The FDA provided pet owners with a wealth of information, but no cause for hundreds (if not thousands) of diet related heart disease in pets.
Issued February 19, 2019 – FDA provides pet owners with a lot of data regarding their current investigation of diet-related dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) in dogs (and cats). Unfortunately, FDA provides pet owners with no cause for the many illnesses and deaths.
Right at the beginning of the update, the agency admits no work was done on this concerning investigation during the government shutdown…
“This update does not include reports received in December and January due to the lapse in appropriations from December 22, 2018, to January 25, 2019. Because the Anti-Deficiency Act does not except activities that are solely related to protecting “animal health,” FDA was not able to continue its investigation during that time.”
The FDA update informed pet owners the agency has collaborated “with a variety of components of the animal health sector to collect and evaluate information about the DCM cases and the diets pets ate prior to becoming ill.” However the FDA update was less than transparent with pet owners on how much they have collaborated with pet food manufacturers in their investigation.
This FDA update told pet owners that FDA is “Examining ingredient sourcing/processing and product formulation with pet food manufacturers.” Actually, the agency has done far more than that. The pet food publication PetFoodIndustry.com states “David Edwards, Ph.D., an officer with FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM)’s Office of Surveillance and Compliance, presented an update on the agency’s DCM investigation during the American Feed Industry Association’s 12th Annual Pet Food Conference, held February 12 in conjunction with the International Production and Processing Expo in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.”
FDA has never provided the same opportunity for pet owners to hear an in-person update on their investigation into DCM issues as they have provided industry.
The FDA states they have received “300 reports of DCM (294 canine reports, 6 feline reports)” from January 1, 2014, to November 30, 2018; the greatest majority of the FDA illness reports – “276 of these (273 canine, 3 feline)” have been received since FDA first announced their investigation in July 2018. All of these numbers are confirmed cases of DCM diagnosis, FDA did not include “many general cardiac reports submitted.”
On a follow up page of the February 2019 FDA update, the agency provided more information on the DCM Investigation Webpage. That page provided more information on FDA’s investigation.
“In cases in which dogs ate a single primary diet (i.e., didn’t eat multiple food products, excluding treats), 90 percent reported feeding a grain-free food. Approximately 10 percent reported feeding a food containing grains and some of these diets were vegan or vegetarian. A large proportion of the reported diets in DCM cases – both grain-free and grain-containing – contained peas and/or lentils in various forms (whole, flour, protein, etc.) as a main ingredient (listed within the first 10 ingredients, before vitamins and minerals). The products included commercially available kibble, canned and raw foods, as well as home-cooked diets.”
FDA shares the reports they have received involve a “wide range” of dog breeds.
The types of pet foods FDA has received reports on:
FDA testing of various pet foods has not yet revealed a cause.
“Because some products labelled “grain free” and containing legumes and/or potato products were potentially associated with DCM, Vet-LIRN collected case-related food samples and purchased store-bought products labelled “grain free”. These products were tested, as well as grain-containing products not associated with development of DCM, to investigate any nutritional differences that could explain the development of DCM. As of November 30, 2018, Vet-LIRN has tested grain-free products and grain-containing products for the following:
- protein, fat, moisture
- crude fiber, total dietary fiber, soluble fiber, insoluble fiber
- total starch, resistant starch
- cystine, methionine, and taurine
The average percent protein, fat, total taurine, total cystine, total methionine, total methionine-cystine, and resistant starch content on a dry matter basis were similar for both grain-free and grain-containing products (Table 1).”
FDA results of testing are provided below. Though it confuses the issue of cause, almost all pet foods tested within normal (per regulation) ranges.
And further complicating consumer worry, FDA has collected data that shows not all dogs diagnosed with diet-related DCM heart disease have low taurine blood levels.
FDA tells pet owners: “If a dog is showing possible signs of DCM or other heart conditions, including decreased energy, cough, difficulty breathing and episodes of collapse, you should contact your veterinarian as soon as possible. If the symptoms are severe and your veterinarian is not available, you may need to seek emergency veterinary care. Your veterinarian may ask you for a thorough dietary history, including all the foods (including treats) the dog has eaten.” FDA encourages pet owners to report illnesses to the agency – “Detailed instructions for submitting case information can be found on “How to Report a Pet Food Complaint.”
To read the update provided by FDA, Click Here, Here, and Here.
Unfortunately, we must wait to learn the cause. Pet owners need to be extra alert to any symptoms of heart disease seen in their pet.
Wishing you and your pet(s) the best,
Susan Thixton
Pet Food Safety Advocate
Author Buyer Beware, Co-Author Dinner PAWsible
TruthaboutPetFood.com
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Jutta
February 19, 2019 at 2:25 pm
What IF these dogs ate RAW food? Would we be swamped with warnings to stop raw food immediately?
Now not even a hint as to the brands most involved?
FDA clearly works for industry, pharma or animal food, and not the consumer. The revolving door at work?
Tryn
February 20, 2019 at 5:50 am
The problem, clearly, is not simply “grain free foods”. It’s a mixture of both genetic and nutritional issues, and many of the genetic issues have likely been caused by generations of poor nutrition. Sadly, because you have a puppy who’s parents, grandparents, great grandparents, etc. Had been fed terrible, biologically inappropriate dry food, you likely have a dog prone to multiple health issues, even if you are responsible and feed them a healthy, moisture-rich, fresh food diet.
Give your dog a varied diet, ensure that it’s high protein, high fat, high moisture, minimally processed, and you are likely to avoid these issues…but even then you can’t change their weakened genetics due to the crap food of the generations before them :/
Reader
February 20, 2019 at 11:31 pm
I agree and made that point a long time ago. I think the breeders need to take responsibility here (and I’m pro-breeder). Breeders and Exhibitors know what a good diet means. They should be tracking DCM in their lines.
Maggie
February 20, 2019 at 9:18 am
Jutta, Monica Segal has seen taurine deficiency in raw-fed dogs — she always adds it to her formulas for clients. She’s posted about this extensively on her blog and on FB. Though it’s true that heat processing does degrade the taurine, a lot of raw meat doesn’t have significant amounts of taurine to start with. Some that does loses it quickly if it is ground (because air contact degrades taurine). So it’s not as simple as “just feed raw” — Monica’s posts on this are very worth reading (as she formulates balanced raw diets for a living). If you don’t want to supplement, beef hearts are one of the best natural sources.
Ms. B Dawson
February 20, 2019 at 1:45 pm
One take away from this might be to rotate foods.
It seems these dogs mostly ate the same thing day after day – especially kibble. I would say this makes a very good case for adding fresh food to kibble according to the pet’s preferences and to mix up the commercial foods. Even feeding the same raw formula at every meal could inadvertently miss a critical nutrient or introduce a particular food in too great a quantity.
Of course this contradicts the allopathic veterinarian dogma (no pun intended!) that you shouldn’t change up foods because it will upset the pet’s digestion.
Dianne & Pets
February 20, 2019 at 3:49 pm
This is relevant to some of the amino acids mentioned above. If the FDA were willing to consider the impact that residues may have on the foods now, they might find something useful. It could explain why some dogs have eaten the food for years without problem and now there are problems. Cue the pro gmo lobby who dismiss anything indicating the least possibility of a problem as junk science and done by disgraced scientists. Glyphosate pathways to modern diseases V: Amino acid analogue of glycine in
diverse proteins https://www.researchgate.net/publication/305318376
Sandy B
February 20, 2019 at 10:51 pm
Many thanks for the article. I copied the chart to compare to my foods and will check ingredients. I had hoped peas listed fourth or fifth wouldn’t be so bad, but this suggests otherwise.