high dollar pet foods linked to heart disease.

glad I never fell for all the marketing bs.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/dog-fo...iting-16-dog-food-brands-under-investigation/

 

My Cane Corso died of heart disease last October. We discussed this at the animal hospital, and they dissected his heart as part of the research into this. He was fed almost exclusively grain free food, mostly rotating between three of the foods on that list, Taste of the Wild, 4Health, and Blue Buffalo, along with one other grain free food not listed. They told me that they suspected it has something to do with Taurine. Apparently it's in grain but not in the grain free food.

I'm not sure what to think. I'm certain dogs aren't supposed to be eating corn, which is what most regular dog food is made of. Apparently though, they're not supposed to be eating rice, barley, potatoes, peas, and all the other carb fillers used in these "grain free" foods. I'm pretty sure the best way to feed them is like if they were wild - meat, hide, bone, organs, and tripe. When wolves make a kill, the literally start at the ass and eat the carcass guts first, then organs, then muscle, then bone and hide. Their "fiber" comes from the plant material in the guts and from the un-digestible hair, skin, and bone they eat.

 

Approximately 90 million dogs in the US.

542 cases of DCM.

I don't want to piss off @dsapsis by using his least favorite phrase, but 0.000602222% sounds pretty damned statistically insignificant.

Dallas Animal Services has euthanized that many over the past nine working days, on average. (60 overpopulation/aggressive animal euthanasias per day on average.)

 

But only a small percentage of those 90 million get the type of medical treatment that would identify DCM. Most either just die or get very basic treatment for something like a heart murmur (lasix).

 

the one thing that makes me think this may be too narrow of a field of subjects is the fact that the folks who buy this kind of food are way more apt to bring their pets to a vet etc. most people who buy the 50lb bag for $15 brand probably has way more cases of this than what we see here because they typically can't afford a vet bill or don't care what the dog/cat died of. they just dig a hole and toss it in.

 

Or butcher it and eat good for a night or two...

 

Shit... let me re-do. It was 524 cases, not 542... so that's 0.000582222%. And 119 deaths. Over the course of over 5 years.

Clickbait rabble-rousing non-story. More dogs were killed by bees over that timeframe.

Between January 2014 and April 30, 2019, the FDA received 524 reports of DCM, including 119 dog deaths and five cat fatalities. Of those reports, 222 of them came between Dec. 1, 2018, and the end of April, the agency said.

 

just recently my mom's dog had been diagnosed with an enlarged heart. for a few years his cough was getting worse. she took him to several vets and they all said he has allergies. well he never stopped coughing. so I talked her into finding a vet closer to a big city like in Knoxville TN. and they did an exray and seen his heart was pressing on his lungs or ribcage etc. so they gave her pills to control it. so several months go by and he still coughs. finally she had to rush him to the hospital because he was shitting blood. that vet said he needed to be neutered. wtf. she neutered him and he now quit coughing. never heard of that one before.

 

He stopped coughing because he was afraid of what they might do next

 

The only meaningful statistic would be the percentage of dogs actually consuming these foods who experienced heart issues versus the percentage of heart issues in the general canine population.

 

That's a shame.

I've seen more than a few stories of people suggesting that if you want to feed your dog properly just give them raw food, some scraps from the butcher and let them eat that, bones and all. Not the processed shit that comes pre-packed with who knows what in it. At least from the butcher (even cheap scraps) you know there's only 1 ingredient in it.

Dogs/wolves certainly didn't evolve eating cooked/processed foods for hundred upon thousands of year.

 

This was posted by a friend of mine yesterday. I didn’t know Purina was behind the study. That alone makes it questionable. They are probably the company most responsible for the modern, grain based diet most dogs eat.

Why yes. A study funded by two major groups, one being Purina and they found that 577 dogs out of 77 million showed signs of heart failure on an owner-based(not lab) study. It even very clearly says that they have no solid evidence of the link between the disease and grain free food. Big brand company clickbait once again.

Please feed your animal what works best for them. This goes both ways, regardless of my personal opinion on healthy foods. Just do your research and be open to other options and know that food companies FIGHT EACH OTHER and don't always tell the whole truth. Do your research, try foods safely and smartly, and most importantly, do and feed what works best for /your/ animal. Listen to advice, but don't get everything from one source. You owe your pet a few extra sources of research.

 

"The FDA is continuing to investigate and gather more information in an effort to identify whether there is a specific dietary link to development of DCM and will provide updates to the public as information develops."
My guys eat Fromm and will continue to until something less reactionary is learned. Right now it wreaks of a paid hit job by Purina dog sugar company

 

Over 50% of canine pets in the US are overweight. Lets start there if we're going to be concerned about our dogs' heart health until the next shiny thing comes along.

 

My dog just died after 17.5 years of eating the blue buffalo and wild brands her whole life. Musta worked backwards on her.

 

When we have a coherent set of rules that governs human digestion and health then I'll worry about the make up of most dog foods. What's the running consensus this week as to whether eggs are bad or you or not? We still haven't ruled on that one either way. I suspect if you spend enough time researching you'll find these studies are almost always tied to the falling sales of some product to another competing product.

 

Oh noooooos, someone brought up statistics. Someone head in California is exploding.

 

lets also not forget with all of the FDA healthy eating guidelines we still have major health issues linked to diet in america, epilepsy, heart disease, obesity, diabetes, just to name a few. not sure the FDA knows what they're talking about. lol