Both Omega 3 and Omega 6 fatty acids are essential to the health and wellness of our pets. Especially for dogs prone to allergies or dry skin, these two essential nutrients can make all the difference in soothing and healing itchiness. Both are great for supplementing your pet’s diet, but they do play different roles in the body. While both are chained carbon molecules linked with a double bond, what differentiates them is where that double bond is located on the chain. Omega 3 is at the third carbon, while Omega 6 is at the sixth (which is where the names came from!).

For optimal health, there is a recommended ratio of Omega-6 fatty acids to Omega-3 fatty acids (current recommendations are for 10:1 to 5:1 respectively). Because these two nutrients share a common enzymatic breakdown process, it’s important to balance the intake of both based on these ratios. Omega 6s are often readily available because they are cheaper, but the one type of Omega 6 dogs need (and can’t manufacture on their own) is gamma-linolenic acid, or GLA. A fatty acid chock-full of health benefits, GLA is present in borage oil and evening primrose oil.

Omega 3s are less likely to be in adequate quantities in pet foods simply because they are more expensive. Salmon and anchovy oil, krill, and grass fed meats are the best sources for a carnivore because they provide the active forms of Omega 3 (EPA and DHA) directly, rather than the inactive (ALA) that needs to be converted first. As an inactive form, ALA cannot be utilized by the body unless it gets converted into one of its active forms. And because dogs are carnivores, the lack the proper enzymes to effectively convert ALA as could an herbivore or omnivore. This is why it’s so essential that we give our pets natural sources of the already-converted forms of Omega 3s.