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The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Pet Island > Diet and Nutrition Thread: Grain Free Is Not The Way To Be
 
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LeeMajors
Jan 20, 2005

I've gotta stop fantasizing about Lee Majors...
Ah, one more!

Main Paineframe posted:

To throw my anecdotal experience into the mix, my dog used to be on a grain-free food, Acana Limited Ingredients.

Now he's on a prescription cardiac diet, after he went into congestive heart failure before age 5 due to severe DCM, which the cardiologist said is almost certainly caused by the grain-free food because it's extremely rare for this to happen this badly to a dog that's this young and doesn't have any particular aggravating factors.

Obviously this is just one anecdote, the FDA still says that the number of cases is still very small and that only a tiny percentage of dogs are likely affected, the link is neither clear nor conclusive, and so on. But even if the overall risk is low, the prognosis can be pretty lovely if your dog is one of the unlucky ones, so think twice about taking that bet unless your dog really needs to have specifically grain-free food.

So my 8yo standard poodle had a grade 1 heart murmur at her last yearly appointment and she's been on Acana Singles for like 7 years due to severe colitis. Her first vet recommended switching to a grain free diet back in 2014 or so after several severe bouts of colitis with melena. I hadn't even heard about the possible DCM link and we've never had any dietary issues we knew of and thus we've never discussed diet with her vet of the last 5 years. She had a rough time with colitis at that time and then dx of Addison's we've been treating successfully and without issue since.

So we heard about this possible grain-free link with DCM (which hasn't developed yet apparently) but she's started showing some exercise intolerance and I'm starting to get a little worried.

It's so hard to find reliable information on good balanced diets and I'm thinking of switching over to the wholesome grain formula or over to some other food to try and prevent any further damage, if indeed that is what is causing it.

E: I'm thinking of transitioning her to Hill's Adult Sensitive Stomach and Skin Large breed--I remember my folks having good success with the prescription Hill's with their pets. Any thoughts?

LeeMajors fucked around with this message at 17:15 on May 29, 2021

* # ¿ May 29, 2021 17:12
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# ¿ May 8, 2024 04:30
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LeeMajors
Jan 20, 2005

I've gotta stop fantasizing about Lee Majors...
Ah, one more!

Fluffy Bunnies posted:

Hills is garbage but if you have a sensitive gut, you have a sensitive gut. Go with what she'll eat.

What's your budget like?

I pay like 70-80 per 22/25lb bag of Acana, prob wouldn’t want to exceed it.

She’s a grazer though in spite of her steady river of supplementary corticosteroids.

* # ¿ May 29, 2021 22:53
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The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Pet Island > Diet and Nutrition Thread: Grain Free Is Not The Way To Be