Pet Lovers

[Jersey Born]

@goldensrbest If you have a Golden Retriever, what do you feed him or her?  I would really like to know, because I just changed my dog's food, and I am not happy to read about this heart disease problem being connected to a grain-free diet.

Thanks in advance.

[Jersey Born]

Thank you for posting this Kachina624.  I had not heard about this until reading your post about it.

[Kachina624]

@Jersey Born   I read a couple of news articles about it this week and it was mentioned tonight on NBC Nightly News.  It seems fairly serious and will impact the dog food industry, I'm sure.

[Mustang Shar]

Yes! When I heard about this I switched Honest Kitchen grain free to the one with grain.  Dog food can be scary after some reports have come out in the past. Wish it COULD be regulated and be safe

[Just Bling]

You might do more harm than good just switching from grain free to grain containing food.  Please call your vet as to how to accomplish this, just changing a brand of food is enough to upset your dog's stomach in itself.

I don't believe "you can turn one off and turn a new one on".

[CamilleP]

The problem is not a lack of enough taurine in the food, it is that the legumes have a phytocompound (I believe it is a pseudohormone) that binds to the taurine, making it biologically unavailable.  Look for meat meals as the first ingredients in the food, that is a dry weight measurement and indicates that it is a higher percentage of the total dry weight of the food.  If the listing is "meat", that is wet weight, and the actual percentage of the total dry weight goes way down when the water in the meat is removed.  As long as you are getting a food with good quality meat proteins as the primary ingredients, the presence of a smaller amount of leguminous protein will probably not bind enough taurine to harm the dog.  However, if plant proteins like soybean meal are the primary ingredient in the food, then you might well have a problem.  Sadly "grain free" in dog food is analogous to "gluten free" in human food, it is a fad not based on actual dietary neccessity.   The grains that usually cause a dog problems in their food are corn and wheat,  and rice, barley and oats are less likely to be allergenic.  Again, though, it comes back to a percentage of dry matter in the food.  If the food is 50% grain by dry weight, that is just plain junk.  We can't trust the advertising, we have to do our own research and educate ourselves to keep those who depend on us for wholesome nourishment healthy and happy.

[Kachina624]

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@Just Bling wrote:

You might do more harm than good just switching from grain free to grain containing food.  Please call your vet as to how to accomplish this, just changing a brand of food is enough to upset your dog's stomach in itself.

I don't believe "you can turn one off and turn a new one on".

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@Just Bling.   There may be dogs who have sensitive stomachs but I've never had one.  I change brands all the time and have never had a dog react negatively.  I've had a lot of dogs...3 at the moment

[Tweetybrd]

@Kachina624.
What brands did you find without potatoes, peas, lentils? I feed my little Shih Tzu, wellness core, which is full of these ingredients. What to feed my most wonderful little doggie now?

[StephaniM]

There are so many different kinds on the market, it’s hard to know what to buy.  I get my dog food from his Vet, I trust his judgement and he knows way more than I do.

[goldensrbest]

I feed orijen,and acana  ,as their kibble, i add real protein, fruit ,and veggies. I do feel it is important to add fresh to their food.I have had dogs for over 30 years,i have learned as the years have gone on.Honest kitchen is real good also,my dogs love it.