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Omega 3 Fish Oils To Help With Itchiness?

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jeffnsweep

jeffnsweep

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I've just read an interesting article about holistic medicines that can be used on guinea pigs, one of the suggestions was that a fish oil supplement eg cod liver oil could be added to food to help with itchiness when dealing with mites etc. as I know piggies are vegetarian I thought I would ask whether this was correct before going ahead and adding to my boys food who the vet believes have mites and is being treated currently with a topical medication. The first treatment was only given yesterday so I obviously can't apply anything to his skin yet or bathe him in a soothing shampoo so if anybody could confirm this was safe I may give it a try as he still itching lots at the moment. Thank you x
 
It's not something I have heard of before, as like you have said they are vegetarian. I would not use it. You can get omega oils that are not from fish (I take them sometimes as a vegan) but I am not sure on their suitability for pigs either as they come from seeds.

Was his treatment from the vets?
 
Hi there yes it was treatment from the vets he has to go back twice more two weeks apart for further treatment. I think I must have assumed in the article that the omega 3 was referring to the fish oil omega 3! I didn't realise you could get vegetarian omega 3 tablets but yes the vegetarian ones would make more sense!
 
Oh maybe that is what they meant then. You can get capsules in Sainsburys that are vegetarian omega 3. I remember one of ours had evening primrose oil I think but it was a few years ago and I could be getting it mixed up.
 
I think there is a lot of mileage in thinking about what an animal's ancestors would have been exposed to "in the wild" .

Guinea Pigs would have never been exposed to fish so, personally, I would avoid fish oilsoils in their care.


I am going to add another "interesting fact" here. This is for hoomans - not Guinea Pigs . The omega oils from vegetarian sources are different to omega fish oils . A lot of rersearch about the health benefits of Omega 3 is specifically about fish oils.
 
You can get ones from the sea now for veggies and vegans that are made from algae or seaweed I think, not tried them myself. But they have EPA and DHA in whatever that is.
 
helen105281 said:
You can get ones from the sea now for veggies and vegans that are made from algae or seaweed I think, not tried them myself. But they have EPA and DHA in whatever that is.
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That's fantastic news . I don't want to derail this thread as this is about Omega 3 to treat guinea pigs . I will look into you advice Helen.
 
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