Are you feeding your dog grain-free dog food? Anyone making the switch to regular now?

[Hikergirl]

I've known about the potential issues with grain-free but my vet was not ever convinced there was a need to switch before, but now that has changed. An email went out suggesting those of us who feed our dogs grain-free make the switch to regular food and make an appointment for them to come in for a heart check.

I have been feeding my dog GF for years due to her sensitive stomach and vomiting. When I made the switch to GF the vomiting stopped so that is all she has been eating, even her treats are GF.
Now I am on the search for something that isn't GF but is good for dogs with sensitive stomachs and have found a list of a few that might work. I'm specifically looking at Hill's Science Diet for sensitive stomachs. It gets good reviews on Amazon.
Just wondering what others use, or what others who plan on switching now are looking at.

 

[robinb]

We still feed the same grain free food, but I'm thinking about changing. We feed the Costco brand of food which is made by Diamond Pet Food and very similar to one of the Taste of the Wild formulations they also make. Taste of the Wild was one of the brands that was on the list that may be associated with heart disease .

 

[RUDisney]

My last dog was allergic to most things in commercial dog food. I read around 6 dog nutrition books and made her kibble and fed raw meat until I found Azmira, a Holistic dog food that didn't have wheat or rice in it and she could eat it. She lived to be over 15. That's 3 years longer for a pug than what is normal.

Science Diet isn't really good quality food. When it was recommended that my first pug go onto the C/D formula, she refused to eat it. She was used to much better food. I found a holistic product that Azmira made that cured her crystals quickly and she got to keep eating what she liked. You can find something with some grains in it, but that doesn't have corn. You can check out Azmira online and have it shipped to you.

 

[wgeo]

Nope, not changing our dogs food. Just went to the vet today for a routine/vaccine visit, he said the dog is doing great no reason to change anything. We have fed her the costco grain free her whole life. The information coming out is that the link is inconclusive and it has a reported 515 cases over 5 years, vet says not worth changing over that info.

 

[gillep]

We feed our dog Taste of the Wild and we are not changing. He is 10, and has been eating this food his entire adult life. We asked our vet and they agree that the probability is still very low and the whole situation is very inconclusive too.

 

[Hikergirl]

Nope, not changing our dogs food. Just went to the vet today for a routine/vaccine visit, he said the dog is doing great no reason to change anything. We have fed her the costco grain free her whole life. The information coming out is that the link is inconclusive and it has a reported 515 cases over 5 years, vet says not worth changing over that info.

That is what our vet said originally so I was surprised to see the email sent out.
I don't have any problem with switching my dog's food, but not at the expense of her not being able to tolerate it, so I'm not really sure what I'm going to do at this point. She is due for her rabies shot so we will be going in for a visit anyway. I will see what they say about her overall health and then decide I guess.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

My trust in dog foods has gotten pretty low, sadly. I don't buy into this one isn't good or that one isn't good anymore because if it's not one thing, it's another with practically all of them - besides this issue with cardiomyopathy with grain free, many of the foods have had some traces of euthanizing agents in them, salmonella, listeria, pieces of plastic, high levels of Vitamin D, you name it. There aren't too many brands that aren't affected. I am not a fan of raw, and I don't think that making your own dog food can really capture all the vitamins and minerals dogs need. So it's sort of a crap shoot. I follow Dog Food Advisor, and every month it's something. I would not poo poo the cardiomyopathy, issue, though. I work with patients with this disease and it is a killer. We were feeding grain free and do not any longer. To the pp with the 10 yr old dog, I might not switch, depending on the type of dog (for some, that's the average lifespan), but for a younger dog, no way.

 

[gillep]

My trust in dog foods has gotten pretty low, sadly. I don't buy into this one isn't good or that one isn't good anymore because if it's not one thing, it's another with practically all of them - besides this issue with cardiomyopathy with grain free, many of the foods have had some traces of euthanizing agents in them, salmonella, listeria, pieces of plastic, high levels of Vitamin D, you name it. There aren't too many brands that aren't affected. I am not a fan of raw, and I don't think that making your own dog food can really capture all the vitamins and minerals dogs need. So it's sort of a crap shoot. I follow Dog Food Advisor, and every month it's something. I would not poo poo the cardiomyopathy, issue, though. I work with patients with this disease and it is a killer. We were feeding grain free and do not any longer. To the pp with the 10 yr old dog, I might not switch, depending on the type of dog (for some, that's the average lifespan), but for a younger dog, no way.

The lack of real regulation in the dog food industry is so scary. My husband's childhood dog died years ago due to tainted dog food that caused kidney failure, it was terrible.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Here is more information from the FDA about the issue, as reported by Dog Food Advisor:

https://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-...-link-between-diet-and-heart-disease-in-dogs/
It is certainly not a cut and dry problem.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

So here's the thing about cardiomyopathy ("heart"; "muscle disorder"). The heart doesn't enlarge overnight, it enlarges over time. For a while, you might not even notice anything is wrong. Until the heart gets too big, and then it can't function as a pump correctly, so you eventually start to see signs of things like fatigue, shortness of breath, swelling in the belly and extremities, coughing, restless sleep, etc. In humans, there is a lot we can do in terms of medications and even heart transplants and ventricular assistive devices. In dogs, not so much. Additionally, when the heart tissue stretches like that, sudden arrythmias can occur, and the dog can "drop dead", but you might never really know the cause, so there could be many more dogs affected by this than the 500 or so that they know about. I think eventually they will probably get more answers than we know right now, but if I can help it, it's not something I really want to take a chance on with my little guy. I got him specifically because I was trying to avoid some of the health problems I had with some of my other dogs. If they think something's going on with the grain free food based on what they know now, then I trust they have at least some information as a basis for that recommendation.

 

[Hikergirl]

So here's the thing about cardiomyopathy ("heart"; "muscle disorder"). The heart doesn't enlarge overnight, it enlarges over time. For a while, you might not even notice anything is wrong. Until the heart gets too big, and then it can't function as a pump correctly, so you eventually start to see signs of things like fatigue, shortness of breath, swelling in the belly and extremities, coughing, restless sleep, etc. In humans, there is a lot we can do in terms of medications and even heart transplants and ventricular assistive devices. In dogs, not so much. Additionally, when the heart tissue stretches like that, sudden arrythmias can occur, and the dog can "drop dead", but you might never really know the cause, so there could be many more dogs affected by this than the 500 or so that they know about. I think eventually they will probably get more answers than we know right now, but if I can help it, it's not something I really want to take a chance on with my little guy. I got him specifically because I was trying to avoid some of the health problems I had with some of my other dogs. If they think something's going on with the grain free food based on what they know now, then I trust they have at least some information as a basis for that recommendation.

That is my feeling. If they have still not proven there is no connection between GF food and DCM then I don't think I want to take the chance while they continue to research it. Maybe after a few years they will have conclusive evidence that it isn't caused by a grain free diet, which for many of us would be great, but if they find it is then at least I know that I tried to do what I could to prevent it in my dog.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

That is my feeling. If they have still not proven there is no connection between GF food and DCM then I don't think I want to take the chance while they continue to research it. Maybe after a few years they will have conclusive evidence that it isn't caused by a grain free diet, which for many of us would be great, but if they find it is then at least I know that I tried to do what I could to prevent it in my dog.

Did you see the list of the best dry dog foods listed by Dog Food Advisor? I don't know if these will change as more info comes out, but here they are, fwiw:

https://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/best-dog-foods/best-dry-dog-foods/
(As a matter of fact, I remember originally picking my dog's food when I got him based on DFA's recommendation, and it was a grain free food, so things can change as new information is learned. Take it with a grain of salt, in other words.)

 

[Hikergirl]

Did you see the list of the best dry dog foods listed by Dog Food Advisor? I don't know if these will change as more info comes out, but here they are, fwiw:

https://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/best-dog-foods/best-dry-dog-foods/
(As a matter of fact, I remember originally picking my dog's food when I got him based on DFA's recommendation, and it was a grain free food, so things can change as new information is learned. Take it with a grain of salt, in other words.)

No I didn't see that one, thank you for the link.
I will be looking in to all the foods mentioned in that and here on the thread. I'm guessing I may have to go through a few before I find the right one. My dog isn't picky but I have to find one that doesn't make her vomit.

 

[cinnaminny]

I tried to. I tried a bunch of them. But my Boston Terrier basically gave me the doggy finger after I did. She was really put out. My dog is getting older and she has made it clear to me that she needs more wheat in her life. Whatareyougonnado?

 

[lifesavacation]

I need to look into this. We feed our dog Orijen, which is grain free.

 

[DLgal]

My former dog had a sensitive stomach and we fed him Purina Pro Plan Sensitive Salmon and Rice formula. He tolerated it great.

 

[cantwaitvaca09]

We were feeding our Rottweiler grain free, and 3 days before his 6th birthday he died all of a sudden. No signs or warnings at all that there was something wrong. It was awful. We recently got a puppy (same bread) and went to the vet for his first puppy check. Vet asked me what food, I was giving the puppy Costco grain free puppy. The vet told me not to do that, because of the heart issue. I had no idea about the grain free warning before that visit. The vet can only guess what caused our dog to die, we did not do any testing, but for that reason alone I will never use grain free again. The loss of a furry friend is so hard.

 

[kidshop]

My former dog had a sensitive stomach and we fed him Purina Pro Plan Sensitive Salmon and Rice formula. He tolerated it great.

This is a good one and I have it on my list to try next. I am new to dog ownership, my puppy just turned a year. Right now I am using 1/2 grain free, 1/2 lamb and rice (safeway brand). i believe they think the issue is all the peas and legumes, and maybe potatoes so I look for foods that don"t have that in the first 5 ingredients; which is really hard to find! I think I am going to always switch up foods and manufacturers in order to provide variety and avoid a problem brand/type. My dog is kind of itchy so right now I am avoiding chicken and it seems to make a difference. I get a lot of my info from dogfoodadvisor, but it seems the best choice in fact may be the old fashioned regular dog foods made by long term large pet food companies.

My dog isn't picky and will eat anything so this approach works for me. My vet also recommended to not use grain free back in October, but these days gf is 90% of the market and all of dogfood advisor's top picks.

 

[sksjasams]

Our dog has a very sensitive stomach. After a bad episde with Diamond, we have stuck with Fromm. I tried all the different flavors, and the one we had great success with is Whitefish and Potato. He almost never throws up now. I do give him a spoonful of Royal Canin Lowfat GI canned food on top, because he absolutely loves it.
I wasn't worried about this announcement because we don't feed grainfree, but I see potatoes are an issue so I am concerned. Fromm issued a statement saying they believe this issue is linked to low Taurine, and they add Taurine to all their foods...

 

[gillep]

Our dog has a very sensitive stomach. After a bad episde with Diamond, we have stuck with Fromm. I tried all the different flavors, and the one we had great success with is Whitefish and Potato. He almost never throws up now. I do give him a spoonful of Royal Canin Lowfat GI canned food on top, because he absolutely loves it.
I wasn't worried about this announcement because we don't feed grainfree, but I see potatoes are an issue so I am concerned. Fromm issued a statement saying they believe this issue is linked to low Taurine, and they add Taurine to all their foods...

I am as confused as you, but just note 24 of the cases were Fromm foods so unless the addition of Taurine was in response to this most recent FDA pronouncement, it seems that Fromm just adding Taurine isn't a sure thing.