Medical and scientific literature demonstrate that Omega 3 fatty acids (EPA/DHA) from a marine source provide numerous health benefits to both humans and animals. The health promoting antioxidant properties of blueberries are also well documented and researched.
As a practicing small animal veterinarian, Dr. Decker developed Omega QD because available fatty acid supplements did not seem to be providing the clinical benefits that she thought she should see.
“I would read the medical literature and expect to see those reported benefits with my patients, but I wasn’t. I used several common veterinary brand fish oil capsules and oils that had been around for a long time. I even tried some newer brands. Sometimes, if I gave two or three times more fish oil than the product recommended, I would start to see positive changes. (if the dogs and cats were willing to eat several capsules or larger amounts of oil daily.) However, many of my patients that would eat the larger amounts would also develop side effects such as loose stools, diarrhea, and even begin to have their bodies ‘smell like fish!’ Yikes!”
So, Dr. Decker started researching the available omega 3 products, both veterinary and human brands.
“I started to read Omega 3 fatty acid supplement labels more closely and found that the majority of the brands had about the same amounts of Omega 3’s. The front of the bottles stated: ‘1,000mg Omega 3 fish oil per capsule.’ But, when I read the ‘Supplement Facts’ box on the back of the bottles, it said: ‘One capsule has 300mg of Omega 3s (EPA/DHA).’ That is 1/3 less than what I thought when I read the front label!”
“All this time, most of my clients and I thought we were getting 1,000mg of the Omega 3’s with one large capsule, when actually, we were only getting 300mg of Omega 3’s per capsule. That meant that they had to give 3 capsules daily to a pet to give the 1,000mg of Omega 3’s that they thought they had already been giving! This changed everything for me when recommending Omega 3 fatty acids for my patients. Now, a cat or small dog would need to eat the liquid inside one of those large capsules once or twice daily depending on what we were using the supplement for. For example, if I wanted to use Omega 3’s for a golden retriever patient with cancer, I would recommend that he or she have 3,000mg of EPA/DHA daily. They would have to eat 10 of those fish oil capsules every day, and hopefully not have side effects! There must be a better way.”
Dr. Decker also learned that, in general, the FDA had less strict labeling requirements for nutritional supplements (nutraceuticals) compared to drugs/medications. That seemed to explain, for example, why it was that when she read pet supplement labels she could sometimes only find a percentage of Omega 3′s per bottle of salmon oil but no information on an exact measurement of the number of Omega 3 fatty acids provided in an actual serving. Most products, veterinary and human, did not seem to provide several other pieces of information that Dr. Decker wanted to know about the fish oil before she recommended it to her patients.
“I routinely could not find several things on the labels that I wanted to know: what type of fish that the fish oil came from; if the oil was tested for heavy metals, mercury, or other contaminants; what country the fish came from; are the fish farm raised or wild caught; and where the oil was actually made and not just distributed. It seemed that every international company listed a USA-based distribution company on their product labels which seemed confusing.”
She was very frustrated with the available fish oil supplements available due to either low concentrations, added ingredients, production outside the USA, or a lack of product information provided on the labels that she, as a veterinarian, wanted to know about before recommending it to her patients.
“There has to be a better way to do this. So, I set out to see if the type of Omega 3 EPA/DHA supplement that I envisioned could actually be made. And, then I thought…why can’t it be a powder? That would allow for more efficient absorption, be less messy, and be much easier to measure very specific ‘doses’ for my patients.”
Well, after 2 years, a few ‘twists of fate,’ and some uniquely supportive people guiding her in the right direction, she had met all of her goals with ‘Omega QD.’ It is manufactured right here in the USA by a human supplement manufacturer that adheres to FDA regulations and GMP (Good Manufacturing Practices). We are their only veterinary/pet supplement they make! The ingredients are sourced from within the USA. (even the labels are from Kansas!) The fish are wild caught in the Atlantic (no fish are from China) and their oil is enveloped with pectin to make a powder form right here in the USA. Is the supplement a little more expensive to make than we had hoped for? Yes. But, we realize why…
“It’s not about high volume quantity at low cost, it is about affordable, high quality results for each pet that uses this supplement. I am so pleased! Our pets – our ‘furry children’ – now have a EPA/DHA nutritional supplement that is a quality high enough for myself and my family.” – Debbie Decker, DVM
