In a brief and less than public announcement, the FDA finally took a stance regarding the potential link of grain-free pet food to dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) cases in dogs. The agency stated based on the reports of DCM cases received, “they do not supply sufficient data to establish a causal relationship with reported product(s).” In other words, the FDA does not believe grain-free pet foods are/were the cause of DCM in dogs. The FDA also stated they do not intend to release any further notices about the issue “until there is meaningful new scientific information to share.”
This brief update was not issued as a press release as the agency had done with the previous grain-free pet food/DCM updates. Instead, this brief notice was simply (and quietly) added to the top of a 3 year old press release. No new press release, no mainstream media coverage.
Pet owners deserve much more from FDA regarding this issue. This issue caused panic in millions of pet owners, in part directly due to FDA’s previous press releases about their investigation.
Personal opinion: It is good that FDA has taken a position on their investigation into DCM and grain-free pet food. However, pet owners and veterinarians need a complete statement from FDA issued as a new press release. Not a softly worded paragraph quietly added to a 3 year old press release. We deserve better.
Wishing you and your pet(s) the best,
Susan Thixton
Pet Food Safety Advocate
Author Buyer Beware, Co-Author Dinner PAWsible
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Sue Belair
December 30, 2022 at 11:09 am
So, is grain free ok to give our pets? That’s all I’ve been giving my pets through the years and am now feeding.
Robin
December 30, 2022 at 4:28 pm
Hi Sue, “grain free” is now a statement on thousands of different brands of dog and cat foods. There is absolutely no way to determine if that statement means a food is safe for your pets to eat. The safest options right now, to be sure you’re feeding safe human grade ingredients, to is get Susan’s List from the website or buy human grade meats etc and make it yourself. Prepackaged pet foods made following AAFCO/FDA procedures are just not the best options….
T Allen
January 1, 2023 at 6:16 am
Perfect! Hope you don’t mind if I plagiarize. 😉
T Scales
January 1, 2023 at 9:08 am
I would say yes! I’ve been giving mine the same. Stopped her from having ear infections. 11 year old and was cleared by a vet to be in perfect health. I like grain free and give it to all my dogs!!
Donna DeBonis
December 30, 2022 at 1:15 pm
1. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1952593284998859
Diet-Associated Dilated Cardiomyopathy (DCM) in Dogs
2. https://www.facebook.com/search/top?q=diet-associated%20dcm%20education%20alliance Diet-Associated DCM Education Alliance
3. https://www.facebook.com/groups/355294525012651 Veterinary professionals:Diet-Associated Dilated Cardiomyopathy DCM in Dogs
I believe this situation is alot like what happened with melamine. Listen to the AAFSPHV Part 2 Interview https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4ciW4RbA2Y that I did with FDA CVM Veterinarian about melamine in 2008. At that time anecdotal info came in to us clinical veterinarians that dogs were dying from kidney failure and unusual UNKNOWN crystals in the urine were found. It took sometime when all great minds worked on this issue to finally figure out what caused it and how it got into the pet food. Melamine was unidentified, but everyone knew something was wrong in the pet food.
In this case, while we cannot determine the pathogenesis, we are seeing too much evidence, particularly when the condition is reversed by switching food from grain -free and using supplements.
In summary, we cannot confirm the pathogenesis of Diet-Associated DCM, but this condition DOES exist.
Susan Thixton
December 30, 2022 at 2:22 pm
No one is saying DCM doesn’t exist. However based on the adverse event reports received by FDA, the agency is saying there is not evidence to say grain free pet foods is the cause.
Concerned
December 30, 2022 at 6:12 pm
Please do more research regarding DCM.
Watch the following links (at least the first one) for additional insight/knowledge of Canine Nutrition regarding GF/DCM.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3NcNKr7Hs0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TVD50uqG_M
Jennifer L Smith
December 31, 2022 at 4:16 pm
Excellent. It doesn’t mean it’s safe it means there’s not enough data.
Melissa
December 30, 2022 at 1:44 pm
It never made any sense to begin with. Anyone who thought Orijen was going to give a dog a taurine deficiency does not know how to read an ingredient label
Amy
December 30, 2022 at 3:04 pm
Three years of drama and misinformation. And how many vets won’t know about this so will continue to push grain filled kibble?
M
December 30, 2022 at 11:12 pm
I thought the consensus wasn’t the grain-free food itself, but the additional legumes that were added to the grain-free food contributed to DCM.
T Allen
January 1, 2023 at 6:19 am
YES!
A Natural Independent Pet Retail Manager
April 22, 2023 at 5:44 pm
From a food science perspective, kibble needs some sort of starchy binder for it to hold its shape (this is the purpose of eggs and breadcrumbs in meatballs). For grain-inclusive foods, it’s the grains, and for grain-free foods, it’s often (but not necessarily always) legumes. Grain-free diets have been around for several years and were originally made for dogs with allergies to common grains as well as for dogs that may need foods with a lower glycemic index (i.e. diabetes). When grain-free diets rose to prominence, some companies (cough big box cough) just jumped on the bandwagon more to get in on the trend, not really to actually make better diets; however, in order to keep production costs down, they used EXCESS legumes to not have to use as much meat to make up the protein content. There’s still no concrete proof of any link, tho. The delivery of the FDA updates were DEFINITELY ultra butchered tho.
Janet Johnson
December 30, 2022 at 11:45 pm
I’ve never much trusted the FDA! They have taken bribes, for instance I heard in the case of approving stevia for a sweetener, they were given campaign funds by the makers of aspartame to keep stevia from being approved. Stevia is much safer than aspartame. Perhaps that’s not true, but still they approve things that are clearly unhealthy and toxic. I belong to a canine DCM group on Facebook and there seems a lot of evidence there that grain free food can cause DCM.
Concerned
January 1, 2023 at 1:58 am
What DCM group?
also –
Please do more research regarding DCM.
Watch the following links (at least the first one) for additional insight/knowledge of Canine Nutrition regarding GF/DCM.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3NcNKr7Hs0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TVD50uqG_M
Judy Sherwood
December 31, 2022 at 8:00 pm
When I got a new pup I wanted to start her with real food that I would make myself. When I started to research what I would need to add to the food (minerals, vitamins & whatever else our babies needed to be healthy) I found nothing but a wall. Nothing on the internet, no vets knew what they needed. What do they teach vets? Nothing. It is scary.
Cathy Murphy
January 6, 2023 at 4:29 pm
Take a look at Azestfor.com They sell a vitamin/mineral mix that has absolutely everything that you will need to create a homemade diet. The website and customer service are fantastic. Lots of easy recipes, including feeding and storage directions. I own a natural pet food store and have been selling it for nearly 10 yrs. My clients rave about it. You can do it!! 🙂
Vixen Cole
January 1, 2023 at 12:37 pm
After our family lost 3 unrelated dogs to heart failure (2 chihuahuas and a chiweenie), all of which were on grain free diets, I just can’t help but feel like there’s some correlation. Their heart issues all started around their 8th year of life and none lived past 12.
Concerned
January 2, 2023 at 9:48 am
Sorry to hear about your loss. What GF food were you feeding? Just be aware there are very few OK kibble manufacturers. Please watch the following links. The first one is very long over 1.5 hours but will help.
Watch the following links (at least the first one) for additional insight/knowledge of Canine Nutrition regarding GF/DCM.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3NcNKr7Hs0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TVD50uqG_M
Darci
January 14, 2023 at 6:01 pm
Same here, our 2 unrelated dogs were just diagnosed weeks apart. We had one as a pup and rescued our other one as an adult and aren’t sure of her age. Vet thinks possibly about 7, our other one was 8. Our 8 years old had to be put to sleep a month after diagnosis. Our other one is now on heart meds, special heart food and diuretics as needed. We only started feeding grain free after our 8 year old developed horrible allergies and no other food seemed to work except Taste of the Wild. Our old vet didn’t catch the DCM nor did she say anything about the food we put them on. We got a second opinion when the 8 year olds cough wouldn’t stop and they didn’t even do an X-ray of her chest. My new vet diagnosed the DCM, at that time it was just the one dog as my other had not exhibited any symptoms. After the second one started with one cough we had her checked and sure enough she has DCM as well. We’ve had her for 4 years, this isn’t a coincidence. I will never feed my animals a grain free food again.
Darci
January 14, 2023 at 6:03 pm
*started feeding this food about 5 years ago.
TH
January 15, 2023 at 9:35 am
I remain skeptical! I fed a raw diet for years, then switched to grain free Fromm dry/canned and rotated the flavors. within 2 years, I lost 3 unrelated young dogs to DCM and another was on his way with a very loud murmur. This was even before the FDA initially made the announcement. The 4th I figured if I couldn’t keep my dogs healthy on an expensive fancy food, I was putting him on proplan and save myself some money! In a years time his murmur completely fixed itself! I see *some* sort of connection. Apparently unexplainable.
Mine are all back on raw and thriving.
Clock24
April 6, 2023 at 8:09 am
Respectfully, given my background in research, the sentence, “In other words, the FDA does not believe grain-free pet foods are/were the cause of DCM in dogs” is very misleading. This is not what the FDA implies in its statement.
They are stating that they’re limited right now to individual reports by owners and are waiting for actual research. That would include research into everything from the underlying potential mechanisms to the possibility of prospective studies that feed groups of dogs one food or another and compare what happens.
It would be irresponsible, given the data they have, to claim there is or is not any link. However, people reading the sentence above or the title may come away with a false impression that there has been a conclusive decision that there’s no link. There’s nothing conclusive – they just don’t know yet.