My dog's omega-3 has pea flour. Could it cause DCM on a grain diet?

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!

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Cooper. You have several options regarding the risk of DCM from feeding the grain-free diet. In these cases, DCM results from the diet being deficient in taurine. There is a blood test that your veterinarian can submit to measure Cooper's taurine levels. He could also have an echocardiogram (an ultrasound of the heart) to ensure he does not have any structural changes. Lastly, you can change his diet. You can consider Purina Proplan Sensitive Skin and Stomach as it is a trust worthy brand and will help any underlying skin disease. I hope this information helps!

Yes, you can use supplements on a dog with DCM. However, most of the supplements have similar actions to the drugs that we use for heart disease, so you need to be sure that you are working with your vet or a vet trained in herbal medicine to make sure the dosage and effects are safe for Chico. I use Hawthorne berry to increase cardiac contraction, and I don't see that Chico is on a medication for that, so that might be a good addition. And I don't think there are any contraindications for Omega 3 fish oil which can improve blood supply to the heart muscle itself. Again, I would recommend speaking to your vet about those supplements and see if they have any other suggestions. I will often use Coenzyme Q10 in my heart patients as well. If you need to find a vet comfortable with herbal therapies, you might be able to find one here under the find a vet section. https://www.ahvma.org I hope that was helpful! Thanks for using PetCoach.

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 and thank you for reaching out to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. No, this is not a grain free diet. Oat groats are the first ingredient on the list. They are the hulled kernels of cereal grains: in this case, oats. Groats are whole: they include the cereal germ, the bran, and the endosperm of the grain. They are very nutritious. The novel protein is not a concern for DCM. So this diet would be good for Jack! I hope this is helpful!

I like the supplements you have picked for Rocco, and the powdered probiotic is just fine. There is only a risk with the fish oils if you give him more than the recommend dose. No, grain free is no safe at all. It does increase the risk of DCM. Grain free is a dangerous fad, a marketing tool. Grain allergies are actually really rare in dogs. I would switch his food. I hope this helps!

I did read many articles on the subject but i have yet to find a serious study regarding this that is supporting those claims. generally most dogs (unlike cats) do not require taurine in their diets as the dog's body can produce it on it's own when it is lacking, but some breeds seem to have a predisposition for taurine deficiency and this is indeed a reasonable cause of concern in your case. i would recommend consulting your vet regarding the possibility to give Chloe a taurine supplement with her food on a regular basis in order to prevent a scenario of DCM in the future, even if we don't know for sure that all the factors are linked.