Grain-free dog food has become a pretty popular way for your dog to get their nutrients in. To be classified as “grain-free”, your dog food can’t contain corn, rice, wheat, or any other grains.
You may be thinking, “wait – my dog needs carbs.” and you’d be right. With grain-free dog food, they use alternative sources of carbs. So, instead of wheat, they use common ingredients like potatoes, sweet potatoes, pea flour, etc.
With any dog nutrition, it’s so important to work with your vet to determine what is best for your dog. That being said, there is a bit of a cause for concern when talking about grain-free foods. In the past few years, vets have noticed a lot of dogs developing DCM, which is short for dilated cardiomyopathy.
Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is a condition that makes the heart muscle enlarge and become weaker. Which, then in turn makes it so the heart can’t pump enough blood to the remainder of the body.
Around 90% of the dogs that developed DCM were fed a grain-free diet, and when taken off a grain-free diet, their condition either improved greatly or was completely healed. So, that’s a clear indicator that grain-free dog food is a cause for DCM, or at the very least, a problem for dogs prone to DCM.
At the end of the day, the go-to advice time and time again will always be to talk to a vet, and talk about your personal dog’s nutritional needs. So while grain-free dog food is generally a no, rest assured that a vet is an overwhelming YES!
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