Grain-Free Dog Foods And Heart Disease

Recent news broke that linked dog diets that are grain-free as being linked to the development of a heart disease called Dilated Cardiomyopathy in certain dog breeds that aren’t normally prone to the problem.

For those dogs that are on grain-free foods and do not need to be because of any food allergy issue, we recommend changing their diet to a diet that does contain grains.

**Check out this great article from Tufts School of Veterinary Medicine about nutritional needs of dogs with heart disease**

The grain-free diet trend was started a few years back as a response to the issue in humans regarding gluten and diet sensitivities. There has never been a study or any proof that dogs themselves need to have grains restricted from their diets.

Before this news broke, we felt that the grain-free foods, while not recommended by us, weren’t a cause for concern. Now it appears that opinion is false. The grain-free foods are likely deficient in some type of nutrient that is causing the development of this heart disease.

A safe heart supplement may ease your mind about the heart health of your dog. We like Vetriscience products and carry them in our clinic. You can find their Cardiac supplement on Amazon.

This is similar to the rash of heart disease (the same dilated cardiomyopathy) that developed in cats in the mid-1980’s in regards to dietary changes made to cat foods back then. We discovered that taurine was an essential amino acid in cats that they needed for proper heart health.

How did we find that out? Unfortunately, it took quite a few cats eating cat food deficient in taurine and developing a subsequent heart condition for this to become known.

Until the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) figures out exactly what is causing this issue with these foods, it’s highly recommended to switch off that grain-free food you’re feeding your dog.