Roush JK, Cross AR, Renberg WC, et al (2010a) Evaluation of the effects of dietary supplementation with fish oil omega-3 fatty acids on weight bearing in dogs with OA. J Am Vet Med Assoc 236(1):67-73

Roush JK, Dodd CE, Fritsch DA et al. (2010b) A multicentre veterinary practice assessment of the effects of omega-3 fatty acids on OA in dogs. J Am Vet Med Assoc 236(1):59-66

Updated September 2015