Today my breeder posted this info on her Facebook pages. It has to do with the type of protein you feed your dog and how it can compromise their heart. She said that this is not new news but that there is some updated info and also many people are still unaware.
Below is what she shared:
Recently a number of Golden Retrievers have come up with low taurine levels and Dilated Cardiomyopathy (DCM). These dogs are not all related but one thing they all had in common --- they were being fed a food that had plant based proteins added, meat was not the main ingredient in the food or the food had a lot of peas and pea products added. Some examples of plant based proteins are garbanzo beans, lentils, soy protein, chickpeas to name a few. These owners were feeding highly rated foods and several brands are involved. Golden Retrievers are one of the breeds of dogs that have been found to suffer taurine deficiency without dietary intake. Taurine is found mainly in muscle meat. Some dog food companies do add taurine to their foods but it is not required. Everyone needs to start reading dog food labels carefully. Dogs are carnivores and do not need a lot of plant based proteins. Be certain the food you are feeding has adequate amounts of meat protein. Do not just look at the protein content of the food. If a food has meat and plant proteins added the protein content is the combination of the two. You may be feeding very little meat protein and lots of legume protein. If you have a concern, get a taurine test on your dog. You may be saving its life. Prior to taurine testing do not change food, supplement with taurine or start feeding meat to your dog's diet. This will skew the results. Some of the dogs tested had low taurine and DCM but showed no signs or symptoms. They were tested because the owners were feeding the same food as others that had found low taurine/DCM in their dogs. If you are feeding raw be certain the diet contains adequate amounts of meats that are high in taurine. DCM caused by taurine deficiency may be reversed if diagnosed early and treated.
For those interested in the literature surrounding this issue - Veterinary cardioligist, Joshua Stern has created a dropbox folder that contains all of the relevant, published research. You can get to the folder and download the articles with the following link: https://www.dropbox.com/.../AAB1sDvLZe6gE3httPskz9-0a...
Taurine Deficient DCM in Dogs
Below is what she shared:
Recently a number of Golden Retrievers have come up with low taurine levels and Dilated Cardiomyopathy (DCM). These dogs are not all related but one thing they all had in common --- they were being fed a food that had plant based proteins added, meat was not the main ingredient in the food or the food had a lot of peas and pea products added. Some examples of plant based proteins are garbanzo beans, lentils, soy protein, chickpeas to name a few. These owners were feeding highly rated foods and several brands are involved. Golden Retrievers are one of the breeds of dogs that have been found to suffer taurine deficiency without dietary intake. Taurine is found mainly in muscle meat. Some dog food companies do add taurine to their foods but it is not required. Everyone needs to start reading dog food labels carefully. Dogs are carnivores and do not need a lot of plant based proteins. Be certain the food you are feeding has adequate amounts of meat protein. Do not just look at the protein content of the food. If a food has meat and plant proteins added the protein content is the combination of the two. You may be feeding very little meat protein and lots of legume protein. If you have a concern, get a taurine test on your dog. You may be saving its life. Prior to taurine testing do not change food, supplement with taurine or start feeding meat to your dog's diet. This will skew the results. Some of the dogs tested had low taurine and DCM but showed no signs or symptoms. They were tested because the owners were feeding the same food as others that had found low taurine/DCM in their dogs. If you are feeding raw be certain the diet contains adequate amounts of meats that are high in taurine. DCM caused by taurine deficiency may be reversed if diagnosed early and treated.
For those interested in the literature surrounding this issue - Veterinary cardioligist, Joshua Stern has created a dropbox folder that contains all of the relevant, published research. You can get to the folder and download the articles with the following link: https://www.dropbox.com/.../AAB1sDvLZe6gE3httPskz9-0a...
Taurine Deficient DCM in Dogs