Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
High omega-3 diet effects on dogs with osteoarthritis pain
By Moreau, M et al.·Published in Journal of animal physiology and animal nutrition·2013·Department of Veterinary Biomedicine, Canada·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Effects of feeding a high omega-3 fatty acids diet in dogs with naturally occurring osteoarthritis.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of dogs with osteoarthritis (OA) were fed a special diet high in omega-3 fatty acids from fish to see if it would help their lameness and mobility. Over 13 weeks, the dogs on this diet showed significant improvements in their ability to move and perform daily activities compared to those on a regular diet. The dogs eating the omega-3 diet had better scores in their mobility tests and reported less difficulty in daily activities. This suggests that a diet rich in omega-3s could be beneficial for managing osteoarthritis in dogs.
People also search for: dog osteoarthritis treatment · omega-3 fatty acids for dogs · how to help my dog with joint pain
Abstract
The aim of this randomized, placebo-controlled and double-blinded trial was to compare the effect of a veterinary therapeutic diet (VTD) rich in omega-3 fatty acids (omega-3) from fish origin to a regular diet used as control (CTR) over a period of 13 weeks in dogs afflicted by naturally occurring osteoarthritis (OA). Thirty privately owned dogs were selected. Dogs had lameness confirmed by an orthopaedic examination, had stifle/hip OA and had locomotor disability based on the peak of the vertically oriented ground reaction force (PVF) measured using a force platform. At Baseline, all owners were asked to determine 2-5 activities of daily living that were the most impaired. Activities were scores (0-4) in accordance with severity using case-specific outcome measures (CSOM). The PVF was also measured. Dogs (15/group) were then randomly assigned to receive either the CTR or the VTD. The CSOM was completed twice weekly. The recording of PVF was repeated at Week 7 and 13. The VTD-fed dogs showed a significantly higher PVF at Week 7 (p < 0.001) and at Week 13 (p < 0.001) when compared to Baseline. From Baseline to Week 13, VTD-fed dogs had a mean (± SD) change in PVF recording of 3.5 ± 6.8% of body weight (%BW) compared with 0.5 ± 6.1%BW (p = 0.211) in CTR-fed dogs. This change in primary outcome was consistent with an effect size of 0.5. Conversely, dogs fed the CTR did not show significant change in PVF measurements. At the end of the study, the CSOM was significantly decreased (p = 0.047) only in VTD fed dogs. In lame OA dogs, a VTD that contains high level of omega-3 from fish origin improved the locomotor disability and the performance in activities of daily living. Such nutritional approach appears interesting for the management of OA.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22805303/