Addressing the recent scare about Grain Free Food

Epi4Dogs Foundation Inc.’s mission is the advancement of science and education relating to EPI (Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency), yielding useful insights and positive outcomes in better managing EPI in dogs and cats. Our goals are to support and/or collaborate with veterinary EPI research and researchers, and to promote EPI awareness by educating the general public, pet owners, pet organizations, rescue and shelter organizations, veterinary schools and veterinarians.
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Olesia711
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Re: Addressing the recent scare about Grain Free Food

Post by Olesia711 » 29 Jul 2018, 15:46

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!
Olesia, was owned by Izzy, a 35lb Spanish Water Dog (SWD), Diagnosed at 1.5 years old - TLI results 1.. Izzy passed away on February 13, 2020 at 15 years old. She lived with EPI for 13+1/2 years. It was because of Izzy that Epi4Dogs was started... she was the inspiration. May her legacy of helping others with EPI continue for as long as needed.........

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dubyajay
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Re: Addressing the recent scare about Grain Free Food

Post by dubyajay » 30 Jul 2018, 12:11

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 :)
Feeding time is a science project.
SportDogFood: Grain & Peas Free Whitefish Formula 2x a day with Diane's 6x, Wonderlab Petfactor, Coconut Oil, Tylan.

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Madelon
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Re: Addressing the recent scare about Grain Free Food

Post by Madelon » 30 Jul 2018, 13:19

Thanks for letting us know about SportDogFood having Taurine. I know some GSD owners who absolutely love that food.
Madelon, owned by DOC. DOC dx EPI 5/2015 = TLI < .4, B12 406; Folate >24. DOC taught me so much and together we battled and overcame EPI, food sensitivies, environmental allergies but we lost the cancer battle. DOC was dx with hemangiosarcoma 5/2022 and crossed the rainbow bridge July 24, 2022. He is and always will be the love of my life, my soulmate, my heart dog.

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jilbert57
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Re: Addressing the recent scare about Grain Free Food

Post by jilbert57 » 30 Jul 2018, 19:25

It is always nice when you find a food that works for your pup. Thanks for letting us know about it.
My name is Jill and we live on the Hood Canal in Washington State. We currently have 2 Jack russells, TJ is 8 and Sadie is 2.

Mickey and his pancreatitis brought me to Epi4dogs.com site in 2012 to help manage it.
He lived from 6/99 - 8/2014

Mickey, Jack Russell. Chronic Pancreatitis. Dianes enzymes, 1/8t 3x/day with meals.

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Olesia711
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Re: Addressing the recent scare about Grain Free Food

Post by Olesia711 » 30 Jul 2018, 23:28

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 :)
Olesia, was owned by Izzy, a 35lb Spanish Water Dog (SWD), Diagnosed at 1.5 years old - TLI results 1.. Izzy passed away on February 13, 2020 at 15 years old. She lived with EPI for 13+1/2 years. It was because of Izzy that Epi4Dogs was started... she was the inspiration. May her legacy of helping others with EPI continue for as long as needed.........

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Olesia711
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Re: Addressing the recent scare about Grain Free Food

Post by Olesia711 » 05 Aug 2018, 14:22

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
Olesia, was owned by Izzy, a 35lb Spanish Water Dog (SWD), Diagnosed at 1.5 years old - TLI results 1.. Izzy passed away on February 13, 2020 at 15 years old. She lived with EPI for 13+1/2 years. It was because of Izzy that Epi4Dogs was started... she was the inspiration. May her legacy of helping others with EPI continue for as long as needed.........

kkubsky
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Re: Addressing the recent scare about Grain Free Food

Post by kkubsky » 18 Aug 2018, 18:03

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.....

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Olesia711
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Re: Addressing the recent scare about Grain Free Food

Post by Olesia711 » 18 Aug 2018, 20:43

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 :)
Olesia, was owned by Izzy, a 35lb Spanish Water Dog (SWD), Diagnosed at 1.5 years old - TLI results 1.. Izzy passed away on February 13, 2020 at 15 years old. She lived with EPI for 13+1/2 years. It was because of Izzy that Epi4Dogs was started... she was the inspiration. May her legacy of helping others with EPI continue for as long as needed.........

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Olesia711
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Posts: 3858
Location: North Carolina
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Pet name: Izzy
My name: olesia

Re: Addressing the recent scare about Grain Free Food

Post by Olesia711 » 19 Aug 2018, 16:58

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..............
Olesia, was owned by Izzy, a 35lb Spanish Water Dog (SWD), Diagnosed at 1.5 years old - TLI results 1.. Izzy passed away on February 13, 2020 at 15 years old. She lived with EPI for 13+1/2 years. It was because of Izzy that Epi4Dogs was started... she was the inspiration. May her legacy of helping others with EPI continue for as long as needed.........

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