My dog on grain-free food, panting, blue tongue. Is it heart disease?

If her gums and tongue turned blue (cyanosis aka cyanotic), this is a sign of not getting enough oxygen. This can come from a heart problem, a tracheal issue like tracheal collapse, a severe allergic reaction, poor pulmonary perfusion (pneumonia, cancer, fluid around the lungs, etc) and much more. I would strongly recommend to take her to the vet for an exam to see if they can figure out what caused her to be cyanotic and hopefully prevent it from happening again. Lack of oxygen can be fatal if not immediately treated. I hope this helps!

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Copper. I do not recommend feeding a grain free diet. You are correct that some of these diets have been linked to heart disease. Furthermore, most of these diets are higher in carbohydrates and calories. This can lead to unnecessary weight gain. I recommend a well balanced puppy food from a reputable company. Depending on his projected adult size, you may consider a large breed formula. I personally recommend Purina Purina ProPlan or Royal Canin as they put an extensive amount of research into their diets. They have veterinarians on staff and perform feeding trials on dogs as opposed to laboratory analysis. These are benefits small boutique pet food company just cannot provide. I hope this information helps!

It's going to be hard to notice symptoms before it's too late - but signs that would be concerning are panting at odd times, decreased exercise capacity, rapid breathing while resting, and coughing. There are prescription diets that are hydrolyzed - which means the food is mechanically or chemically broken up in to such small pieces that the immune system no longer recognizes it as chicken or pork (etc). I would recommending asking your vet if one of those diets would be appropriate. If you can't find another diet that works for Padfoot, it's important to know that the risk of heart disease is low, even though it's higher for grain-free or boutique diets than others, so you have to weigh controlling allergies that cause immediate harm with the possibility of heart disease.

Hello. Unfortunately, it will take a hands on exam & some diagnostic tests such as x-rays to definitively say what is going on. She may have some chronic reflux & that is why the Pepcid seems to help. I would definitely take her off the grain free diet & switch her to a sensitive stomach formula. Hill's has an over the counter food for this. The reason I recommend this is many grain free foods actually have more fat added for taste & Mia may have some problems digesting the extra fat. I would try this first, then possibly go to a limited ingredient food made for allergies in dogs. There may also be an infectious component to the cough, so we really cannot rule out chronic bronchitis or heartworm disease. And some of the grain free diets have been linked with heart disease. Your veterinarian can determine if this is a heart problem, pulmonary one, or some kind of esophageal reflux. Good luck & thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.,

Thanks for visiting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. These symptoms are concerning, especially coming from an older pet lIke Blue. His warm feeling body could indicate an internal infection or inflammatory disorder, and his panting and swollen stomach could indicate underlying heart disease, an infection, or even cancer has to be considered here. I would highly recommend taking him in to your vet to have some testing done as soon as possible. The vet needs to do some bloodwork analysis and an x-ray to find out the underlying cause for his symptoms, since there are several disease processes that can cause the same symptoms. I do hope that Blue is able to make a full and speedy recovery with a diagnosis that is readily treatable. I wish you all the best! Take care.

Hello and thank you for reaching out to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. If the study you are talking about is referring to DCM (dilated cardiomyopathy) in large breed dogs, I believe the correlation they are making is between grain-free diets and the development of DCM. Grain-free diets are very trendy right now, and there is NO benefit to feeding your dog a grain-free diet. Many small pet food companies are not well regulated for quality control, and oftentimes the nutritional information they provide on the bag is nowhere near what is actually in the food. Legumes and potatoes can be substitutes for grains, but they lack many of the essential nutrients that grains provide to dogs. This lack of specific nutrients can make dogs, especially large breeds, more prone to developing heart disease. I recommend feeding your dog a food formulated for adult large breed maintenance. Excellent brands are those like Hills, Royal Canin, Purina, and Blue Buffalo. These larger pet food companies are very well-regulated and nutritionally balanced for dogs. I hope this is helpful!

In general, it is not recommended to feed dogs a grain free diet unless they are known to have a grain allergy (which is very uncommon). There are many misconceptions about pet nutrition circulating. While the link is not yet understood and has multiple factors, something about the grain free diets may be allowing heart disease to develop in certain dogs. I recommend to feed a high quality brand with a good reputation and minimal problems with food recalls. The brand I like the most is Royal Canin. They conduct feeding trials to measure the digestibility of their diets. Most pets who eat this brand have excellent coat and stool quality. They also tend to produce minimal stool which is a sign the diet does not contain fillers and is highly digestible. I also recommend Nutro and Purina Pro Plan. I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.