[Ruby H]

Hi everyone, this is my first post here so hope I’m doing this right. I just found out about BEG/grain free foods being linked to dogs developing Dilated Cardiomyopathy. As far as I see the issue is thought to come from legume heavy diets, preventing pets from absorbing taurine? Please correct me if I’m wrong, I’ve taken in so much information within the past few days.

Is raw food still ok for dogs to eat since most do not contain legumes? I had previously fed Stella and Chewy’s raw food, then started to incorporate Weruva dry food to cut down on costs, but I now realized that chickpeas are the third ingredient so I’ve been mixing in more raw and transitioning out the Weruva. Also one of my dogs just passed away from what the vet said was pneumonia caused by bronchitis, but they also saw that his heart was enlarged when they did x-rays. I don’t know if this food contributed to that or not but I feel awful that something I fed him could’ve hurt him.

Any suggestions or advice?

[joanne l]

Sorry to hear about your dog. Please don’t blame yourself! As far as diet goes, you can certainly feed raw, but it is not balanced. Give your dog a good grain in dry food along with the other things you give. I don’t know much about Stella’s maybe someone else that knows more can help you there. Try Purina Pro Plan, Wellness products, maybe merrick grain in formulas. Choose ones that been around a long time with nutritional experts on staff. I know it is a lot to take in, but the FDA is warning against grain free and exotics meats, which is kangaroo, duck, venison, bison. Just listen to the FDA until they find out what is going on. Example I do feed grain in dry food along with rare steak, or cooked chicken, tuna and rice. I do use can once in awhile when I am lazy.

[anonymous]

Hope this helps:

Grain-free Diets and Heart Disease in Dogs

You can use the search engine there to look up other topics such as “raw”

The comments are often informative too.

[crazy4cats]

Ruby H-
Even if the food had anything to do with it, which I doubt, we need to put the blame on the company making it. Not on you!!

I’m very sorry to hear about your pup. It is so hard when they pass. Especially, when they can’t talk and tell us what is going on with them. Definitely, the hardest part of owning them. But, I will still always have one or two, (or three!)

Unfortunately, there have been a few dogs diagnosed with diet-related DCM that were being fed raw. Are you working with a veterinarian nutritionist? The FB group I provided below has a link for raw feeders to certified animal nutritionists that work with people who feed raw.

The article that Anon posted is not SkeptVet’s latest on the subject. This one is: http://skeptvet.com/Blog/2018/12/evidence-update-grain-free-and-other-beg-diets-associated-with-heart-disease-in-dogs/

I have golden labs and joined a FB group run by mostly veterinarians that are following the science-based facts regarding this very subject. Check it out: https://www.facebook.com/groups/TaurineDCM/

The also have a website with helpful information: https://taurinedcm.org/

Surprisingly, I switched to Purina ProPlan and my dogs are doing great. They had an echocardiogram a few weeks ago after having been fed it for about 8 months and they are fine. Thank goodness!

Hope this helps!

[haleycookie]

Stella and chewy is 100% balanced raw dog food. And a biologically appropriate one at that so no need for anything different. You may look into some of weruva canned foods. I believe some of th dogs contain no veggie matter. I know that cat ones are almost free of veggies but I can’t remember if that dog ones are.
And just a reminder taurine comes from fresh meat and organs. Not grains, not over processed kibble and not peas. So sticking with a meat and organ rich raw diet would be ideal.

• This reply was modified 5 years, 9 months ago by haleycookie.
• This reply was modified 5 years, 9 months ago by haleycookie.

[Patricia A]

So very sorry about your dogs passing. My Chloe also died from pneumonia . . She had no symptoms until I noticed at her walk that day.she would keep stopping with labored breathing. Took her to our long time vet same day. Unfortunately, when diagnosed with x-rays we trusted him when he assured us to just give antibiotics and take her into a steamy shower tap to loosen congestion on her chest and she’ll be fine He wasn’t concerned .Early the next morning we rushed her back to vets office when her breathing got worse .. We were told race to the large animal emergency hospital 15 minutes away. She died in my arms as we pulled into parking lot. We still feel such guilt . She was struggling to breath that night but since I got two antibiotics into her we thought because of assurance from vet, that breathing would improve and she’ll be fine. She was 13 and we and vet should have been more concerned at that age . I mean how could a vet see a dog the day before her death and not know she was very ill. This was many years ago but tears are still coming from my eyes thinking about this. Vet and head vet from office called to apologize . I think they thought we would sue. Mistakes are made so must forgive him and ourselves.
Regarding the enlarged heart. Many small breeds have genetic chronic mitral valve disease (CMVD) . That is what my soon to be 17 year old Chihuahua has. So if your vet didn’t clarify after ultrasound is DCM then especially if she was a small breed the enlarged heart could be from mitral valve disease. This type never has anything to do with diet.
I feed Stella’s also. Their kibble has a lot of peas/legumes. They assure me that their small breed chicken has high protein coming from meat vs legumes. However, kibble is a tiny part of their diet. Mostly mine eat Stella’s freeze dried chicken and turkey flavor/protein. I rotate to be safe with Primal turkey/sardine and duck. I also feed Bixbi rawwble in beef and chicken and salmon. I started VERY slowly with each protein/brand and now I just mix it up every few months. They also get our cooked food when appropriate. Hope this helps.

• This reply was modified 5 years, 9 months ago by Patricia A.
• This reply was modified 5 years, 9 months ago by Patricia A.
• This reply was modified 5 years, 9 months ago by Patricia A.
• This reply was modified 5 years, 9 months ago by Patricia A.

[haleycookie]

I also want to add, my cousins last lab died of heart problems and had an enlarged heart at death, she ate Iams religiously her whole life with nothing else. She wasn’t overweight. Regular vet visits etc, and she still had these issues. It doesn’t matter how much things are tested or formulated to a T. No one dog food is perfect just like no one human diet is perfect for every human. Offer variety, offer mostly meat, some fresh veggies. Walk your dog get regular blood work. At the end of the day that’s all you can really do.

• This reply was modified 5 years, 9 months ago by haleycookie.

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