The foods were tested for minerals metals and amino acids and no significant abnormalities were found.
Grain free for dogs bad.
The fda is investigating a potential dietary link between canine dilated cardiomyopathy dcm and dogs eating certain grain free dog foods.
It is important to recognize however that very few dogs have allergies to the grains in dog foods.
One study found that 24 golden retrievers with dcm had low taurine and most of the dogs were fed grain free diets prior to diagnosis.
For example in dogs suspected of having food allergies also known as an adverse food reaction a grain free diet might be recommended on a trial basis to see if symptoms improve.
Fortunately the heart disease resolved for nearly all of the dogs after they received cardiac medications and taurine supplements and switched to a grain inclusive diet.
In large majority of instances.
And 93 of the grain free diets contained peas and or lentils.
Grain free equals high protein.
Many pet parents who want to increase the level of protein in their dog s diet believe that grain free dog food is the equivalent but that s not generally the case.
Often you ll see an alternative to grains such as peas listed as the first ingredient rather than meat in a grain free dog food recipe.
Gelzer doesn t know exactly how the grain free pet food trend started but suspects it had to do with consumer demand for what seemed like a healthier alternative.
Nevertheless i feed her only grain free dog food.
The kind i give her costs about 100 a month for a 12 pound dog and it s made of an organic grass fed non gmo mix of beef organ meat.
Grain free diets don t contain the cereal grains we like to avoid like corn rice and barley but they contain large amounts of peas potatoes lentils and legumes.
When they looked into what these dogs were eating they found that 90 were on a grain free food and 93 were on diets that contained peas and or lentils.
The fda received 515 reports of dcm in dogs between january 1 2014 and april 30 2019.
In most cases the answer is likely yes.
It didn t come from the.
So is grain free food bad for dogs.
The foods of concern are those containing legumes.