Epi4Dogs

Thanks Judith... that is very interesting that some grain free dog foods already contain Taurine.... very good to know. And especially since a lot of our EPI care-givers already use Earthborn food... as it agrees with a lot of our pups!

One more food to add to the list: SportDogFood's Grain & Peas Free Whitefish Formula. The site lists the ingredients, vitamins/minerals/aminos, etc. Taurine is on the list. It looks like it's naturally occurring in the ingredients, not supplemented. Here's the link: https://sportdogfood.com/sporting-dog-g ... h-formula/

I've been buying from the company for about a year and half. It's a small biz so you have to deal with all that comes with that but they're very serious about their dog food. Always nice, responsive customer service. There's been one major formula change in the time I've been ordering from them and the transition was rough, as they always are. Sometimes they run out of food so you can't wait til the last minute to order. They used to sell on Chewy and Amazon but the current formulas aren't available on those sites (yet?).

Anyway, I highly recommend the food. Fat: 16% Fiber: 3.9%. No grains, no peas, no white potatoes, sweet potato is the 'filler' ingredient. They have detailed info for each kind of food they sell.
It works very well for my dog. She's put on a good 10-15 lbs on this food. I almost have to put her on a diet

Thanks for letting us know about SportDogFood having Taurine. I know some GSD owners who absolutely love that food.

It is always nice when you find a food that works for your pup. Thanks for letting us know about it.

Thanks for bringing this to our attention... i remember others mentioning this food and how much they liked it... and i was planning to add it to the "Dog Food Option" page... but then i got buried working on the new website and completely forgot to do this.... so thank you very much for the reminder.... i just added it

Paula (Thanks Paula) sent me the following link from WDJ (Whole Dog Journal) about this false/incorrect rumor . Good article!

Whole Dog Journal's Blog August 2, 2018

Please Don’t Panic About the “Grain-Free Thing”

https://www.whole-dog-journal.com/blog/ ... Blog080518

I was curious what was being said about grainfree food and DCM on this site.

I have 2 GSDs that are currently on grainfree/limited ingredient food. Last year my 2 yr old was tested for EPI and was negative. But his B12 was on the low end of normal and he had lost some weight and had several months of diarrhea. Tylan powder and B12 supplements along with LID solved the issues he was having. Maybe EPI is in the future but for now he is gaining weight and eating pretty much anything with no issues and his poop is normal. He is no longer on Tylan and I have cut down the B12 significantly...think I will have him tested again to see where he is at. The thought of having to change his food is a bit concerning since he is doing so well. But if he really doesn't need to be on the grain free then I am happy to switch. I am looking at Victor Hi Pro Plus which has none of the questionable legumes or potatoes. Not sure if this would be good for an EPI dog though.

I have read all manner of things about this issue. My vet suggested supplementing with taurine which I was thinking of doing originally but I have read that some of the questionable legumes are preventing the absorption of the taurine. Of course this is still a question that has not been answered. If this is the case then how does supplementing help?

I have always gotten such wonderful information from this group and that is why I am looking to see what your thoughts on this matter are.....

I read the same thing about the taurine.... BUT..... let me look tomorrow to see if i can find some further information about this.... sometimes the form of something makes a difference.......

It's my 39th anniversary today..... so am looking to spend some time with hubby vs. the computer tonight

Well..... i discovered one can spend days on this topic.

The short answer is, if you cannot or do not want to change the commercial food you are using........ that you can "try" giving an antioxidants like Turmeric or Milk Thistle or Grape Seed extract(i give GSE to my dogs) with the food that has too many peas, or grains or white potatoes in it which consequently might be too high in lectins. Tumeric and or Milk Thistle, Grape Seed extract (and i am not sure, but Taurine (amino acid) might also be included as an antioxidant) battle oxidative stress/cell damage/inflammation- -the problem with lectins/ peas/ white potato, etc. etc.......... HOWEVER.... depending on the food type that has a lot of lectins in it, some foods can have their Lectins destroyed by cooking while some other food sources cannot have the lectin levels reduced or destroyed by cooking.

SOOOOOooooooo...
1. my 1st suggestion would be to read this article as it explains how certain lectin laden foods can have the lectin levels reduced
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/fo ... in-lectins

2. my second suggestion, since you found a food that really works for your pup, is to contact the food mfg company and ask them HOW they prepare the food, cooked, baked, freeze dried, etc... as that will help you better understand if how they are preparing the food and if it is enough to render the high lectin content tolerable.

3. THEN.... the very best thing you can do is click on the parenthesis/article references (the numbers that are in parenthesis ... like (1) , (2) (3) etc in the article above....... and read the actual research that is supporting what this article is claiming.... by reading the actual supporting research THAT is where you usually find more details and get the whole picture rather than "sound-bites" that are sometimes/often misleading in these "Google" articles.

4. This is a good explanation of what lectins are: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK22545/

5. and just a FYI.... Sweet potatoes are not a problem like white potatoes can be with the lectin content........and this might be part of the reason why a few years ago, many of our EPI dogs did really good on low fiber food that was made with sweet potatoes, but as soon as they started reducing the sweet potato or eliminating it and replacing it with peas and/or multiple peas... our pups start having issues.

THanks for bringing this up for discussion... per usual there is MUCH more to it than the sound-bite scare tactics about grain free foods on the news that were grossly lacking on full disclosure..............