Best Dog Food Suggestions that work For EPI

[Bonnie's]

Thank you Jane, I'm very skeptical of grain free foods as our last Golden died of DCM because of that very reason. We had him on a grain free lamb formula because of allergies to beef and chicken. Such a fine line. Also very good to know that Merrick is made by Purina, I had no idea.

[Jane&Clyde]

The current thinking about DCM, not that I'm an expert...other people can probably point you to research, is that the "problem" with grain-free foods wasn't that they didn't have grain, it was that the grain was replaced by other things such as peas and that taurine (now added to most dog foods) was lacking. There are a couple of sections on this website regarding grain free diets that might be helpful. However, if you want to avoid grain-free foods, the Taste of the Wild Ancient Prairie and Ancient Stream both have grain and 3% fiber.

[Bonnie's]

Hi Jane, I'm aware that lack of Taurine led to DCM so I check for it's presence in the ingredient list. I'll look into a few grain free as long as they haven't any peas or beans and contain the needed Taurine then. I'd like to try the Taste of Wild that a few of you have mentioned but now along with Olesia's comment and quite of few consumer complaints regarding a lot of dogs getting sick from this brand, I'm quite leery. Thank you for your suggestion though.

[Jane&Clyde]

No problem. Honestly, the only reason I recommended TOTW is because it is relatively inexpensive and I don't know of any other inexpensive foods that meet the suggestions for EPI. It wouldn't be top of my list for foods, and I don't feed it to any of my current dogs. I'll keep an eye out for other inexpensive foods that look good for EPI, with or without grains.

[Bonnie's]

That's great Jane, I very much appreciate you doing so. Hopefully some other EPI pet parents will advise what dog food works well for their dogs.

[Eddiespaghetti]

The thing about grain is; some dogs have an issue with the grain basically reducing the efficacy of the enzymes. You can compensate with giving increased enzymes. You will have to experiment to see how much extra will have to be given, as each dog is different.

[Bonnie's]

I have played with slightly increasing his enzymes but that actually makes his condition worse, that too is a very fine line. I'll continue to look into finding a grain free option, hopefully without peas and beans, which sadly seems to be a very tall order.

[Olesia711]

here is an interesting visual of who produces what dogs foods..... the overlaps are quite interesting:

[Jane&Clyde]

What a great resource! Thanks, Olesia!

[Olesia711]

interesting, eh?!