Temple of Zeus — The Assembly of the Gods

Grain-free Food Linked to Heart Disease

Serpentine

#1

Hey all! I wanted to make sure everyone was aware of this!!

There are reports of dogs getting sick and a few dying due to the legumes and potatoes in their food binding with Taurine making the dogs unable to absorb the proper amount.

“Before releasing the cautionary statement, the FDA had received 30 reports of dogs affected with DCM and linked to a grain-free diet, said Martine Hartogensis, the deputy director of the FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine, and the veterinary cardiologists had collected about 150 cases. Since then, the FDA has received reports of an additional 120 dogs sickened with DCM, most involving a grain-free diet. At least 24 dogs have died of the condition.“
https://www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/news/animalia/wp/2018/08/29/grain-free-exotic-dog-food-linked-to-heart-disease/?noredirect=on

Discussion

Paladin of Khepu
#2

Did you by any chance check on if the dogs had any allergic reactions? Because my cats can't have Taurine, nor can my dogs, because of the allergic reactions. But they have also a grain free diet.

#3
Ramier108666 wrote:

Did you by any chance check on if the dogs had any allergic reactions? Because my cats can't have Taurine, nor can my dogs, because of the allergic reactions. But they have also a grain free diet.

This troubles me. I did a quick google search to see if anyone else has experienced a taurine allergy... and found nothing... because cats need Taurine. Taurine is an amino acid found in all meat.

There’s tons of information out there on Taurine deficiency, I don’t understand how a cat specifically could live if they were allergic to Taurine, especially since Taurine is created inside of their own bodies. Cats cannot survive on a vegan diet.. plus if your pets are Taurine and grain free wouldn’t that mean you only feed them veggies and starch????

Paladin of Khepu
#4

I apologize, it wasn't Taurine, it was other vegetables that they couldn't really eat( I got mixed up with other business. Again I'm sorry about that.). For the most part they don't have excessive problems, but perhaps you can prescribe a better solution that will be beneficial to their health.

StormbloodActive Helper
#5

The topic title is misleading.

SerpentineEdited
#6
Ramier108666 wrote:

I apologize, it wasn't Taurine, it was other vegetables that they couldn't really eat( I got mixed up with other business. Again I'm sorry about that.). For the most part they don't have excessive problems, but perhaps you can prescribe a better solution that will be beneficial to their health.

Ahahah, I was so confused!! But I kinda figured you meant something else! I just found another article on this, I mean theres several out there, but this one pings Champion pet food (ACANA and Orejin) as a problem brand. Grain free food has been a newer thing in general, and from what I've gathered from my research with human nutrition grains aren't the problem but poor quality, highly processed, genetically modified grains are the ones that cause issues for people. I would naturally apply that to animals as well. I mean in HPS Pythia'''s cat food recipe she uses grain (Oats and bread) and the issue I've found with grain free food is it's typically higher in starch. Even as I keep researching this now it's looking like they're not certain this is the cause of the increase of DCM.

https://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2018/07/09/link-between-dog-food-taurine-deficiency-and-dcm.aspx

Have you ever heard of the brand Honest Kitchen? It is a bit pricey but it is made with human grade ingredients, they have a whole grain option as well as grain free. I've very fond of this brand. :)
https://www.thehonestkitchen.com/

Stormblood wrote:

The topic title is misleading.

What do you mean? Theres been reports of dogs passing from DCM (which is a heart dieases) and veterinarians belive they've found a link with grain-free food. I'm going off of internet articles though, I'm never 100% whats accurate when it doesn't come from a HP!! I just wanted to share what I found hoping it might be helpful for someone! From this article it looks like they're asking people to monitor it and report if this happens to their dogs.

https://www.fda.gov/animalveterinary/newsevents/cvmupdates/ucm613305.htm

StormbloodActive Helper
#7
Stormblood wrote:

The topic title is misleading.

What do you mean?/quote]

Nothing. Just that I was incompetent about dog diet. Continue as if I didn't butt in. Sorry for the disruption.