Barf oil comparison & recommendations

Vegetable & animal oils: Extremely important for every dog

In addition to proteins, vitamins and minerals, every dog ​​also needs Fats: They offer the four-legged friends a lot of energy, which is why active dogs need a lot. They are also essential for nutrient absorption.

Basically, meat is a good source of fat when it comes to energy. From a nutritional perspective, however, it is often not enough: meat contains a rather high content saturated fatty acids, which in excess not only make you fattening, but also increase LDL cholesterol levels.

When it comes to unsaturated fatty acids, representatives of the fatty acids predominate in meat Omega 6 group. These are important and essential, so they must be given to the dog in his food. However, it is difficult to provide an adequate supply only in this way – and too large quantities without omega 3 fats are also harmful to the dog.

Contained in small quantities in most finished foods

If you are for Ready-made food If you decide, these manufacturers will at least partially solve this problem for you: many varieties already contain vegetable oils such as sunflower, linseed or borage oil. Seeds such as linseed also belong in this category.

However, that does not mean that these ingredients are always sufficient Dog's fatty acid balance adequate to use: Many manufacturers avoid this question by withholding precise information about the omega 3 and omega 6 fats they contain. If you want to be on the safe side, it may be worth adding a little oil to the food.

Must be supplemented when barfing

At the Barfen On the other hand, oil supplementation is actually mandatory: without it, the dog would definitely show deficiency symptoms. Since unsaturated fatty acids are essential and are only stored to a very limited extent by the body, the four-legged friends really need to be supplied with them regularly through their diet.

If you have said goodbye to industrial ready-made food and only want to serve your pet fresh food, you must always have a bottle of good barf oil in the house to keep the animal healthy and happy.

It is generally recommended that a maximum of 75 percent of a meal consist of carefully composed offal, muscle meat and cartilage or bones. The rest should be primarily plant-based, with oils playing an important role.

What do BARF oils contain?

Different manufacturers offer different options for this Special BARF oils to. Of course, it is also possible to use conventional cooking oil, but as you will find out a little later, this is not entirely without risk.

For starters, you're on the safe side if you choose a special barf mixture.

Often a mix of different types of vegetable oils

In most cases, BARF oil is a mixture of different types of vegetable oils. This is helpful because virtually every oil has its own benefits.

If these are combined, the four-legged friend can benefit significantly better. However, there are also individual varieties that can help; these are usually a little cheaper. In general, BARF oils offer compositions that particularly include the following.

Compared to meat, the proportion is saturated fatty acids significantly lower in these oils.

Most of the time they are just 10 to 25 percent the total amount accounted for in this way. But that is more than enough, because dogs that are barfed really do not lack these lipids.

Monounsaturated fatty acids

Slightly healthier than saturated representatives monounsaturated fatty acids, which only have one double bond. They can even have a beneficial effect and help stimulate fat burning, for example.

However, they are not usually needed by the dog: they are not essential, can be produced independently by the body of the four-legged friend. BARF oils therefore contain relatively few of these acids; the content is usually between 10 and 15 percent.

Polyunsaturated fatty acids

However, they are essential polyunsaturated fatty acids with different double bonds. They are the most important component of BARF oils and make up the lion's share of good blends. The dog cannot produce them itself and must therefore regularly ingest them through food.

These are particularly important Omega 3 acids, which are only very rarely found in animal food sources. These include in particular:

• Alpha-linolenic acid
• Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and
• Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA).

Barf oils also contain other Omega n fatty acids. The group is particularly important for the dog Omega 6 fats. Included here are, for example:

• Linoleic acid
• Gamma-linolenic acid or
• Arachidonic acid.

Lots of important vitamins

Barf oil blends also contain many vitamins, that are important for the dog. These include, for example, vitamins E and K. Other fat-soluble vitamins are not included directly, but are utilized significantly better by the body with oils.