Fish Oils For Pets - Welactin

A friend recently asked about a fish oil product for dogs called Welactin. Welactin is produced by Nutramax, a company with a good reputation among veterinarians. Indeed, some Nutramax products, such as Cosequin, have been so tremendous that they set the standard for joint supplements. Many pet supplement companies that pirate products are so impressed with Nutramax products that they knock-off similar products and market them using their own name. Unfortunately, Welactin isn't a Nutramax product that deserves to be copied.

What's not to like about Welactin? Well, the ingredients. The first ingredient is salmon oil but the label does not say wild-caught salmon. If salmon is not wild caught, it is farmed, and farmed salmon are sources of toxins and heavy metals. In fact, farmed salmon are so toxic that the U.S. government suggests we limited how much of it that we eat.

Consumer Reports Magazine also warned consumers about farmed salmon and describes how it is possible to recognize the difference between farmed and wild-caught salmon at the grocery. According to Consumer Reports, farmed salmon has gray flesh, and to make the flesh the delightful pink color consumers associate with salmon, fish companies add dye. The dye can be detected in lab tests.

Farmed fish is not my only concern with Welactin. In Welactin, the amount of vitamin E is a concern. Vitamin E prevents fish oil oxidation, so a small amount is acceptable, but research has shown that those who consume much vitamin E actually die at an earlier age than those who don’t take vitamin E. With vitamin E, especially synthetic vitamin E, less is better.

In addition to containing farmed salmon and vitamin E, Welactin contains soybean oil. Soybean oil provides Omega 6 fatty acids, but the majority of pets have an excess of Omega 6 fatty acids in their diet and would benefit more from a straight Omega 3 supplement. For pets that need Omega 6 fatty acids, it is better if the O6s come from Evening Primrose or Borage oil than from soy oil.

It would be enough to cause concern with the salmon, vitamin E, and soy oil, but to clinch the deal, citric acid is in Welactin. Citric acid, used as a preservative, is linked to the development of bloat in dogs. Welactin already has vitamin E and rosemary that function as preservatives, so why add citric acid? This preservative might be needed in a fish product that is especially prone to oxidation. Fish oil is prone to oxidation when the fish are not caught and processed fresh, or if they are not processed in a facility with state-of-the-art standards. Are companies that provide pet supplements able to purchase fresh wild-caught fish and process them immediately in modern plants? Yes. And, one company, Nordic Naturals, goes even further by requiring that its pet supplements are processed in plants meeting the strictest Norwegian standards. Nordic Naturals does not add citric acid to their pet fish oils.

So, would I use Welactin for my pets? No. And, I won't recommend it for your pets. However, there are some great Nutramax products for pets.