Should my dog with high cholesterol eat Royal Canin Hypoallergenic?

Hello, In dogs, unlike humans, we generally don't worry about their diets with high cholesterol. High cholesterol can be associated with both hypothyroidism and adrenal disease, as well as a genetic predisposition to high cholesterol. I would recommend talking to your vet about the rest of the of blood panel and seeing if there are any other abnormalities that might point to an endocrine disorder or a genetic predisposition before changing his diet. However, some boutique, "fancier" diets are not actually balanced for canine nutrition. In particular, grain free diets have been associated with heart disease over time. I would talk to your vet about his diet and make sure it's meeting his nutritional needs before making any new changes. If you do decide to change his diet, please do so over a course of seven days so the rapid change of food does not cause stomach upset. Other signs of hypothyroidism include: increased appetite, weight gain, lesser activity levels, hair loss, and changes of the skin Other signs of adrenal disease, either Hyperadrenocorticism (Cushing's disease) or Hypoadrenocorticism (Addison's disease), can include: vomiting, diarrhea, panting, weight gain, increased thirst and urination, hair loss, and skin changes If Rocky has any of these other changes occurring, this is likely why your vet is recommending further testing to examine his endocrine health. Luckily, most endocrine diseases can be well managed over time once they are diagnosed. I hope this has been helpful! I know it's a lot of information, but I wanted to try to answer everything. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

A hydrolyzed therapeutic diet might be the best option for a dog with food allergies and potential heart disease. Hills makes a version called z/d, Royal Canin makes HP and Purina makes HA. Your vet would know more details however and might make a different recommendation based on Champ’s history so you should contact them before changing the diet.

Glad to hear she is doing so well! With full resolution of her symptoms this indicates the condition is food triggered and you have options of either maintaining her on royal canin anallergenic/hypoallergenic (with or without a few treats - try a new ingredient no sooner than once every 2 weeks and remove if any symptoms return) or trying to transition her onto alternative, sensitive diet (should be a food based on a small number of ingredients and 'fixed formula' - ie not one which is made from different ingredients for each batch - those based on rabbit/venison/ostrich/sweet potato etc can be successful). The risk is when changing diets is that she may relapse - in severe cases with complete resolution of signs then maintaining the successful diet would be my preferred option - this is a high quality, balanced diet and perfectly ok to feed lifelong

I am happy you were able to figure out what was causing Zoeys issues. Typically with food allergies we recommend a hypoallergenic diet that is a prescription food. I am not sure the RC diet she is currently taking is over the counter or prescription. Most of the time dogs are allergic to the protein source like beef or chicken. If the RC food is prescription I would recommend talking to your vet about possible Hills or Purina which also has prescription foods. If your RC diet is over the counter you can try and switch foods but I would watch close for the protein source and realize it is possible the new food might cause problems if it was contaminated when made. I hope that helps

I certainly understand your concern. I would use a skin sensitive food like Royal Canin Dog Sensitivity. Royal Canin is not a brand of food that the FDA has implicated in this rise of heart disease in dogs.

The various sensitive skin formulas on Royal Canin's website all are listed to include grains. Royal Canin diets have not been known to correlate with the development of DCM in dogs, so I would not worry about this too much. If this diet is too expensive, consider discussing alternative options with your vet. A novel protein diet may be a reasonable option but it is hard to recommend a diet without knowing what the cause of your dog's allergies are. I recommend trying to buy larger bags as they are more cost-effective and consider price hunting on various websites.

If you think that the HD is the cause of the sudden severe allergic reaction, than switching foods might help. However, in my experience, sudden severe allergic reactions don't typically occur from foods. Typically they are from something else in the environment. With regards to food, another good choice for cardiac disease is the Hill's or Purina Kidney Diet. The kidney diets and heart diets have very similar ingredients due to the fact that they are both attempting to control the same things. The good news is that the majority of both dogs and cats absolutely love the way the hill's K/D diet tastes. Hope this makes sense.