ghggp
Moderator
I asked Ann the same question and she said small breed!
FDA warning on grain-free food
- Thread starter Caro
- Start date
I asked Ann the same question and she said small breed!
Ann
Moderator
I depends on the size and weight of your Sheltie. Mine are all around 20 pounds, but for the ones who need more weight control, I use the regular formula. The smaller ones and my senior Barkley, who has trouble eating, get the small breed variety. The small breed is slightly higher in calories, fat and protein than the regular formula.
Caro
Moderator
I just wanted to give an update on this. Because of Deska passing and Tully having IBD I've been doing a lot of research into dog foods.
From what I can gather, the latest research indicates it may have something to do with certain ingredients reducing taurine availability or synthesis, rather than being due to a lack of taurine in the product. So adding taurine to these foods will not make any difference. To date, FDA reported that 90% of the suspect foods are grain free and the majority was dry food.
I have also learnt how poorly tested pet food is! Most companies have a bigger marketing budget than R&D. The companies that come up okay are those who follow the stricter WSAVA guidelines, rather than just the AAFCO, and interestingly, these are the companies that so many people put down. I'm embarrassed to say I was taken in by the marketing hype too. If you want to read the research around CDM or dog manufacture there's a really good FB group called 'Taurine-Deficient (Nutritional) Dilated Cardiomyopathy', which has most of the research available in the learning units and a list of food from members with confirmed cases of nutritional CDM (you'd be shocked).
This has really highlighted how bad the pet food industry has gotten with all the hype and so little substance. So many people with no knowledge making an awful lot of money. Heck, on FB ads the latest is from a couple of guys who worked in a pet food store! And then there's this 'clean food' marketing hype atm.
From what I can gather, the latest research indicates it may have something to do with certain ingredients reducing taurine availability or synthesis, rather than being due to a lack of taurine in the product. So adding taurine to these foods will not make any difference. To date, FDA reported that 90% of the suspect foods are grain free and the majority was dry food.
I have also learnt how poorly tested pet food is! Most companies have a bigger marketing budget than R&D. The companies that come up okay are those who follow the stricter WSAVA guidelines, rather than just the AAFCO, and interestingly, these are the companies that so many people put down. I'm embarrassed to say I was taken in by the marketing hype too. If you want to read the research around CDM or dog manufacture there's a really good FB group called 'Taurine-Deficient (Nutritional) Dilated Cardiomyopathy', which has most of the research available in the learning units and a list of food from members with confirmed cases of nutritional CDM (you'd be shocked).
This has really highlighted how bad the pet food industry has gotten with all the hype and so little substance. So many people with no knowledge making an awful lot of money. Heck, on FB ads the latest is from a couple of guys who worked in a pet food store! And then there's this 'clean food' marketing hype atm.
Sandy in CT
Premium Member
Just be careful with that Facebook group, Caro. The moderator deletes/bans members who post things that are not in line with his train of thought so once again you are looking at a source of information that is one sided. It does contain a lot of good info, but you don't get all sides from it either. I ran across postings a thread on a different site where folks he had banned were calling him out for it. As with everything, you take in all information you can and make your own decisions.
With food, I think the latest research is that taurine isn't the culprit it was once thought to be at the beginning because many of these dogs that had issues had normal taurine levels. Peas, to date, are the most suspect ingredient with the latest research I had read as so many manufacturers have gone to peas as a filler. Try and find a food, grains/no grains with little to no peas. With some foods it's even one of those main first 5 ingredients.
Caro
Moderator
I was an exec in population health so like to see the research. I like this site because it only publishes credible research and not the pseudo-science, everything is referenced and most is peer reviewed, so much work has been put into researching and collating the material. I do see new members on a soap box without reading all the literature but wanting to push an agenda, so I can understand why they ban them, 60,000+ people is a lot to moderate. I'm on a couple of IBD groups and some people actually criticise owners for their food choices. There's many dogs with IBD on prescription food because it's the only thing that works and the dogs would be dead without it, so I'm pretty disgusted when someone criticises an owner for choosing a big brand to save their dog's life. It's the same with DCM, dogs have recovered on the prescription food that were on death's door. I don't understand why people can't just be happy for them. All the trolling and put downs is why I avoided FB for so long, but it's impossible nowadays, my volunteer groups forced me on there.
The research I've seen is the ingredients may block how taurine is used by the body, so a dog with DCM can still have normal taurine levels. There is a long way to go, but I'm avoiding the brands linked to DCM as I can't cook for Tully atm so she's on Royal Canin. I can't lose another dog to an avoidable disease.
Sunflower77
Forums Enthusiast
I have switched off grain free dog food. My dog was on Orijen Tundra and Acana Singles. Acana seems to be the number one brand linked to DCM and the Singles (Duck and Pear, Lamb and Apple) have lots of legumes in the ingredient list. I just don’t want to take chances after reading so many articles on this.
Because my dog has a sensitive digestive system, I switched to Purina ProPlan Focus Sensitive Skin and Stomach Salmon and Rice Formula (I had never considered Purina dog food just one month ago). The first ingredient is salmon. No legumes. 26% protein. My dog loves the taste. I’m going to rotate it with the lamb recipe. I also looked at Hills Science Diet Sensitive Stomach formula but didn’t like the fact that it contained peas.
Because my dog has a sensitive digestive system, I switched to Purina ProPlan Focus Sensitive Skin and Stomach Salmon and Rice Formula (I had never considered Purina dog food just one month ago). The first ingredient is salmon. No legumes. 26% protein. My dog loves the taste. I’m going to rotate it with the lamb recipe. I also looked at Hills Science Diet Sensitive Stomach formula but didn’t like the fact that it contained peas.
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KarenCurtis
Forums Sage
Caro, when Sandstorm's cardiologist wanted me to switch Sandstorm's food to either Royal Canin or Pro Plan(I chose Proplan, the puppy is on this also) I worried and fretted over it. A comment by you convinced me to listen to the cardiologist, and now I'm not worried about it and am making the switch as soon as Sandstorm finishes this bag of Blue Buffalo. Minnie's breeder feeds ProPlan, she has fed the higher end foods in the past too. There are some higher priced varieties of ProPlan that have better ingredients than the others, and I'm fine about feeding this to my dogs. If Minnie's breeder has fed all her puppies this for years, it's enough for me to continue it, as I don't want to switch Minnie's food especially while she's a puppy!
Caro
Moderator
Proplan is one of the brands that use the stricter WSAVA guidelines and have tested the products and have staff nutritionists. My cats were getting Royal Canin dry but a boutique wet and I've just switched them over to Purina in the wet, luckily they like the Proplan, just to be safe.
I remember when my cats used to die around 10years old and I could never understand why, they'd suddenly go downhill after being fit and healthy and it was heartbreaking. My nan's show cats (fed only the best meats) also didn't live long. When they discovered about taurine for cats it all made sense. Here we were thinking we were giving our cats a good life and we were killing them with the food. I think that made me a bit more sensitive to not making mistakes with food and why seeing it happen with dogs was scary.
I remember when my cats used to die around 10years old and I could never understand why, they'd suddenly go downhill after being fit and healthy and it was heartbreaking. My nan's show cats (fed only the best meats) also didn't live long. When they discovered about taurine for cats it all made sense. Here we were thinking we were giving our cats a good life and we were killing them with the food. I think that made me a bit more sensitive to not making mistakes with food and why seeing it happen with dogs was scary.
KarenCurtis
Forums Sage
The WSAVA guidelines is one of the reasons the cardiologist wanted us to switch; I should have taken notes on our conversation but I was nervous about the appointment, so when I first posted here after the visit I couldn't really articulate the reasons for the switch, but you did!
KarenCurtis
Forums Sage
That is the ProPlan food I plan on feeding Sandstorm, it has good ingredients, do you find it easily? I hope I can find it at our local store, if not I'll have to order from Chewy.