Multicenter veterinary practice assessment of the effects of omega-3 fatty acids on osteoarthritis in dogs

Roush JK, Dodd CE, Fritsch DA, Allen TA, Jewell DE, Schoenherr WD, Richardson DC, Leventhal PS, Hahn KA · Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association

The veterinary literature reads more positively than the human one, and this is the trial that set that tone. Dogs on the test food had higher serum omega-3 and lower arachidonic acid at 6, 12 and 24 weeks, and their owners reported significantly better ability to rise from rest and to play at 6 weeks and to walk at 12 and 24 weeks.

Population

127 client-owned dogs with osteoarthritis in one or more joints, across 18 private veterinary clinics

Intervention

A test food with 31-fold higher total omega-3 and a 34-fold lower omega-6:omega-3 ratio, for 6 months

Comparator

Typical commercial dog food

Limitations

Dogs, and every clinical outcome is a questionnaire completed by an owner who can taste-test neither food nor blinding — the two diets are physically different products. Several authors were employed by the pet-food manufacturer. Recorded because the veterinary evidence is routinely cited in human discussions and deserves to be read on its own terms.