‘Boutique’ dog foods linked to fatal heart condition

[ownyourfuture]

I only read a fraction of the article.
https://www.twincities.com/2019/07/0...-veterinarian/

[Silver]

Thank you for posting this. We do feed our papillon one of the products listed as being an issue, so I'll be speaking with my vet very soon. He is 8 years old this month, and seems fine right now...but we are besotted with him and would be devastated if he became ill and his life was shortened.

[Teacher Terry]

Yes there is a closed group on Facebook where the results of worldwide testing is being discussed. The biggest culprits are grain free. In addition the big 5 companies are the only ones employing PhD veterinary nutritionists with clinical feeding trials to insure their food is safe. I have fed a lot of expensive food that was probably harming my dogs. When the show breeder gave me 2 dogs she invited me to the group. In addition many people are switching their show dogs to one of these companies food and choosing the top of their line. After I switched my husky/shepherd had a bad skin condition clear up. I thought the big 5 had crappy food and it couldn’t be further from the truth.

[Bestwifeever]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Teacher Terry Yes there is a closed group on Facebook where the results of worldwide testing is being discussed. The biggest culprits are grain free. In addition the big 5 companies are the only ones employing PhD veterinary nutritionists with clinical feeding trials to insure their food is safe. I have fed a lot of expensive food that was probably harming my dogs. When the show breeder gave me 2 dogs she invited me to the group. In addition many people are switching their show dogs to one of these companies food and choosing the top of their line. After I switched my husky/shepherd had a bad skin condition clear up. I thought the big 5 had crappy food and it couldn’t be further from the truth.

What companies are the Big 5?

[Teacher Terry]

Purina, Royal Canin, Eukebena, Hill’s Science Diet and you will have to google the last one. I forgot)

[LOL!]

I could not read the link because I am not a subscriber, but this appears to be relatively old news. I have seen the news reporters did not do a good job of reading the FDA announcement and so are spreading misleading information. I think it is best to read the FDA materials oneself:
https://www.fda.gov/news-events/pres...iets-and-cases

The FDA reported 515 dog reports, affecting 560 dogs. The breeds most frequently reported seem to be the breeds most frequently owned. Not reported by the FDA is the base or reference rates of all dog food tbat are grain-free or contain peas/lentils. It is a little bit of poor science because without the reference rates, there is no way to know what is going on.

Furthermore, a brand of dog food usually spans numerous different products. For instance, my dog eats Natural Balance brand food which is listed as one of the brands that had a reported case. He has eaten the same food for about 10 years now. But the actual product that my dog eats is not grain-free and contains no peas and no lentils. My dog is a healthy senior dog of 14- going on 15 years old.

I do not consider Natural Balance to be a boutique dog food.

So what to make of all this? I treat it as all noise. Sorry FDA! It's all noise right now because of the way you reported this.

Let me say this another way: How many dogs are there in the USA? How many were diagnosed with DCM? How many dogs have DCM but were not diagnosed? Are 560 dogs reported at the level of noise?

[Teacher Terry]

The studies are presently ongoing. I wish the group wasn’t by invitation only because so many are just dismissing the info. It’s complicated because many combinations of food that companies are using haven’t been tested to be safe. People with show dogs invest a lot of money in them and it says a lot when studies convince them to change their dogs food.

[ExFlyBoy5]

I thought this was interesting and have noted that over the last 3 generations, our family dogs have eaten the cheapest (Purina for our current brood) food out there and all have lived long, healthy, lives. I think we will stick with that for the time being.

[Red Badger]

We make a simple dog food at home and supplement it with a good quality canine multivitamin. We started after the toxic crap from China arrived in the US. But it has really improved his overall eating/digestive issues that he's had since we adopted him. It costs us more than dog food. A batch last about ten days, then WWR.

[Teacher Terry]

Purina Pro Plan is top of the line and great food but definitely not cheap. Glad your dogs have done well.

[ExFlyBoy5]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Teacher Terry Purina Pro Plan is top of the line and great food but definitely not cheap. Glad your dogs have done well.

Oh, none of that fancy stuff here; plain 'ole dog chow for us!

[Teacher Terry]

How old did your dogs live?

[Gotadimple]

Quote:

Originally Posted by LOL! I could not read the link because I am not a subscriber, but this appears to be relatively old news. I have seen the news reporters did not do a good job of reading the FDA announcement and so are spreading misleading information. I think it is best to read the FDA materials oneself: https://www.fda.gov/news-events/pres...iets-and-cases So what to make of all this? I treat it as all noise. Sorry FDA! It's all noise right now because of the way you reported this. Let me say this another way: How many dogs are there in the USA? How many were diagnosed with DCM? How many dogs have DCM but were not diagnosed? Are 560 dogs reported at the level of noise?

+1 designed to get press attention. The press release doesn't say anything and the local press is not discerning enough to read the release and determine it isn't anything to be reported. Seriously, not all products in a brand are grain-free, and not all grain-free use peas and lentils as a substitute for grains. So which products seem the be the culprit? FDA says studies are on-going.
I view this as the set-up for a request for additional funds from Congress.

[ExFlyBoy5]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Teacher Terry How old did your dogs live?

Which one? Thinking back to my GPs, my parents and now the DW and me...I can think of 21 dogs; all (but two) lived to at least 12 years old. The only ones to not live that long was my Dad's last dog whom he adopted and had to be put down due to cancer less than a month after getting her and the second that died immediately after surgery being neutered. The oldest one was 17 days shy of 19 years old when she was run over by a car while laying in the driveway. This isn't to say that cheap food has been the reason they have lived as long as they have, but feeding them cheap food doesn't seem to have shortened their lives, either.

[Teacher Terry]

I was just curious. They lived good long lives.

[ziggy29]

Regardless of whether this is junk science or sound science, remember that we are talking about (according to the article) 119 "suspicious" deaths in five years. Sure, not all deaths are reported, but not all suspicious deaths are likely smoking gun evidence. And this is about 22 per year among millions of dogs being fed these foods.

We fed our last dog grain-free and it did wonders for her quality of life and her skin allergies, and she lived be 14, dying of cancer. Her underside, previously bright red and inflamed, turned a healthy pink and she stopped obsessively scratching and grooming herself raw.

Our current dog may not have the same issues as Reemy did, but given what I have seen with my own eyes, 22 *possible* deaths a year (which might be offset by other benefits) among millions of dogs is not at all persuasive. That said, if a more comprehensive study shows clearer and greater dangers that more than offset the health concerns of feeding junk, I'm open to hear it.

[Teacher Terry]

I really wish you guys could read what I do but the group is invite only. The death toll is much, much higher.

[flintnational]

‘Boutique’ dog foods linked to fatal heart condition

Just another reason why you should not eat dog food!

[Lakedog]

My last lab (Coal) was on a grain-free food the last half of his life. Grain-free certainly improved his coat and likely his overall health. He lived to be 15.5 and was quite healthy/active right up to the end. If there is another lab in my future, I would still go grain-free unless there is a lot more evidence of an issue.

[HFWR]

https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/nu...ee-diet-alert/

Quote:

...although there appears to be an association between DCM and BEG diets, the relationship has not yet been proven, and other factors may be equally or more important.