Dog food warning : update from the FDA May 2020

The FDA conducted a study using Golden's ( Golden retrievers were used because they had the most reported cases of dilated cardiomyopathy caused by nontraditional diets ) There are all different breeds affected, including bulldogs.

In the study , dogs were placed into 2 groups. One group was eating a traditional diet ( kibble diet that included grains and did not have potatoes or legumes in the top 5 ingredients ) The second group was eating a nontraditional diet ( kibble or raw that is grain free and included potatoes or legumes )

All the dogs in both control groups were given regular blood work to check taurine levels. The dogs were also given echocardiograms to measure the left ventricular diameter, and to measure the hearts overall diameter.

Dogs fed the nontraditional diet had significantly lower blood taurine levels, and echocardiograms showed left ventricular diameter and fractional shortening were significantly abnormal in this group.

Conclusion
Nontraditional diets, which are typically grain free and contain legumes, were significantly associated with taurine deficiency and abnormal echocardiograms leading to nutritionally-mediated dilated cardiomyopathy.