recent news on high quality foods causing heart failure General Chat

Discussion in 'Akita' started by Keith Wiethe, Jun 29, 2019.

  1. Keith Wiethe

    Keith Wiethe New Member

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    recent news on high quality foods causing heart failure

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle...-on-their-food-fda-says/ar-AADy2Th?ocid=ientp

    Has anyone else seen this article? Very concerning as we thought some of these foods are high quality.

    What’s in your dogs’ diets could be a factor in whether they develop heart disease, according to a new FDA report.

    The Food and Drug Administration announced Thursday that it is continuing to investigate a potential connection between certain diets and cases of dilated cardiomyopathy, known as DCM or canine heart disease, which can result in congestive heart failure.

    The agency first announced the investigation in July 2018. Thursday’s announcement named 16 pet food brands most frequently identified in the more than 500 reported cases.

    “We know it can be devastating to suddenly learn that your previously healthy pet has a potentially life-threatening disease like DCM,” Steven M. Solomon, director of the FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine, said in a statement. “That’s why the FDA is committed to continuing our collaborative scientific investigation into the possible link between DCM and certain pet foods.”

    [​IMG]© Provided by USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Satellite Information…The report says large and giant breed dogs are most typically affected, with cases being most prevalent in golden retrievers, mixed breeds and Labrador retrievers. However, there have been cases of smaller breeds, too, suggesting “a lack of a genetic connection,” the report notes.

    In most of the cases, the dogs ate dry food formulations.

    The investigation also looked into the ingredients or characteristics of the dogs’ diets. More than 90% of diets were “grain-free” and 93% had peas and/or lentils.

    Identified brands
    The report notes that the FDA doesn’t yet know how certain diets may be associated with the disease.

    “However, the FDA is first and foremost a public health agency, and takes seriously its responsibility to protect human and animal health,” the agency said in the statement. “In the case of DCM, the agency has an obligation to be transparent with the pet-owning public regarding the frequency with which certain brands have been reported.”

    Here are the brands and how many cases were reported to the FDA for each:

    • Acana: 67
    • Zignature: 64
    • Taste of the Wild: 53
    • 4Health: 32
    • Earthborn Holistic: 32
    • Blue Buffalo: 31
    • Nature’s Domain: 29
    • Fromm: 24
    • Merrick: 16
    • California Natural: 15
    • Natural Balance: 15
    • Orijen: 12
    • Nature’s Variety: 11
    • NutriSource: 10
    • Nutro: 10
    • Rachael Ray Nutrish: 10
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  3. Malka

    Malka Member

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    Problems arise when dog food, although having different brands, share manufacturing facilities. Therefore it is very difficult to know what caused any particular problem as all brands made in the same facility could be contaminated. Most, if not all, the listed brands in that link, are manufactured by an outside facility.

    The same as supermarket 'own label' human foods are made by named brands.

    The following link names various dog brands, some of which are on the list given by @Keith Wiethe, and the names of their actual manufacturers

    https://www.dogingtonpost.com/dog-food-brands-share-manufacturing-facilities/
  4. CaroleC

    CaroleC Member

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    Malka and GsdSlave like this.
    Hadn't seen this, - how worrying. We think we are doing our best by buying these higher quality foodstuffs, and I'm not sure that dogs without food allergies do actually need them. I marvel that our dogs did so well back in the 50's and 60's, when everybody fed PAL tinned meat and Winalot biscuit meal. The first complete feed was called Kanox, - aniseed flavoured flaked maize with added dried meat and cod liver oil!
    There are so many other potential factors: genetics, lifestyle, supplementary feeding etc., that it is going to be difficult to actually prove that a certain type of food is responsible for a particular health condition. I guess this would require strict long term feeding trials - and more dogs in laboratories! Thanks for the heads up @Keith Wiethe, certainly one to watch.
  5. mjfromga

    mjfromga Member

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    Doesn't surprise me. I have said this all along. Despite foods supposedly being "better" now, the health of dogs hasn't improved whatsoever. It's all a gimmick. Take a cheap brand of dry food and a costly brand. Oftentimes the kibble looks exactly the same.
  6. GsdSlave

    GsdSlave Member

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    Malka and CaroleC like this.
    This is not new, there is a thread about it from last year.
    As far as i'm aware, it’s not yet clear if diet is causing this issue.

    I have never fed grain free, and I don’t believe there is nothing inherently better about Grain-Free unless your dog has an allergy or sensitivity to grains.
    Potatoes/lentils and peas ect: are just as unlikely for dogs to eat as rice or wheat.
  7. who owns who

    who owns who Member

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    I don’t really know what to make of this “report” from the FDA, although I think it’s hasty and dangerous, and not based on good, solid scientific research.
    So they are talking about around 500 reported cases of DCM out of how many dogs in the USA? 10’s upon 10’s of millions I’d guess. I’ve no idea how many of them eat a grain free diet but I’m just not buying it.
    I have read that one of the concerns in the past was low levels of taurine, but since the initial report many dog food brands have been adding taurine to their kibble. Dogs don’t necessarily need a grain free diet but I do think some grains are better, or worse, than others. Corn is almost all GMO now, and sprayed with tons of pesticides, as well as modified to be able to be sprayed with certain ones (thanks Monsanto...).

    The world of dog food can be very confusing and we all want to give our dogs the best that we can afford. Who are we to believe? The company with the most money to do marketing? The one with the prettiest bag? The one with a nice looking wolf on it (the ancestor of all our dogs)? The one your vet recommends and makes a profit on. Hills science diet is a brand vets recommend and sell. This company originally made food for beagles that were used for research, and also gave food for free to veterinary students for their pets. Any conflict of interest there?
    Over the past 27 years of having dogs, and cats before that, I’ve switched brands quite a few times. At first based on what I thought was better food for my pets, and than changing brands because of recalls.. I’ve never gone back to a brand I switched from that was recalled.
    I was reading an article tonight from tufts university from 2018 that was talking about boutique grain free diets and exotic protein sources. They basically said feed something that has chicken or beef, rice, wheat or corn, and considered lamb, salmon, bison, duck etc as exotic... I wonder where they get their money from. They also were against making your own food. Once again, who contributes money to this veterinary school???
    I just don’t know who to believe. When I got Bandit 31 months ago his breeder told me to feed him Eukenuba large breed puppy food. I read the ingredients and I considered it to be crap. I switched him to taste of the wild, later switched to Nutrisource, and later to zigniture. All this was in search of a food to help them have good solid poops regularly. Now they are getting Zigniture guinea fowl and pooping well. All 3 brands I’ve tried and used in the last 2.5 years are on the FDA list. Should I feed Purina or some over priced, crappy IMO, veterinary food instead? I personally don’t think so. Were their poops not good due to lack of grains? Possibly, I don’t know.
    I do once again think it was very irresponsible for the FDA to release this information at this time as it’s just not scientific research, at all, and many people take what they say as the “word”.
    Just part of my long rambling thoughts on this...
  8. mjfromga

    mjfromga Member

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    What doctor will tell you that potato is better for you than barley? Grain free is a gimmick. Animals a long time ago didn't have allergies to natural things such as wheat and chicken. It was unheard of.

    Dogs did not die at 6-7 years old from organ failure and various cancers a long time ago. They didn't have all these weird and unnatural breeds with a predisposition to EVERYTHING.
  9. GsdSlave

    GsdSlave Member

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  10. Malka

    Malka Member

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    Thank you for that link Vee. There is some good information there.
  11. CaroleC

    CaroleC Member

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    Though Eddies bowel tumours did make me do a lot of research, and be quite strict about what I fed, I have become inconsistent, and now do lots of things that one is not supposed to do.
    I feed a senior dog grain-free kibble, but at supper time they now have a weight control variety - which is salmon and rice. (Merry puts on weight just by looking at food, Ed's figure needs adjustment).
    They have a 'Shape' dog biscuit in the morning, and another one to go to bed - which of course contains wheatflour.
    Beagle's are dedicated chewers and after the extractions needed due to chipping their teeth on bones and antlers, they now have rabbit or lambs ears, tripe sticks, and raw vegetable to chew - but I also give them Dentastix, and admit to using other potentially sugar-laden c**p as training treats too.
    I feed kibble, stewed vegetables, and either raw or cooked meat, all at the same time - which should unbalance the basic ration - and the purists believe, cause problems by requiring digestion at different rates.
    However, Ed is fitter, and is lasting longer than his vet expected. We never have any nasty poo to clean up, and both hounds passed their senior dog health checks with flying colours last week. They seem to enjoy variety, and as long as they stay fit and happy, I don't mind.
  12. Chris B

    Chris B Member

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    There are so many conflicting reports about food that it's impossible to know fact from fiction.

    In fact, I don't believe there is any true 'fact' at the moment. Lot's of theories, but we are a long way from understanding what causes what in dietary terms.

    It may even be as simple as grain and or protein sources are more contaminated these days from the pesticides and chemicals used these days which inevitably filter into the food chain eventually

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