Thoughts on the "grain free"/DCM association?
Posted: Tue Jun 04, 2019 1:32 pm
Any thoughts on the recently published studies associating "grain free" dog food with dilated cardiomyopathy?
I had the dog on a Purina Grain Free product because he was a picky eater and ate the Grain Free OK. I did note some concerning things
with my dog. When I ran him during warmer weather he would overheat quite quickly, begin to breath heavily and weeze in a way which I considered abnormal. So I would always cool him down and stop him at that point. However it did concern me because although the dog was in good condition he seemed way more heat sensitive than I considered normal. (He is a setter with short hair for a setter, and a slim build). This dog has done many 20+ mile days in cooler with no issues.
In any case I never discussed it with a vet, I just chalked it up to a dog with low heat tolerance and lived with it.
After a couple years he began to eat better. I switched him to Pro Plan Sport. This year I notice markedly better heat tolerance. He is now what I would consider normal based on my other prior dogs with his reaction to heat. Most importantly I am not noticing the severe weezing that I was previously seeing in warm weather.
So now I read about the heart issues associated with Grain Free, and I'm wondering if my dog was suffering from a bad diet. His conditioning regime has not changed. He is older and slightly fatter (but still thin), yet seems rather more heat tolerant today than he was a couple years ago. The only thing I can think of is the food change.
I had the dog on a Purina Grain Free product because he was a picky eater and ate the Grain Free OK. I did note some concerning things
with my dog. When I ran him during warmer weather he would overheat quite quickly, begin to breath heavily and weeze in a way which I considered abnormal. So I would always cool him down and stop him at that point. However it did concern me because although the dog was in good condition he seemed way more heat sensitive than I considered normal. (He is a setter with short hair for a setter, and a slim build). This dog has done many 20+ mile days in cooler with no issues.
In any case I never discussed it with a vet, I just chalked it up to a dog with low heat tolerance and lived with it.
After a couple years he began to eat better. I switched him to Pro Plan Sport. This year I notice markedly better heat tolerance. He is now what I would consider normal based on my other prior dogs with his reaction to heat. Most importantly I am not noticing the severe weezing that I was previously seeing in warm weather.
So now I read about the heart issues associated with Grain Free, and I'm wondering if my dog was suffering from a bad diet. His conditioning regime has not changed. He is older and slightly fatter (but still thin), yet seems rather more heat tolerant today than he was a couple years ago. The only thing I can think of is the food change.