AAFCO Nutrient Profiles – the profiles every US pet food is required to meet (with the claim of Complete and Balanced) – were developed only for the calorie needs of active pets.
As example, per the manufacturer recommended feeding amount, a thirty pound dog would need to consume 3 cups of dog food a day to provide a Complete and Balanced diet.
But what if…
…an inactive thirty pound dog was only eating 2/3 of the amount of pet food required to be complete and balanced…could eating less food result in nutrient deficiencies?
According to multiple research papers, nutrient deficiencies ARE linked to calorie restriction (a dog consuming less food).
“Risk of nutritional deficiencies for dogs on a weight loss plan”
“Several nutrients were found at risk of deficiency, including choline, methionine, cysteine, selenium, eicosapentanoic acid, docosahexanoic acid, riboflavin, pantothenic acid and cobalamin in both non-therapeutic adult maintenance diets and non-therapeutic weight management diets.”
“Intake of energy, protein, amino acids and minerals by dogs under energy restriction for body weight loss when fed with commercial weight loss diets”
“Considering the observed ME intake of each dog, depending on the commercial product, intake below recommended for maintenance was verified for crude protein in 1%–20% of the dogs, methionine in 4%–38% of dogs, methionine plus cystine in 4%–22% of dogs, tryptophan in 7%–93% of dogs, potassium in 2%–85% of dogs and magnesium in 1% up to 95% of dogs. Although the diets presented elevated nutrient concentrations per MJ, due to the reduced energy allowance, the estimated intake of several nutrients was lower than the recommendations, highlighting the importance of changing the formulation perspective, which must prioritize the actual nutrient intake per kg of BW during the energy deficit.”
And…
“Deficiencies of a variety of nutrients, such as thiamine, magnesium, choline, vitamin E and selenium, have been associated with DCM in humans or animal models. Deficiencies of two amino acid or amino acid-related compounds also can cause a nutritional DCM.”
We know that the FDA analyzed the pet foods that were reported to be fed to DCM diagnosed dogs, all pet food tested within AAFCO Nutrient Profile requirements.
But we don’t know how much of that complete and balanced food each diagnosed dog consumed. The FDA adverse event reports – consumer reports to FDA of pet illness/diagnosis – did NOT ask pet owners how much food was fed daily (at least the FOIA acquired reports we received from FDA did not disclose the amount of pet food each dog was consuming).
Does this potential DCM link to pet food deserve an investigation?
We believe it does. And it won’t be easy to urge the FDA to examine this possibility. FDA has ignored our (Dr. Karen Becker, pet food formulator Steve Brown, and myself) multiple attempts to correct AAFCO’s Nutrient Profiles. We proved to the Agency nutrient deficiencies and excesses are a real concern depending on how much food a dog or cat consumes.
But regardless to FDA’s lack of concern to this issue, we sent the following message to the Agency:
Many parties, including the FDA, have investigated a potential cause of the increase of reports of DCM in dogs. However, one potential cause has never been investigated to our knowledge. This message is being sent to request the FDA to investigate a potential link of restricted calorie intake to nutrient deficiencies to DCM linked to AAFCO’s Nutrient Profiles for active dogs. We are directly asking the FDA to investigate if any of the DCM diagnosed dogs were consuming less food than the manufacturer recommended feeding amount.
The paper “Risk of nutritional deficiencies for dogs on a weight loss plan” (2018) stated “Restriction of commercial diets to achieve weight loss in dogs may result in nutrient deficiencies.” Potentially linked to DCM, this research found methionine and cysteine “were at risk of deficiency”.
The paper “Intake of energy, protein, amino acids and minerals by dogs under energy restriction for body weight loss when fed with commercial weight loss diets” (2022) also found deficiencies of nutrients with dogs fed less calories of commercial diets. Findings in this study documented “intake below recommended for maintenance was verified for crude protein, methionine, methionine plus cystine, tryptophan, potassium and magnesium.”
As FDA is aware, Complete and Balanced pet foods in the US are required to meet AAFCO Nutrient Profiles (or complete a feeding trial). And as FDA is aware, the AAFCO Nutrient Profiles are ‘complete and balanced’ based on the caloric needs of active dogs; “Dogs kept in a domestic environment with strong stimulus and ample opportunity to exercise, such as dog households in the country or in a house with a large yard.”
We are concerned IF any of the pets diagnosed with DCM were consuming fewer calories than AAFCO’s Nutrient Profiles allow for a complete and balanced diet potentially resulting in nutrient deficiencies which in turn potentially resulted in their DCM diagnosis. Much to our surprise, the FDA adverse event reports do not disclose the amount of food each DCM diagnosed dog consumed daily.
We are requesting the FDA to fully investigate the potential link of nutrient deficiencies caused by a dog/cat consuming less food (less calories) than AAFCO Nutrient Profiles (for active dogs) require for a complete and balanced diet to DCM in dogs. Many other potential causes have been investigated, the very serious risk of nutrient deficiencies and their link to AAFCO Nutrient Profiles deserve a full investigation as well.
Please provide us with a response if FDA/CVM is going to investigate this issue or ignore this issue.
If your dog was diagnosed with DCM and you fed less pet food than the manufacturer recommended amount (because your dog would become obese if you did) – please report this to the FDA. Email: AskCVM@fda.hhs.gov. If you filed an Adverse Event report with FDA regarding your dog’s DCM diagnosis, please include the report number you were assigned (or date you reported) in your email.
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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Casey Post
June 14, 2023 at 2:01 pm
Now THAT is an interesting thought. And not just DCM, but other ailments, perhaps.
Nancy Westrell
June 14, 2023 at 2:11 pm
I’ve always questioned the recommended amounts – feed that much and you’ve got a fat dog. Maybe some companies inflate the recommended amount so that they can actually meet the complete and balanced criteria. I always assumed their goal was to sell more food. Active or couch potato or senior dog, the amounts they recommend make fat dogs.
DONNA F DEBONIS
June 14, 2023 at 2:19 pm
Excellent point,Susan. Thanks for posting a thoughtful commentary on this issue.
Margarat
June 14, 2023 at 4:21 pm
This was noted for some golden retrievers in the UC Davis spreadsheet when owners were being encouraged to input their pet’s information – they were eating less than the recommended amount of food. It looks like there was follow-up done specific to the goldens and it was noted there too, though it was a bit buried. The headline, as usual, doesn’t get into those aspects.
Concerned
June 14, 2023 at 4:55 pm
This has been known since 2006 and AAFCO did nothing.
Low Plasma Taurine Concentration in Newfoundland Dogs is Associated with Low Plasma Methionine and Cyst(e)ine Concentrations and Low Taurine Synthesis
Conclusions and clinical relevance: Results indicate a high prevalence of taurine deficiency among an environmentally and genetically related cohort of Newfoundlands fed apparently complete and balanced diets. Blood taurine concentrations indicative of taurine deficiency in Newfoundlands may be substantially less than concentrations indicative of a deficiency in cats.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/14584742/
Kimberly
August 13, 2023 at 4:30 pm
I work at a pet store that sells a lot of the well known premium brands. I remember reading at the time of the FDA notification– I believe– a write up about the UC Davis information that Margaret mentioned about a number of dogs in the initial Golden Retriever cohort being “easy keepers”. AKA they do not have a drive to eat enough food to meet nutritional requirements.
As someone exposed regularly to pet industry propaganda as well as the belief systems of pet families about food, there was a weird push before the time of the press releases about DCM to keep dogs VERY thin. I remember seeing a startling diagram from a freeze dried food manufacturer for customer education recommending you keep your dog at around an equivalent to the 3/9 on standard body composition charts. It was a point of pride for many of the higher-meat-content kibble companies to claim that your dog needs considerably less food on their particular diets. I noticed that a lot of our more affluent customers had dogs that I would have considered “pinched” had I say picked them up off the street or received them in the shelter– not in need of refeeding, say, but I would have recommended a 5% – 10% weight gain. It was my impression most of these dogs were “house dogs” and not active sporting or working dogs– that they were simultaneously mostly sedentary and not eating enough.
Part of my job is to update our online store, which lists ingredients and feeding recommendations for each food as part of product descriptions. I noticed within a year or so of the 2018 announcement that many of the grain free brands not only updated their formulations (adding more taurine explicitly and moving legume ingredients down their recipe lists) but noticed that feeding amounts per weight had often bumped up.
I have long personally suspected that to the extent there may be validity to this finding (in specific breeds for sure) that it may be due to improper recommended feeding amounts and the tendency for owners who seek out these foods as status markers to keep their dogs remarkably thin while also inactive.