Grain free diet information
Some dogs who suffer from skin or gastrointestinal disease such as allergies or inflammatory bowel disease, are prescribed a "limited ingredient" diet. Many, although not all, of these diets, are "grain-free". Across the pet food industry, we have seen a sharp increase in the use of "grain-free" diets even without medical need.
Recent evidence suggests an increase in heart disease, specifically Dilated Cardiomyopathy (DCM) in dogs have a common link of a "grain-free" diet being fed. The diets that use lentils or other legumes (peas) as one of their main (top ten) ingredients are the most implicated in DCM development. There are many theories explaining how these diets cause heart disease including amino acid deficiency, but at this time we still don't know the underlying factors.
The main therapeutic diets manufactured by Hills, Royal Canin or Purina have not been associated with cases of diet-associated heart disease. Some of these food companies do have grain free diets but the ingredients are chosen to be novel and commonly include potatoes or similar as the carbohydrate source, not legumes.
If your pet is currently eating a grain free (non-veterinary) diet we recommend to check the ingredient label. If peas or lentils are in the top ten ingredients, it is recommended to consider changing diets.
If you do not wish to change the diet, we are happy to discuss an ultrasound of your pet's heart to determine if there is any evidence of heart disease.
Helpful website:
Visit https://wsava.org to learn more about how to find factual information from pet food labels
https://www.fda.gov/media/128303/download provides a list of all reported cases of DCM to the FDA from Jan 2014 to April 2019 including the associated diets.
Recent evidence suggests an increase in heart disease, specifically Dilated Cardiomyopathy (DCM) in dogs have a common link of a "grain-free" diet being fed. The diets that use lentils or other legumes (peas) as one of their main (top ten) ingredients are the most implicated in DCM development. There are many theories explaining how these diets cause heart disease including amino acid deficiency, but at this time we still don't know the underlying factors.
The main therapeutic diets manufactured by Hills, Royal Canin or Purina have not been associated with cases of diet-associated heart disease. Some of these food companies do have grain free diets but the ingredients are chosen to be novel and commonly include potatoes or similar as the carbohydrate source, not legumes.
If your pet is currently eating a grain free (non-veterinary) diet we recommend to check the ingredient label. If peas or lentils are in the top ten ingredients, it is recommended to consider changing diets.
If you do not wish to change the diet, we are happy to discuss an ultrasound of your pet's heart to determine if there is any evidence of heart disease.
Helpful website:
Visit https://wsava.org to learn more about how to find factual information from pet food labels
https://www.fda.gov/media/128303/download provides a list of all reported cases of DCM to the FDA from Jan 2014 to April 2019 including the associated diets.