FDA warning on grain-free food

I recently put my sheltie pup and my pom on Small Batch frozen raw and could not be happier with the results. It is all organic and all the vitamins/minerals are naturally sourced. They love it and it agrees with them. They both have sensitive stomachs and the had no problems transitioning to it. It is a little expensive, but they are both small, so I can afford to feed it to them.
 
RikyR said:
Check out dogaware.com Lots of links on this subject (including Dr. Dodds article).
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I love that site and totally forgot about it. Thanks for the link, I'll go check it out.
Bought some Fromm whitefish then saw the article about how whitefish was one of the top proteins for DCM issues. I'm sure one bag won't kill her; it's like a months worth of food for the Weim.

Y'know, in the beginning I went to GF due to Miko's allergies (excuse me, sensitivities) and making sure Koji was healthy and no allergies. After the whole kidney thing with GF, I started feeding canned for the liquid portion. Then Maddie came along and i was going to go broke, so back to grain inclusive. All the pups have been doing good on it, so no complaints. :) Just need to figure out if the DCM thing is an issue for the Weim. Sigh.
 
mimiretz said:
Oberon eats anything and everything. He has actually brought bark (yes, from trees!) into the house to chew on (yes, we took it away from him - no, he wasn't happy about it). The only thing we've had problems with is a food where the protein was duck; the theory is that it was just too rich for him. So we stay with chicken, turkey, beef. We've never fed him grain-free, mostly because it doesn't seem to be an issue for him and the grain-free is more expensive.

We do feed our cat grain-free. It makes him less psychotic.
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:yuckyuck
 
Sunflower77 said:
My vet told me the most researched foods are Hills, Purina, and Royal Canin when I asked him about grain free boutique food. I think that’s his polite way of telling me what he endorses without offending me. Seeing ACANA Singles mentioned in the DCM repost doesn’t provide comfort to me. My pup is on ACANA/Orijen. I hope I won’t regret my feeding decision a few years from now when the research on DCM generates more insight.
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I honestly don't think vets even know what the proper diet is for dogs and yet so many people put their faith in them. When I asked my vet what I should feed Riley (when we were trying to figure out a healthy cooked diet for him) she said a good protein (chicken) and brown rice. That's it? What about vitamins, minerals etc etc etc? She had no clue. She's fantastic as a vet but not as a nutritionist, they need to stop acting like they have any idea at all and stop promoting ANY brand of food.
 
Caro said:
I think it's interesting that after the recalls by the bigger brands, like Hills and Advance, a lot of people shifted to 'boutique' commercial foods. But what the latest findings are showing, is that a lot of companies are formulating to 'trends' rather than on a scientific basis. For me, if the big brands can get it wrong then I have less trust in the smaller, boutique brands. I fell into that trap and Tully ended up in emergency and the boutique company didn't want to know. I can see why people are going to Pedigree or cooking for themselves. But who's to say that's any better? And now there seems to be so many dogs with IBD, the cat vet said they've seen it in cats for years but there;s been an explosion in dog cases. Did we just not know this was going on before?

And thus end my philosophical musings!
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I have to agree Caro. In my personal experience I tried a boutique dog food and ended up in the emergency room with 4 days in ICU! The food I fed Laddie was too high in fat band he ended up with a severe case of pancreases! The only thing I had done differently was to change foods. Never again!
 
Piper's mom said:
I honestly don't think vets even know what the proper diet is for dogs and yet so many people put their faith in them. When I asked my vet what I should feed Riley (when we were trying to figure out a healthy cooked diet for him) she said a good protein (chicken) and brown rice. That's it? What about vitamins, minerals etc etc etc? She had no clue. She's fantastic as a vet but not as a nutritionist, they need to stop acting like they have any idea at all and stop promoting ANY brand of food.
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This is so true! A vet friend told me years ago that there's really no training in vet school on nutrition, and that the foods they recommend like Hill and Science diet are due to the marketing those companies do to vets. My holistic vet has a more reasonable approach about food but pushes raw, which I can't feed, so it's a real dilemma for the average dog owner.

The only answer is to do your own research and make the best decision you can for your dog. I spent several days finding my current food after a nutritionist told me to avoid foods with the latest fad additive (that many think is responsible for the DCM surge) of peas, pea products, lentils and potatoes. That made sense to me, since dogs are not meant to eat them as one of their main protein sources. But it was hard to find anything that didn't have those ingredients near the top of the list!
 
My vet flat out told me he was no nutritionist. At first, I was stunned, but I soon learned that is the case for a vast majority of vets. Had to give him credit for saying it right up front, and he did not push me at all toward any of the food he was selling. Would not have bought any of it even if he did.
 
Ann said:
This is so true! A vet friend told me years ago that there's really no training in vet school on nutrition, and that the foods they recommend like Hill and Science diet are due to the marketing those companies do to vets. My holistic vet has a more reasonable approach about food but pushes raw, which I can't feed, so it's a real dilemma for the average dog owner.

The only answer is to do your own research and make the best decision you can for your dog. I spent several days finding my current food after a nutritionist told me to avoid foods with the latest fad additive (that many think is responsible for the DCM surge) of peas, pea products, lentils and potatoes. That made sense to me, since dogs are not meant to eat them as one of their main protein sources. But it was hard to find anything that didn't have those ingredients near the top of the list!
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Have you found any dog food that does not use or use very little pea product, lentils, and potatoes?
 
Sunflower77 said:
Have you found any dog food that does not use or use very little pea product, lentils, and potatoes?
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After a great deal of research and reading the ingrdients on every food label I could find, I settled on Nutro Ultra for that reason and because their other ingredients are excellent. I feed their Senior, Adult and Weight Management. My dogs love it and are doing well on it.
 
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