FDA Warning on "Grain-Free" commercial Dog Food

[geo]

Why does this not surprise me. Commercially processed "grain free" dog food made primarily with potatoes, or lentils and possibly other legumes or peas are causing certain breeds, that are not generally suseptible to enlarged hearts are getting this deadly dog disease., dilated cardiomyopathy, DCM.

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-n ... ys-n891011

Take great real food...process the hell out of it and poison your pet...where have I heard that before?

[Grammy Ginger]

My vet said it's a real thing. wow

[Vegankit]

Thanks for posting Geo - I hope they figure this out. I make all my dog's food - she didn't tolerate commercial food and has several food allergies and intolerances.

[Lyndzie]

If I’m understanding the article correctly, the problem is from feeding a starch-based diet to a carnivore, right? Kinda like how humans develop heart problems when we eat the wrong foods?

[geo]

Nope, dogs are omnivores. The problems aren't known exactly, but seems to be coming from "grain free" branded commercial dog food that has one or more of the following as primary ingredients:

1. Potatoes
2. Peas
3. lentils or possibly other legumes

Of course, they won't tell us what brands are involved, but they do specify they are "Grain Free" brands. And worse, these ingredients are a mainstay in most dog foods whether they are labeled "grain free" or not. And yes those 3 ingredients are very common in commercial veg/vegan dog foods as well and in home cooked dog food. But its just the "grain free" commercial brands that are called out.

Its also not clear how long it takes a dog to develope the disease while eating "grain free" commercial dog food. So essentially they don't know what is causing the problem. Only that its that type of labelled dog food.

[Kaye]

I've actually lost 2 male rotties at a young age (5 and 6) to this disease - they were both fed home cooked food but they are a susceptible breed. I have done a bit of research into feeding vegan food to my dogs but decided against it as this is one of the conditions I read about that might be a risk of doing so. I can't remember exactly but I think it was to do with a deficiency of Taurine although I can't see why commercial grain free dog food would necessarily lack Taurine if it does contain meat.

[geo]

I've actually lost 2 male rotties at a young age (5 and 6) to this disease - they were both fed home cooked food but they are a susceptible breed. I have done a bit of research into feeding vegan food to my dogs but decided against it as this is one of the conditions I read about that might be a risk of doing so. I can't remember exactly but I think it was to do with a deficiency of Taurine although I can't see why commercial grain free dog food would necessarily lack Taurine if it does contain meat.

I'm sorry to hear that you've lost pets to this disease. It is interesting though that various pure breds are susceptible. What I find strange in the story is that the ingredients identified are mostly found in all commercial and home cooked dog food, not just grain free commercial food. They did say that it was particular as well that these would be the primary ingredients in the food. So it could have to do with how much the dogs are eating of any one particular item. But then they didn't list vegetarian or vegan commercial dog food as having the issue even though those may be primary ingredients in those food as well.

So their message is confusing and not telling us which specific brands seem to be involved doesn't help pet owners either.

Also we don't know how these commercial foods are made. I would bet that they arent whole foods, but rather highly processed foods. Especially like dried and powdered form of many of the veggies. pea protein powders seem to be common in the higher protein type of commerial dog foods. But again these are common throughout the industry and not just particular to grain free foods.

They already hinted about testing for particular amino acids and that maybe an issue given the highly processed nature of the food but they haven't found the problem yet.

Taurine is always a suspect, but dog food doesn't contain taurine because dogs make all they need naturally...(unless they can't, and thats where particular breeds are susceptible). On the other hand, cats have an absolute need for taurine being carnivores and their food is always supplimented with it.

From petMD website:

"DEFICIENCY OF AMINO ACID TAURINE IN DOGS
Amino acids are critical to life. With over 20 types of amino acids present in the body, they act as the building blocks for proteins and are essential to the proper functioning of the body. One such amino acid, taurine, is distributed throughout the body with high concentration in certain tissues including heart wall muscles, in the retina of the eye, and brain. The exact function of taurine in these tissues remains elusive even while it is known to be essential.

Essential, or indispensable amino acids are a group of amino acids that cannot be synthesized in the body and are thus required to be taken in through diet. This is a well known nutritional defect that is known to affect the health of cats when they are lacking taurine in their diet, but does not affect dogs in the same way, as dogs are able to synthesize taurine in their bodies. This is why taurine is usually not added to dog foods but is added to cat foods.

However, some dogs may suffer from taurine deficiency in relation to certain diseases and may need to have taurine added to their diets. If dealing with heart disease, the deficiency can leads to enlarged heart size (dilated cardiomyopathy). Certain breeds of dogs appear to be predisposed to taurine deficiency: American cocker spaniels and giant breed dogs like the Newfoundland, amongst others."

So generally speaking taurine is not one of the 10 essential amino acids they need. But other diseases in dogs may require it being added. Its not a meat issue or a veggie issue per se. But the fact that generally unsusceptible breeds are getting DCM is the big worry and being tied directly to grain free commercial food is weird...but again who knows whats really in that food...trade secrets and all...

Then theres the issue of who makes the dog food. Most people don't realize that 93% of all pet food sold in America, not just dog food (thats literally 100's if not over a thousand different brands of dog food) are made by just 3 companies - Big Heart, Mars and Purina.
So that probably limits the actual variety of ingredients used as they all seem to use the same stuff.

Anyways I think I'll just continue to feed my dog real food. You just can't get safer than that. I have noticed however that my dog will eat the following:

Likes: sweet potatoes, potatoes. rice, brocolli, cauliflower, tomatoes, apples, carrots, pork, beef

Hates: lentils, beans, mangoes, bananas

Indifferent: oats, corn, green beans, peas

Still trying out other foods but shes not a difficult eater at all and seems to thrive on 2 meals a day.