Taurine results are back, please take this seriously

[Melissa]

I know this was mentioned and basically discarded, so I'm posting this here.  We tested all of our dogs, and all three are low.  Our golden doodle is 118 (whole blood), which is critically low.  I have always fed the foods recommend on this site.  

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

To my point about the membership of this group, I just looked at it, and there are 4131 members, 1327 of whom have joined within the last 30 days. I know for a fact that are nowhere near those kinds of number of dogs with this condition, not even close. And almost 600 posts in the last 30 days? 
I have nothing but sympathy for anyone whose dog really has this disease, or any disease; nobody knows better than I do how heartbreaking it is to have a dog with a serious illness and to be unsure of what or how to feed him. 

But I just cannot help believing that there is an awful lot of "jumping on the band wagon" and panicky, mob mentality among the membership of this FB group, and it doesn't seem to me to be a great place to get any accurate information. Just my opinion, for what it's worth. 

[Melissa]

I'm not getting into who should do what, as to me that is up to each individual.  I tend to be very cautious, being in the medical field, and this was something simple and non-invasive (I don't consider a blood draw invasive) when we were already going to be at the vet.  I honestly thought it would be box check, with normal results, and we would move on, but consider the foods we were feeding (probably moving to raw like one of our breeders). 

We see two vets, one old school, and a group of younger vets.  I spoke to one of our younger vets today.  They said they could draw an additional blood panel, CardioPet, and go from there with an echocardiogram if that were positive.  They also said to put the dogs on a grain inclusive food, one recommends Pro Plan 30/20 (which I already knew), and that there is a taurine supplement that can be given.  Otherwise they have no information.  

My old school vet, that did the blood draw, is out of the office, so I wait to hear what he has to say.  In the meantime I continue to digest information to make a move from here.  I have temporarily put the dogs on Pro Plan 30/20, which was a very hard purchase after everything I thought I knew.  I don't know if I can find a grain-free non pea, legume, and potato, so I will keep researching there and will be making continued changes to their diet.  I'm told the next step is an echocardiogram, based on Dr. Stern's recommendations, so I will be calling and talking to cardiologist today.

I simply wanted to share the information I have, which is limited.  

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Melissa, I apologize for the unpleasant turn your discussion had taken.
No, it will not be possible to find a kibble that contains no starch or complex carbohydrates of any kind; if you take away potatoes, grains, and legumes, there is nothing left in that department. 

I deeply sympathize with you on how hard it must have been to make the purchase of the ProPlan, with all we know about the sourcing and poor quality of the ingredients of such foods. sadly, this group was started 10 years ago because of the deaths and permanent illnesses of dogs belonging to some of our members who were fed the that type of product when the 2007 melamine debacle occurred. That affected many more companion animals than TD DCM ever has or ever will. I am especially distressed by the presence of menadione (synthetic vitamin K)  in the ProPlan formula
If you would like, I will look at the ingredients and nutritional profile of the ProPlan formula and see if I can find something similar made by a more trustworthy company. Many of the brands on our recommended list do make formulas that contain grains. I've done this successfully for others here who did not want to feed Rx foods or brands like Purina, and I'm happy to try to find an alternative for you that you could ask your vet about. 
Please keep us updated on your dog's situation; hoping for the best possible outcome.

[Melissa]

I would love a tested alternative to Pro Plan.  I’ll take any and all suggestions at this point.  I’m glad that I found out about his issue, but not for all the division that seems to come with it.  Right now I just want the best for our dogs.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I did look at a few formulas from a couple of brands, but everything was either too low in protein or contained peas in some form. 
The ProPlan is just so full of junk, and I can't understand how it could be beneficial for any dog. It reads like the list of Ingredients To Avoid from the Dog Food Project's website. :(
Corn gluten meal, brewer's rice, animal fat, poultry by-product meal, more corn, unnamed fish meal, animal digest, and then that menadione.

There just has to be something better than this. I'll keep looking. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Melissa, would a freeze dried raw product like Stella & Chewy's be a possibility? No starches of any kind and very high protein:
https://www.stellaandchewys.com/dog-food/freeze-dried-raw-dinners/p...

[Lori, Winnie, Bob and Indie]

Karen, could you take a look at Sport Dog Food Elite series and tell us if it might meet the requirements that some people are looking for? It is made in the U.S. with American sourced ingredients.

The Elite series is grain, legume, pea and potato free. The starch comes from sweet potatoes, cassava root and coconut meal. I know it's not on the "Recommended List," but it looks to me to be much better than ProPlan. Chewy carries it....

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Well, it may not be on the recommended list (I haven't had a chance to look into the sourcing, manufacturing, etc. yet) but neither is Purina Pro Plan, and this Sport Dog Elite is a million times better than that. 
Thank you, Lori!!!! 

Melissa, this could work for you. The protein level is 29% which is only one percent below the ProPlan, and it has no by-products, no menadione, no gluten, no garbage period. And no peas, legumes, grain, or white potatoes. I have not heard of a problem with sweet potatoes, which are not starchy. There is no chicken based formula, but there is turkey. Maybe you could ask your vet about this:
https://sportdogfood.com/working-dog-grain-peas-free-turkey-formula/

[Melissa]

I will check out the Dog Sport. It and the new Purina are using the cassava root, which I don’t know anything about yet, but they may make others as well, or I can research that ingredient. As I understand it the Dog Sport are all new formulas this year, with a new manufacturer, which makes me hesitant.  Stella and Chewy is just to expensive where I am for three dogs.  I have been looking at Annamaet.  I was looking at Farmina, but they are now adding pea fiber and my pet store said distributors are concerned about maintaining supplies.  There is a Sardine formula made by a branch of Wellness, that was mentioned, they have a grain inclusive line.  Do you know anything about that line?  It would be nice to have something to rotate, but that may be wishful thinking at this point.  I haven’t had much time to research, so if someone has done so and has anything to add please do so, good or bad.  I appreciate the help.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Wellness is a good brand. The Complete Health line, which is the one that contains grains, is my least favorite of their lines, but if you must have grains, Wellness is as good a brand as any. However, I did not see a sardine formula, and there are peas in all of the formulas I looked at. That's the hardest part of this whole thing.

[Melissa]

I wonder what I looked at.  I was at the pet store and it was something they special ordered for a customer.  They told me it was made by a division of Wellness.  I’ll try to see if I can get a few minutes later tonight to do some looking around for various foods.  Do you know anything about the cassava root of about sorghum?  I see that in some foods.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Wellness is owned by WellPet, which also makes Holistic Select brand. They do have an anchovy and sardine formula. (It stinks to high heaven, lol. I had a foster who was on it.) The ingredients are good, none of the things you're trying to avoid, and the Omega 3 content is wonderful, but the protein level may be a bit too low for your vet's liking, at only 25%. Their chicken formula is the same.

https://www.holisticselect.com/dog/adult-health-anchovy-sardine-and...