Taurine-Deficient (Nutritional) Dilated Cardiomyopathy FB Group

[Nancy]

I was just wondering if anyone else is a troll on this FB group and what are you thoughts on posts and comments?  First I have to mention that I follow the Food Recommendations of this group and believe Karen over any of the posters in that group, but I can't help myself trolling the FB Group...I'm becoming an addict...LOL!  I can't believe some of the posts, here is an example of just one:

Emily Keller Mathews

9 hrs · Ridgebury, CT

Diagnosed two lovely Golden’s with nutritionally mediated DCM yesterday who were at my clinic for elective surgery. Thank goodness we caught it first. Father and son, 6 and 2 years old. The son is actually more affected than the father. Both dogs were eating Merrick grain free their whole lives.

Owners were absolutely horrified and switched foods right and started taurine supplements. You would never have guessed looking at these dogs that they were ill, and I’m so grateful for this page for giving me the knowledge to catch it early and save them. Both dogs look like they will be able to reverse their disease with diet change. I will he reporting both cases to the FDA- I put in a call already today. Do you guys have more luck reporting online or by phone?

How could she possible know for sure that it was food related? I feel like that group is becoming a "Terrorist Group" for dog owners.  

[Nancy]

Sorry I used the wrong word...I did not mean "TROLLING", I don't comment on anything, I just read so I guess I meant "CREEPING".

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

And this is exactly why I keep warning people NOT to follow that group and not to pay any attention to these crazy FB posts. I would be bald from tearing my hair out if I had to look at this crap every day. As it is, I feel my blood pressure rising just reading this post. 
To date, out of 77 million dogs in this country, there have been 326 confirmed cases of taurine deficient DCM. That's less than one-fortieth of one percent. 

Yet in that FB group alone, you probably have more than 300 people claiming their dogs have this rare disease.

Um, you don't have to be a mathematician to see that something is not right there.

It's a well-known psychological phenomena, this kind of jumping on the New Disease in the News bandwagon, and I would feel kind of sorry for these people if they were not doing so much harm to others with this bogus information.
I'm going to re-post the link to our discussion about this here as my only comment, before I need to take a Xanax. 
https://doodlekisses.com/group/thefoodgroup/forum/topics/taurine-de...

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

And what kind of a vet needs a FB group to give her knowledge about diseases or tell her how to report them? I'd be finding myself a new vet about now. 
I'll bet her Hills and Purina sales are way up this year, lol. 

[Lori, Daphne, Lucy & Pippa]

Nancy, I am not in that group but those people are in all the other groups advising people with food questions to join that group. They are quite aggressive. I responded once and simply said "No thank you" and they jumped all over me. I am seriously considering leaving all groups because it really is the same questions and the same responses over and over again! Boy, do I miss the days when we had more wonderful discussions here on DK!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Facebook in general is the worst place in the world to discuss anything, let alone anything to do with science or health. Even in groups that are well-administered and have lots of rules in place, there are constantly people on opposite ends of the spectrum of any issue giving conflicting advice and arguing about why their side is the right side. And of course, the "evidence" they cite is always strictly anecdotal. Or a link to some video by Karen Becker or Dr. Oz, lol.  

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

I belong to a babycenter forum for babies born in the same month as my son... the crazy statements that come out of there are almost unbelievable sometimes.  Often revolving around feeding, vaccines and sleep training... similarly to those Facebook groups there is a lot of fear mongering and outright wrong information and treating things like YouTube videos as factual information.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Yep. I have to really work hard to ignore things and move away or stop following something. 
I will say, FB groups are excellent for those who need to practice their self-control, lol. 

[Nancy]

Thank you again Karen and Lori for responding...I don't know why I felt like I needed that reassurance, but now I am definitely removing myself from the group.  I totally agree with everything you have said and it makes much more sense than what that group is trying to sell!  Oh well, lesson learned :)  Thank you for the link Karen, I'm not sure why but I seem to have problems when I try to search things in this group.  Enjoy your day and pass on the Xanax...LOL

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Here's what I would really like to know: Has anyone in that FB group called her out on this blatant lie? Because one thing I do know is that the bloodwork has to be sent out to TAMU or UC-Davis to test for taurine deficiency (among other nutritional deficiencies). That test absolutely cannot be run by a vet in-house. And the test results typically take at least 5 days. So it is impossible for this woman to have diagnosed Taurine-Deficient DCM yesterday on two dogs who came in for surgery. Impossible. 

I keep hearing how this group has so much information, surely everyone in there knows the testing procedure. So how many people called "Bull$**t" on her?
I would bet next month's mortgage payment that nobody questioned her at all. 

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

Karen, don't get bogged down by things like logic and procedure and science.  Just get out your pitchfork since clearly these dog food companies are out to get our pooches with their lack of grains!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

You're right. Silly me, I forgot myself for a minute there. LOL

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Karen:  "I'm going to re-post the link to our discussion about this here as my only comment, before I need to take a Xanax."  And then more comments. Hahahahahaha  This stuff drives me crazy.  I don't follow any of it.  I also don't believe almost any of the 'poor me' stories so:  send me money, take my dogs, support my habits, I want to throw a fabulous birthday party for my one year old will never forget, so I have a go fund me account you could contribute to, buy crap dog food and your dog will be healthy, and on and on.

I miss the old days here very much.