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Pet Foods Causing Heart Disease in Dogs

 

For the past few years, there have been issues with heart disease, specifically Dilated Cardiomyopathy (DCM) in dogs related to certain dog food, especially dry foods.  The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) oversees dog foods and has been studying the issue since 2018 but still can’t find a direct cause. The cases are improving from when it started but there are still 1 dog every 3 days being reported to the FDA.

Their latest update does address the most commonly implicated diets and ingredients.

What is DCM?

DCM is the 2nd most common form of heart disease in dogs, which causes the heart to enlarge and pump very weakly.  Until recently, it was mostly associated with a hereditary or genetic cause.  We saw this is certain breeds such as Dobermans, Boxers, Great Danes, and Irish Wolfhounds. Then veterinary cardiologists started seeing more and more cases of DCM showing up in all types and breeds of dogs, and at all ages. They also started seeing their hearts improve when they made some dietary changes, which is something we rarely saw with DCM before. They also took note that most of these dogs were on grain-free, dry food diets that contained certain specific ingredients.  We will go over these next.

It should be noted that DCM can progress to congestive heart failure, which is usually not reversible, so it is important to catch this early and pay attention to your dog’s diet.

Most Commonly Implicated Diets

Most of the diets implicated were dry food diets; 90% were grain-free, and 93% had peas and/or lentils in them.

The worst offender was a pea protein-based diet.  Changes in the heart were seen after only 3 months on these diets.

Other common problem ingredients were legumes/pulses (peas, pea protein, lentils, chickpeas, beans), sweet potatoes and potatoes.  Boutique and exotic diets were also problematic containing ingredients such as kangaroo, duck, buffalo, lamb, bison, venison, lentils, peas, fava beans, tapioca, barley, or chickpeas.

Brands implicated (please check ingredients because some formulas may have changed): Acana, Zignature, Taste of the Wild, 4Health, Earthborn Holistic, Blue Buffalo, Nature’s Domain, Fromm, Merrick, California Natural, Natural Balance, Orijen, Nature’s Variety, NutriSource, Nutro, and Rachel Ray Nutrish.

 

What to Feed

Avoid any diet that contains peas of any kind, including pea protein, pea fiber, pea starch, pea flour, etc. In any dog food whether dry or wet, avoid peas, lentils, chickpeas, sweet potatoes, and potatoes in the first 10 ingredients.  My advice would be to avoid dry food altogether. 

While I prefer balanced homemade diets, here are a few suggested foods that I would recommend, this list is not inclusive of all foods:

For a list of dry dog foods that don’t contain the offending ingredients, see this article: https://www.seviernewsmessenger.com/2019/07/14/best-dog-food-without-peas-legumes-potatoes/

 

Signs of DCM:

Symptoms can be very subtle in the early stages.

  • Decreased activity

  • Tiredness

  • Lethargy

  • Coughing

  • Shortness of breath

  • Decreased appetite

A physical exam may also show:

  • Heart murmur

  • Enlarged heart (found on x-ray)

The only way to diagnose DCM is through an echocardiogram (ultrasound of the heart) which is usually done by a cardiologist or specialist. If your dog has any heart abnormalities, such as a heart murmur, an enlarged heart (found on x-ray), or an arrhythmia, they should be checked by a cardiologist to rule out DCM.

 

To see the official FDA report on DCM in dogs see this article:

https://www.fda.gov/animal-veterinary/outbreaks-and-advisories/fda-investigation-potential-link-between-certain-diets-and-canine-dilated-cardiomyopathy