Grain-Free Dog Food May Be Bad For Your Dog's Heart

SeaBreeze

SeaBreeze

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I've been feeding Kirkland Chicken, Rice and Vegetable dry dog food for years now (from Costco). For a short amount of time a few years back, I tried their Grain-Free food, but stopped using it because I didn't like the idea of meat not being he first ingredient, on the grain-free, the first ingredient was always "meal", regardless of the protein. Do you feed grain-free?

I do feed a half can of grain free food in addition to the dry, but it's Wellness brand, pure turkey, beef, lamb, etc. No questionable ingredients.

Now I'm hearing that using grain-free might actually be harmful, instead of healthy for your four-legged friend. There was an article about it in the newspaper, and there's an online article here.

Gluten-free diets are going to the dogs: So-called "grain-free" dog foods have become popular these days, but the diets may not be good for some pooches' hearts.

Recently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that it is investigating a link between grain-free dog foods — which have ingredients such as sweet potatoes, peas and lentils — and canine heart disease.

Grain-free dog foods are marketed as being closer to dogs' "ancestral" diets, according to The New York Times. But some veterinarians have reported a link between these foods and a type of canine heart disease called dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), in which the heart becomes enlarged and doesn't pump blood properly. [These 7 Foods Cause the Most Pet Deaths]

Large dog breeds, such as Great Danes, Saint Bernards and Doberman pinschers, appear to have a genetic predisposition for dilated cardiomyopathy, the FDA said. But recently, veterinary cardiologists have reported seeing the disease in other breeds, including golden and labrador Retrievers, Shih Tzus and miniature schnauzers, the FDA said. In these cases, the dogs ate grain-free dog food for months to years.

"These reports [of canine heart disease] are highly unusual as they are occurring in breeds not typically genetically prone to the disease," Dr. Martine Hartogensis, deputy director of the FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine's Office of Surveillance and Compliance, said in a statement.

Scientists are still investigating this link, as well as the question of why grain-free dog foods may be problematic in some cases.
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I fed Bella (pomapoo) Kirklands because it had good reviews online. When I got Blu (beagle) I fed it to him too. He would eat grass and spit up daily. Also sneezed alot. Took him to the vet and he said it was basically normal for some dogs.

So I switched to Blue Buffalo for Adult Small Breeds (with "wholesome grains" in a pink bag) recommended by my daughter with 2 dogs. Blu immediately stopped spitting up. He has more energy now too and happier looking. His sneezing is less. I see a big difference.

Tonight I went to get another bag and the Pet Store told me that the scientist who used to work for Blue Buffalo has just put out his own nutritious dog food. I got a free sample of the Adult small breed one. It's not grain-free. It has no artificial color. They gave me a sample. I'm skeptical because I'm happy with the one I have but the ingredients look good. It's called Performatrin.
 

Very interesting info. We used to be on Kirkland’s grain free for about 2 years but they didn’t seem crazy about it so I switched to the Kirkland smaller kibble. It has grains in it but no wheat and they both love it.
Blue Buffalo is a great brand also Lara.

P.S. And yes it me in the avatar ... lol
 
Did ya'll know that you can order Blue Buffalo and other brands online at Chewy.com and they will set up a schedule of continuing deliveries and deliver each time to your door?
 
I feed Blue Buffalo Indoor Cat Hairball formula for my cat, been on it his adult life along with 1/3 can of quality canned food daily. I agree that Blue is a good brand, but I think it was bought out recently by another company that might change the formula or not be so good. If I find out anything negative, I'll probably change brands.
 
I am so glad that I read this thread! I changed my Chi's diet over to grain free last year because it was suggested that the grains found in most "cheaper" dog foods may have been causing an allergic reaction. While my dog has stopped scratching, now I'm concerned that I may be further harming the health of my little buddy.
 
The only problem I found with the Kirkland brand of foods was that my dogs were urinating a lot and I was becoming concerned with the possibilities of diabetes which our last dog had so I feed them a diet of 50% meat 50% assorted steamed veggies and their urinating was cut by about 60 to 70%. No more waking me up in the middle of the night and they seem years younger. It IS however a lot of work.
 
I'm in the process of changing my dog's food to FROMM Adult Gold. Right now he still has a small amount of the Kirkland mixed with the Fromm, I have a 33lb bag of the new food waiting in the garage, he seems to really like it.
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The past two summers, for several months, my dog has been scratching with seasonal allergies, I bought some Dinovite to mix in his food the first summer he had itching, it seemed to help. This is the first year I've kept him on the Dinovite with his food year 'round, hoping that his seasonal allergies will lessen this summer, we'll see. I only give him a half scoop instead of a full one though, because he only eats a half can of Wellness food per day, not enough to mix with a full scoop.

I'm not willing to make my own dog food at this point, but I admire those who do. I know they need certain vitamins and mineral, so I'd have to learn a lot about what to add into the mix to make it a complete food.
 
I fed my two rescue chihuahuas grain free for some years. Switched between the various 5 star products like Evo, Canadae, Merrick, Wellness etc. After being alerted by my daughter who was a Vet Tech for years before she became a SAHM, I switched. I haven't noticed any particular differences in my dogs as a result, but still I"m glad she let me know.
 
A website that rates wet & dry dog food, and breaks things down pretty good is: https://www.dogfoodadvisor.com
I think they are fairly up to date with information.

Years ago I started buying Blue Buffalo for my dogs (large and small) because of their ratings, but if things have changed like Lara said, maybe it's time for a change. FROMM sounds like something I want to check out too.

I give my older Bichon both dry and wet food. I got him some Chicken Soup for the Soul last week. I liked the ingredient list. Smells good and he likes it for his daily wet food.
 
Hi Bonnie, good to see you. Actually, I'm happy with Blue Buffalo for small dogs and still use it (pink bag). It was Kirklands I didn't like. And then I mentioned an employee of Buffalo that left and started his own dog food company, but I never used his brand other than the sample.

Recently though, Bella got a painful bladder stone but the vet told me it wasn't dietary causes. More likely, genetic or from her breed. But then he prescribed a special dog food to dissolve the stone :confused:.

2 months and $1,000 later, she has recovered. The dog food is strictly for urinary issues so I wouldn't recommend it for anyone. It was expensive too. But it worked and didn't need surgery (male dogs do better with the surgery he said).
 
I’m so glad your dog is ok Lara. That must have been quite a scare.
We all love our fur children.

I really love your St. Patty’s fingernail avatar.
Very classy looking
 
Thank you Keesha. Now I'm feeding them Fresh Pet and they love that. It's in the refrigerator section and comes in a plastic roll. It's a mixture of fresh chicken and vegetables...much like what you are making for your dogs.
 
Lara said:
Thank you Keesha. Now I'm feeding them Fresh Pet and they love that. It's in the refrigerator section and comes in a plastic roll. It's a mixture of fresh chicken and vegetables...much like what you are making for your dogs.
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I think I’ve seen it.
What a great threat.
I like finding out information from others who have pets.
Thanks. It’s so nice seeing you Lara.
I hope you are getting lots done.
 
Lara said:
Hi Bonnie, good to see you. Actually, I'm happy with Blue Buffalo for small dogs and still use it (pink bag). It was Kirklands I didn't like. And then I mentioned an employee of Buffalo that left and started his own dog food company, but I never used his brand other than the sample.

Recently though, Bella got a painful bladder stone but the vet told me it wasn't dietary causes. More likely, genetic or from her breed. But then he prescribed a special dog food to dissolve the stone :confused:.

2 months and $1,000 later, she has recovered. The dog food is strictly for urinary issues so I wouldn't recommend it for anyone. It was expensive too. But it worked and didn't need surgery (male dogs do better with the surgery he said).
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Hi back at you Lara. So sorry to hear of the ordeal you went through with Bella. Must have been a scare until she recovered.

I still have Blue Buffalo for Lil'Bear, also the pink bag. Will be a while until it's gone. He's not a big eater..:p
 
This is scary. I was feeding grain free for I think a few years because of skin problems she has had but am now feeding Pro Plan that has oatmeal in it. It's a sensitive stomach and skin formula--has lamb and oatmeal. Also has Omegas and prebiotics. Well, it's hard to know just what is best any more with all the new reports coming out. We just do the best we can.
 
SeaBreeze said:
I've been feeding Kirkland Chicken, Rice and Vegetable dry dog food for years now (from Costco). For a short amount of time a few years back, I tried their Grain-Free food, but stopped using it because I didn't like the idea of meat not being he first ingredient, on the grain-free, the first ingredient was always "meal", regardless of the protein. Do you feed grain-free?

I do feed a half can of grain free food in addition to the dry, but it's Wellness brand, pure turkey, beef, lamb, etc. No questionable ingredients.

Now I'm hearing that using grain-free might actually be harmful, instead of healthy for your four-legged friend. There was an article about it in the newspaper, and there's an online article here.
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Thanks for the info. I recall we used to feed our dogs grain-free as we were told it was healthier. Bloody hell cant they get anything correct. These are members of our family. I have already lost two of my beloved dogs to stomach cancer because of poor nutritional food. These days I only order food that is minus any artificial.. preservatives, flavors and colors.
 
Sorry for your losses Kris, I've also lost two dogs in the past to cancer, and my pets are my family, I take care of them as best I can. I stopped feeding cheap dog and cat foods many, many years ago when I learned of the poor quality and ingredients used in them. Now I feed the best I can, although quality foods are definitely more expensive, I think food filled with cheap fillers or rendered animals cause many illnesses and diseases.

I've recently changed my dog's dry food to a higher quality one Fromm's, and that is also not grain-free. I also am adding the supplement Dinovite to his Wellness canned food daily, as he has some itching problems in summer which I assume are seasonal allergies to pollen, weeds, etc. I don't want to put him on any prescription drugs for this, they all have bad side effects. Just trying to help him in a more natural way, I'll see how he does this summer with the scratching/biting.

I'm glad you're feeding foods without artificial ingredients, that has to help greatly. By the way, I saw the pictures you posted of your two, beautiful dogs! :love_heart:
 
I've recently changed Vets, after years, on the recommendation from new neighbors. Glad to have a different prospective of skin allergies my Lil'Bear (bichon) has semi-annually it seems. It's internal, and something common in Bichons I know.

They opened my eyes to several different things to try. First, his food. After being on Chicken and brown rice formula dog food for years, they told me that I need to totally change his source of protein from chicken, to either wild game or fish. They didn't like my Blue Buffalo brand. And they said that he needs to get away from poultry, chicken & turkey especially, altogether.


For dry food, I've switched to Wellness Core RawRev Wild Game, which is Duck, LambMeal, Wild Boar & Rabbit! It's strong smelling, but he likes it. He better @ $48 for 10#... It's grain-free, but he has wet food early in the day and some of that is grain-free and some isn't.

Like mentioned above, wish the "experts" would make up their minds about "grain-free" dog food.

I have a prescription for allergy pills (Apoquel), when he gets out of control with scratching when it keeps him up at night. Last summer he took them (half a pill daily) for three weeks, and was fine after that until this summer. The Vet said another issue in the allergies could be the grass he plays in everyday at the apartment complex. .. different type than I had at my house ..Bermuda vs St. Augustine.

I wipe him off completely with a towel every time he comes inside, and when needed, give him Oatmeal Shampoo baths.
 
Thanks for this article. I recently switched my dogs to a grain-free food (Simply Nourish turkey and potato) and I've been wondering if there wasn't a down-side. Will have to look into this further.
 
Bonnie, I also heard about changing the source of protein, I did it for my dog and it seemed to help. I was giving him chicken dry food and lots of Wellness turkey because he's not food driven and he seemed to really like that flavor. Now I switch out the canned with beef, lamb for variety.
 
SeaBreeze said:
Bonnie, I also heard about changing the source of protein, I did it for my dog and it seemed to help. I was giving him chicken dry food and lots of Wellness turkey because he's not food driven and he seemed to really like that flavor. Now I switch out the canned with beef, lamb for variety.
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SB, oh the things we do for our furbabies! ... the never-ending process of getting it right..:)
 
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As of 6/27/19, the latest I've seen in part...

".......
Cases reportedly overwhelmingly cited dry food formulations in pets’ diets, though the agency said that in some cases, other food types such as raw or wet were reported as well. The FDA said that reports were largely linked to grain-free formulations or those containing peas, lentils, or both, and in some cases potatoes. The protein sources reportedly included everything from commonly used chicken, lamb, and fish types, to venison, bison, and duck.

Thursday’s update revealed that the FDA is looking at a significant number of dog food brands across various pet food distributors. However, of the 16 most cited pet food firms linked to 10 or more reports, the leading six included Acana, Zignature, Taste of the Wild, 4Health, Earthborn Holistic, and Blue Buffalo.

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https://gizmodo.com/fda-says-its-still-investigating-possible-link-between-1835964723
 

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