Grain Freed Dog Feed Linked To Heart Disease!

[EggSighted4Life]

Hi guys.

I'm not one to care for headline grabbers or studies that get proven wrong soon after or didn't include enough relevant information or only tell one part of the truth. But with many here choosing alternative lifestyles or feeds for their domestic pets including dogs, figured I would at least share what information is available directly from the source.. so my dear friends in this community can make an informed decision to the best of their ability.

https://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/NewsEvents/CVMUpdates/ucm613305.htm

Please note it says "POTENTIAL" connection. So I'm not saying this will happen to your dog. I am not a fear monger. We weigh the risk and benefit of everything we do for our animals, and most of us are doing our best to ensure the best for them... with the knowledge we have available to us at the time.

May your pets and families be healthy and happy!

 

[HuskerHens18]

That's good to know. My vet has always disagreed with grain free foods, but when I bought a purebred Old Fashioned German Shepherd, the breeder required proof I was feeding grain free foods for the first year of his life.
I may talk to my vet about a food change, or at least bring this up with him and see what he says.
My Aussies eat corn right out of our field, so I quit buying grain free for them for years now. They simply love it

My friend recently had her beloved cat diagnosed with an enlarged heart.. I wonder, could this same study be applied to cats?

 

[Birdsong 82]

I don’t know if I want to read that article. I had to feed my dog grain free. She is allergic to about everything. I can’t even tell you over the years how much money we had spent in the vet trying to figure out how to get my poor miserable girl to quit itching to the point of bald spots and bleeding. We tried everything natural in the world some stuff seem to help but she was still pretty miserable. Constantly having to take steroids and allergy pills and plenty of other stuff which could not be good for her. One of the biggest allergies she has is too wheat and corn. Allergy tests and trial and error have shown me this. They have come out with a new medication that has done wonders for her. This one medication has prevented her from having to take four or five medications that only helped some . I wonder if there’s anything else I can do or feed her. I would love to make her own food for her but she is 60 pounds and don’t know if I could afford all that

 

[sourland]

Everything in moderation works for dogs too.

 

[Birdsong 82]

I do make my dogs food sometimes. Her allergy is so bad though before I was aware of its severity I wasn’t thinking when I first got her and got her a wheat bone Dog treat. After seeing how it affected her I felt like the biggest monster in the world. Before this medicine this poor dog was just simply a mess. Would even have a hard time sleeping because of all the itchiness

 

[Taliasun]

I don’t know if I want to read that article. I had to feed my dog grain free. She is allergic to about everything. I can’t even tell you over the years how much money we had spent in the vet trying to figure out how to get my poor miserable girl to quit itching to the point of bald spots and bleeding. We tried everything natural in the world some stuff seem to help but she was still pretty miserable. Constantly having to take steroids and allergy pills and plenty of other stuff which could not be good for her. One of the biggest allergies she has is too wheat and corn. Allergy tests and trial and error have shown me this. They have come out with a new medication that has done wonders for her. This one medication has prevented her from having to take four or five medications that only helped some . I wonder if there’s anything else I can do or feed her. I would love to make her own food for her but she is 60 pounds and don’t know if I could afford all that

There's a website called balanceit.com to help create homecooked diets that do not have any nutritional deficiencies. Dogs need a specific ratio of macro and micro nutrients and it allows you to pick from a list of common items like sweet potato or other starches, proteins and veggies to come up with the right balance. You can avoid items you know she is allergic to pretty easily, I'd think.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I had to feed my dog grain free. She is allergic to about everything. I can’t even tell you over the years how much money we had spent in the vet trying to figure out how to get my poor miserable girl to quit itching to the point of bald spots and bleeding. We tried everything natural in the world some stuff seem to help but she was still pretty miserable. Constantly having to take steroids and allergy pills and plenty of other stuff which could not be good for her. One of the biggest allergies she has is too wheat and corn.

I had a dog with the same issue, his main trigger was wheat. We spent about 2 years treating his hot spots, often needing antibiotics to get it under control after he scratched himself up completely raw. Finally switched vets and the first thing the new one suggested was that he was allergic to his food.

Switched to a grain free food, and the skin problems went down about drastically. He still had hot spots from time to time but greatly reduced, and he didn't need antibiotics again since he never tore himself up again.

 

[SilberHenne]

I believe this is fear-mongering. The correlation is apparently between plant-based protein and heart conditions in carnivores. Some dog foods are now replacing meat with legumes as protein sources. The best diet for a dog is fresh raw meat, bone, and organ. No plant protein substitutes (including corn, potatoes, grains, legumes) as every one will cause health issues.

 

[Birdsong 82]

I wish I could feed her a raw meat diet. Then I’d be feeding to 60 pound dog a raw meat diet. Unfortunately at that point to humans couldn’t eat

 

[Birdsong 82]

Some are replacing it but not all of them