Interesting article for those feeding grain-free food--and the food group people!

[Ginny Nightingale]

I feed my three a grain-free food from Wellness--not too many exotic ingredients and all 3 are healthy despite getting older--(11. 10 and 7) but I thought that if you see any symptoms of heart problems in your dog, this article might provide a few clues. From a very good source...

http://http://vetnutrition.tufts.edu/2018/06/a-broken-heart-risk-of...

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Unfortunately, the source is not all that good. Lisa Freeman sits on the board of a pet food advisory group run by Hills and Purina which "educates" veterinary professionals on pet food. This is just another attempt by Big Dog Food (you know the guys who sells the crappy overpriced Rx food to your vet, who sells it to you) to discredit the smaller companies. 

A couple of previous discussions with information on the original Morris Foundation study on the rise in cardiomyopathy in Golden Retrievers: 

https://www.doodlekisses.com/forum/topics/taurine-deficiency?groupU...;

https://www.doodlekisses.com/group/thefoodgroup/forum/topics/taurin...

[Ginny Nightingale]

Thanks Karen--I am glad you guys are already on this--and those who read the article and panic now have another source to go to!

[Richard Crowe]

Our veterinary dermatologist stated that chicken, beef and pork are the three primary causes of skin allergies in dogs, not grains as most everyone believes...

[Jennifer and Jack]

Both of Jacks cardiologist have told me there is a large study being released this summer about this.   There are also several dogs in our canine disease support group that have cardiomyopathy that has been reversed.

i don’t know enough to say for sure and Jacks heart Disease is not related to this at all. I chose to remove him from grain free because I believe down the road they are going to see this is actually at least in part true.    I will ask his cardiologist when we go back when the studies are coming out.   I can’t remeber but it’s from one of the bigger veterinary colleges.    Sorry I don’t have more info but when I get it I will post it.

‘I wouldn’t ever tell someone for sure anything, I would not want to be responsible if I were wrong.  

[Jennifer and Jack]

The FDA gets things wrong all the time. As you research more you learn more and things change.     They used to say nicotine was harmless    I guess the good thing about it is if your dog develops this and it’s caught, it could be reversed.  

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Logically a food with higher meat-based protein, less plant food would be correct for canines. Perhaps our pets have evolved into different digestive needs than canines in the wild. My boys do very well on high quality grain-free kibble but personal anecdotal accounts don’t mean much as group- based information. However studies must use a wide enough and varied enough population and not begin with a bias, to be valid. For now I’ll continue to rely on my logical thought and own dogs’ health to decide on what I feed.  

[Jennifer and Jack]

I don’t think  feeding a food with a higher meat based protein was the issue. If I understand correctly, it was the other ingredients in the grain free such as peas and legumes that were preventing the synthesis of taurine somehow.  From what jacks cardiologist said, it’s being found in certain dogs that were fed grain free but also had high amounts of peas and a few other ingredients.  It’s for sure interesting and something to keep in the back of my brain somewhere.   If I were to switch back to grain free I would probably avoid the peas and legumes just until they straighten it out because it’s so easy to find one without it.  Luckily I would imagine anyone who is conscious enough to feed grain free will also get regular exams and catch an issue early.     I sure wish Jacks heart condition could be reversed by giving him a supplement.