07/13/2023
For my dog peoples:
Diet-associated dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM): if you’re feeding your dogs GRAIN FREE without a professionally diagnosed medical necessity, STOP. Avoid pulses (chick peas, peas, lentils, dried beans) and potatoes as an ingredient in commercial dog food (grain-free or grain-inclusive).
While FDA is still reviewing studies and researching this, and has yet to release an official conclusion (they have NOT), studies continue to suggest and show a link to these ingredients and diet-related DCM in dogs.
What do I use? My base is:
Open Farm RawMix Ancient Grain Prairie (chicken/turkey), Salmon & Ancient Grains, and Dehydrated Raw Beef patties with Farmina Chicken & Ancient Grain.
(Why? I like their commitment to research, transparency and quality. Open Farm and Farmina both offer a variety of quality grain-inclusive formulas that are free of peas or potato. Both are recall-free.)
Daily I add: Open Farm Turkey bone broth, Solid Gold Sea Meal, Visbiome probiotics, raw egg from our hens, berries, plain canned pumpkin, plain sheeps milk yogurt, Native Pet Omega Oil or Coconut Oil, and a variety of fresh veg. Fresh meats from the butcher, and dehydrated or frozen small fish (cod, smelt, sprats, herring) are also added weekly.
Do you have to do all that? No. I’m nuts. I’m just telling you what works for me. But you should find a quality, well regulated, commercial grain-inclusive diet without a big recall history. ♥️
**side note: Vets have reported an increase in cases of nutritional deficiencies due to people feeding unconventional diets, such as unbalanced home-prepared diets, raw diets, vegetarian diets, and boutique commercial pet foods (those frozen sacks of $$$ garbage). Reconsider your dog’s diet. If you’re feeding a boutique, grain-free, or exotic ingredient diet, I would reassess whether you could change to a diet with more typical ingredients made by a company with a long track record of producing good quality diets. Don’t fall victim to small pet food manufacturers better at marketing than at nutrition and quality control.**
Information Dump/Rant over. 🐾
Disclaimer: I am not your vet. This information is gathered by me from Tufts and FDA, and presented to you with some of my own strong opinions based on over 30 years of working with dogs, veterinarians, dog food companies, and nutritionists. Do your own research but always consider the legitimacy and bias of the source. Love your animals.
♥️
- Kari Jo
If you want more information, the FDA has their latest FAQ page released 12/2022 and Tufts University has some great info posted as well.
https://www.fda.gov/animal-veterinary/animal-health-literacy/questions-answers-fdas-work-potential-causes-non-hereditary-dcm-dogs
