Many concerned pet parents ask themselves “can my dog be allergic to salmon?”. The short answer is yes, dogs can be allergic to salmon and fish. But there are many other topics we should take into consideration regarding this question. So let’s dive right into it.
During the last decade, many dogs started presenting allergy symptoms to common protein sources such as chicken and beef. This has led to an increase in demand for salmon or fish as the source of protein in many food brands for dogs.
And that’s right, you guessed it, many dogs have developed an allergy to dog food with a salmon source of protein. But, the truth is, it’s not that common for dogs to be allergic to salmon.
Can dogs be allergic to salmon oil?
The other question that arises when we talk about salmon and dogs is whether dogs can be allergic to salmon oil or not.
First things first, for those of you who don’t know, salmon oil is used in many omega-3 supplements for dogs. Omega-3 is essential for dogs’ overall health and wellbeing since it promotes healthy skin and coat, reduces joint inflammation, supports cardiovascular and immune system functions and controls allergies.
The majority of omega-3 supplements for dogs are sourced from either fish or salmon oil. And yes, dogs can be allergic to both of them.
So it’s not only dog food containing salmon you should be focused on, but also omega-3 supplements that come from the same source.
Symptoms of salmon allergy in dogs
But, how can you know if your dog is allergic to salmon? Well, salmon allergy in dogs presents a set of easy-to-identify symptoms, so let’s go through them.
- Skin symptoms: itchiness and infection
- Vomiting
- Diarrhea
- Compulsive chewing
- Compulsive feet licking
- Fur loss
- Ear infections
These are some of the signs to look for to know whether your dog is allergic to salmon or not.
Is there a safer alternative?
If you don’t want to feed salmon sourced food or omega-3 supplements to your dog due to its allergy risk, don’t worry, there are safer options for you.
Let’s start with the daily food your pup eats, you can always feed them food that’s sourced from a different animal protein, such as chicken or beef.
Nevertheless, what you feed your dog is a whole separate topic in itself. Therefore, here are some thorough guides you can follow to determine what’s the best diet and food for your pup:
Now, we can move on into the next topic: salmon sourced omega-3 supplements for dogs.
The good news is that there is a great alternative for salmon sourced omega-3, and that is omega-3 sourced from marine algae. Now you may be thinking “It can’t have the same benefits as the one that comes from fish”. And let me tell you, not only does it have the same benefits, but it actually has more.
Dogs cannot produce omega-3 by themselves, that’s why supplementation is necessary. But where do you think fish get theirs? They get it by eating algae, which is actually the original source of omega-3. So by consuming omega-3 sourced from algae, we are just skipping fish as a middleman, but we would definitely be gaining the same health benefits.
What is more, algae allows the extraction of high concentrations of DHA and EPA (omega-3 fatty acids) which are non-GMO and are not contaminated by heavy metals, unlike fish.
As if this wasn’t enough, the production process of omega-3 sourced from algae oil is 100% waste free, since it only uses two ingredients (sugar and marine algae).
And because the demand for omega-3 supplements for humans and animals is so high, fish sourced omega-3 has a tremendous impact on our environment. It leads to overfishing and bycatch, which results in the loss of biodiversity in our oceans. But by using algae as our source of omega-3, we’re actually saving 60 tons of wild caught fish for every 1 ton of algae oil.
Fish oil is widely unsustainable. If you want to understand why, and whether “sustainable seafood” is legitimate, read this blog.
