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Re: Grain free food and heart problems

Posted: 04 Jul 2019, 08:11
by Madelon
Thank you Olesia. We are so lucky to have you! It's so helpful to have someone that understands all of the medical/technical stuff and then explain it in a way we ordinary pet owners can actually understand.

I personally believe in treating the condition/disease I know my dog has and try not to worry about one that may or may not happen. That being said, if I had a dog that was "predisposed" to DCM, and no medical conditions requiring certain types of food, then I would definitely be taking steps to try and avoid my dog getting DCM.

What I find frustrating is that it's become an all or nothing thing - it's turned into a blanket "grain-free causes DCM" - instead of saying there are certain ingredients in certain grain-free foods believed to possibly be linked to DCM.

I switched Doc to Sport Dog Food Elite Herding several months ago because the food he had been on changed ingredients and increased peas and he had horrible horrible poops. The Sport Dog Food does not have any peas or legumes in the grain-free line!

Re: Grain free food and heart problems

Posted: 04 Jul 2019, 14:13
by Corgeze
Thank you for info on the grain free and cdm. I had a conversation with Fromm yesterday on their grain free food. I really hate to give it up as my girl has been doing so well on it. Fromm does supplement with Taurine and their foods contain ample levels of cysteine and methionine which dogs use to metabolize their own Taurine. My girl is a show dog so I like to keep her the best food that I can. Alot of the grain free that I look at has higher fiber...just not sure what to do. My vet said to hang tight until the FDA fully investigates and then make a decision.

Re: Grain free food and heart problems

Posted: 05 Jul 2019, 06:21
by Miss Maddie Moo
I think you have a very wise vet ! You have also done all you can by contacting Fromm ....i always gave Maddie some home cooked mince as well .

Re: Grain free food and heart problems

Posted: 10 Jul 2019, 07:23
by Paige's Guardian
Hi all, I have waded through much of the research available...not too much but there is a FB page run by vets and vet cardiologists that has all the research in one place. So, have gone through that. I am posting a link to an interview with Dr. Josh Stern one of the original researchers on the DCM Golden Retriever study.....

https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/video ... y-mystery/

Conny

Re: Grain free food and heart problems

Posted: 26 Jul 2019, 13:27
by xena
It is hard to sort through all the information on this. I've been feeding Taste of the Wild Sierra Mountain for past 9 years and EPI is managed great. I checked and lentils, peas, and pea flour are listed in the first 10 ingredients.

Does anyone have a suggestion on a grain free food without peas and lentils?

Re: Grain free food and heart problems

Posted: 27 Jul 2019, 09:22
by jilbert57
Have you looked at the page with lists of dog foods that meet your criteria. Pea free.

Re: Grain free food and heart problems

Posted: 27 Jul 2019, 11:30
by xena
no sorry where would I find that. I looked under managing epi but didn't see a list of dog food brands

Re: Grain free food and heart problems

Posted: 27 Jul 2019, 11:41
by jilbert57
Once you are on the managing EPI page, there are three blue dashmarks in the upper right corner. Click on those and a lot of topics are there.

https://epi4dogs.com/dog-food-options/

Re: Grain free food and heart problems

Posted: 27 Jul 2019, 17:00
by xena
great thanks!

Re: Grain free food and heart problems

Posted: 27 Jul 2019, 22:15
by Madelon
Hi Xena. If your EPI dog has been doing well for 9 years on her food I would not switch it. That can be the hardest part to figure out with EPI and changing it could throw everything out of balance, especially if you don't even know if DCM is at play with your dog and there's no direct link between "grain free" and DCM - it's certain suspect ingredients and then there are MANY other factors to consider. If you are worried your dog might have DCM, then I would talk to your vet about testing your dog's taurine levels and/or having an echo done. Personally, I am not worried about a condition that I don't know my dog has or if my dog will develop, I'm concerned with the condition my dog currently has, EPI.