Fish Oil Capsules or Liquid: Which is Cheaper?

Fish oil comes in capsules and bottled, marketed for humans and just for dogs, but what gives you the most bang for your buck? There's some compelling evidence for fish oil being actually useful for dogs, but not all dietary supplements are created equal. Two years ago this New York Times article, about supplements not containing what's on the label, made me reconsider the few dietary supplements I do use. Happily, someone has actually gone to the trouble of analyzing various fish oil products, at least for humans.

So What's the Cheapest Source of Fish Oil?

Briz likes fish. And food. Any food, really.

Ask a group of dog people what is the most economical fish oil for their dogs, and you will get a difference answer from every person. 

"Liquid products are more expensive."

"Capsules are way more expensive."

 "Some more costly products are more economical because they are more potent and therefore can be given in much smaller doses."

Which of these is actually true? Are capsules or liquid cheaper? Is fish oil marketed for dogs more expensive than fish oil marketed for people? Are tested products more expensive than untested ones?

Let's Do Some Math

I quickly learned that nobody had a satisfactory answer to my question, and I really love concrete answers. As the cost of fish oil is measurable, all that was required was some figuring...and maybe a spreadsheet. For comparison purposes, I picked two dog products that were recommended to me, and two human products that rated well on the list of tested fish oils. 

• Grizzly Pollock Oil by Grizzly Pet Products seems to be one of the most economical products available at www.Chewy.com, at $23 for a 32-oz bottle. That's about $0.71 per fluid ounce.
• Vetoquinol AllerG-3 seems more expensive, at $15 for an 8-oz bottle. That's about $1.90 per fluid ounce.
• The Vitamin Shoppe's house brand Omega-3 1100mg Fish Oil was the second-highest rated human product, containing slightly more of the active ingredients than was listed on the label. LabDoor rated it the best value for human products, at $35 for 180 capsules. That's $0.19 per pill.
• Controlled Labs OxiMega Fish Oil was another readily-available product with active ingredient levels that exceeded those listed on the label. At $22 for 120 capsules, it also seems to be a good value. That's $0.18 per pill.

So at 18-cents per pill, the Controlled Labs capsules initially seemed like the best value, and capsules in general appeared to be the most economical form in which to buy fish oil. Next, I checked the manufacturer's recommended dosage for each product, and calculated how much it would cost to feed to 45-lb Brisbane. Here's what I learned:

• At $0.08 per 3.5ml pump, it would cost $0.16 per day to feed Brisbane the recommended dose of 2 pumps per day of Grizzly Pollack Oil. That's $4.80 a month.
• At $0.06 per 1-ml pump, it would cost $0.12 per day to feed Brisbane the recommended dose of 2 pumps per day of Vetoquinol AllerGo3 liquid. That's $3.60 a month. 
• At $0.19 per 1200mg capsule, it would cost $0.19 per day to feed Brisbane the recommended (for humans) dose of 1 capsule per day of of Vitamin Shoppe Omega-3 fish oil. That's $5.70 a month.
• At $0.18 per capsule, it would cost $0.36 per day to feed Brisbane the recommended (for humans) dose of 2 capsules per day of Controlled Labs OxiMega fish oil. That's $10.80 a month.

Wow, so the OxiMega fish oil is actually the most expensive when given at the manufacturer's recommended dose! The Vetoquinol was the most expensive per ounce, but the least per recommended dose. Both of the liquid products turned out to be a better value than the capsules...right? Not exactly.

It's All About the Active Ingredients

As it turns out, aside from the omega-3 fatty acids, the active ingredients in fish oil are really Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA). According to the University of Colorado Veterinary Hospital, the maximum recommended dose of EPA+DHA for osteoarthritis is 310mg per kg of body weight per day. At 45-lbs or 20.5kg, Brisbane would get about 3000mg per day. That's a lot, and the amount of EPA and DHA varies immensely between products. Here's how it changes the value:

• 1 3.5-ml pump of Grizzly Pollack Oil contains 195mg of DHA and 385mg of EPA for a total of 580mg per pump. The maximum dose of 3000mg for Brisbane would be 5 pumps at a cost of $0.40 per day, and $12 per month.
• 1 1-ml pump of Vetoquinol AllerG-3 contains 120mg of DHA and 180mg of EPA for a total of 300mg. The maximum dose of 3000mg for Brisbane would be 10 pumps at a a cost of $0.60 per day, and $18 per month.
• 1 1200mg capsule of Vitamin Shoppe Omega-3 fish oil contains 240mg DHA and 600mg of EPA for a total of 840mg per pill. The maximum dose of 3000mg for Brisbane would be 4 pills a a cost of $0.76 per day, and $22.80 per month.
• 1 capsule of Controlled Labs OxiMega fish oil contains 200mg DHA and 400mg of EPA, for a total of 600mg. The maximum dose of 3000mg for Brisbane would be 5 pills at a cost of $0.90 per day, and $27 per month.

So What's the Best Source of Fish Oil?

Of the four products I examined here, the Grizzly Pollack Oil is the most economical. Chewy.com also has it available in a 64-oz bottle that would drop the price per month for Brisbane to $10.50, which means I should probably order that right now and not have to worry about it for a few months. I could also rotate that with Grizzly Salmon Oil, which would cost $10.80 per month to feed if I bought the giant bottle. The salmon oil is slightly more expensive than the pollock oil, but also contains slightly more EPA and DHA so it evens out. Liquid products do indeed seem to be less expensive than capsules, but I don't think any have been tested by a third party so I have to take the manufacturer's word that they contain the levels of active ingredients claimed. It's a trade-off. 

This was fun! I learned a lot, and the results weren't quite what I expected. Please feel free to check my math, question my motives, or request the same breakdown for another product!

Product Review: Starmark Petsmart Exclusive Treat Ringer

The Starmark Treat Ringer is a Petsmart Exclusive food toy. It features an inner rod that holds edible Treat Rings, surrounded by a tough plastic rim. It comes in three different shapes, a ring, a bone, and a horseshoe. The ring is supposed to be the easiest, and the horseshoe the most challenging. This is a toy designed for power chewers and dogs that destroy everything.

Photo by Erin Koski

I spotted the Starmark Ringer toys at Petsmart and then failed to find them on the Starmark website when I wanted to learn more about them. On a subsequent visit to the store, I learned that these toys are sold exclusively at Petsmart. I was familiar with this concept, but had only ever seen My Little Ponies and dinosaurs as store exclusives at Toys'R'Us and Target. Exclusive dog toys are a whole new thing.

I bought this toy on our trip to Idaho, where I was able to test it on a variety of different dogs. My cousin's weird little curly-tailed mix was happily tearing chunks off of our Everlasting Groovy Ball within moments of claiming it, so I even had a power chewer test drive it.

I'm guessing Molly is a border collie/beagle/pug cross. 

How Long Does It Take?

The Starmark Treat Ringer horseshoe comes with five treat rings pre-installed. They take quite a bit of manual dexterity and some force to put on the toy, and are quite difficult to remove. The dogs mostly have to lick and nibble with their front teeth in order to liberate the treats. 

The only treat rings available for the toy are chicken-flavored, and contain "natural chicken flavor". It's pretty far down the ingredient list though, and Brisbane had already inhaled a bowl of Molly's chicken-filled food the day I bought the Ringer, so I let him play with it. Brisbane spent just under five minutes removing a single ring from the toy. Molly took about two minutes to pull one ring off, and only left some minor tooth marks instead of demolishing the Ringer. Theoretically it would take Brisbane 20+ minutes to empty the ringer of its original complement of rings, while Molly might take only ten minutes.

I liked how focused all of the dogs were on this toy. Sisci and my cousin's pit bull puppy both worked for a while on it, and were engaged until the toy was emptied. My aunt's little chihuahua/rat terrier mix spent half an hour trying to free a ring before he needed a break.

Pros: Tougher than other Starmark toys. Challenging yet engaging. Suitable for dogs of any size.

Cons: Might be tough enough to break teeth. Treats only come in chicken flavor. Cannot hold hold any other sort of treats.

Bottom Line: I think that "Petsmart Exclusive" thing worked, since I've started going there specifically to look for toys only available there. 

Treat Tuesday: ZiwiPeak 'Good Dog' Treats vs. Daily Dog Food

I love using ZiwiPeak's Daily Dog air-dried dog food as training treats, but they also make actual training treats. Both are made from air-dried meat, organs, and seafood, so is the only difference the size of the bag? Kinda.

Treats versus Food

Visually, the only difference between the ZiwiPeak beef treats and beef dog food is the size of the pieces. The food comes in tiny little squares that are exactly perfect for training treats. The treats come in longer strips that I then have to rip into appropriate sizes to use for training. Otherwise, that's it. Unlike the Real Meat dog food and treats, there's no discernible difference in texture.

The primary difference between dog food and dog treats is vitamins and minerals. Just about anything can be in dog treats, but in order to be labeled as a complete and balanced diet, dog food has to meet a certain nutrient profile. This is why pretty much every dog food ingredient list ends with a bunch of chemically-sounding things. 

ZiwiPeak 'Good Dog' beef treats are made from beef, lecithin (hopefully not derived from corn), chicory inulin (a prebiotic), and parsley. ZiwiPeak Daily-Dog air-dried cuisine is made from all that, plus organs, green-lipped mussel, and assorted vitamins and minerals. Oddly enough, the website states that the treats are made from meat, organs, and seafood when all three flavors appear to be made from only meat.

Treats on the left, complete and balanced dog food on the right.

The ZiwiPeak treats and food are so similar that the dogs don't seem to really notice a difference. I personally find that the food makes perfect training treats right out of the bag, while the treats need to be chopped or broken into pieces. As an added bonus, the food is actual dog food, so I'm not filling my dogs up with extras when we have long or intense training sessions. Kibble isn't always exciting enough to work for, but they'll do nearly anything for a piece of ZiwiPeak.