![]() ![]() However, in the last few years I’ve seen more cases of nutritional deficiencies due to people feeding unconventional diets, such as unbalanced home-prepared diets, raw diets, vegetarian diets, and boutique commercial pet foods. In my 20 years as a veterinary nutritionist, I’ve seen vast improvements in our knowledge about pet nutrition, in the quality of commercial pet foods, and in our pets’ nutritional health (other than the unfortunate rise in obesity). If diet proves to be the cause, this truly is heart-breaking to me. It appears that diet may be increasing dogs’ risk for heart disease because owners have fallen victim to the many myths and misperceptions about pet food. ![]() However, a recent increase in heart disease in dogs eating certain types of diets may shed light on the role of diet in causing heart disease. Most nutritional recommendations focus on treating dogs and cats with heart disease and there is much less information on the role of diet in causing heart disease. Heart disease is common in our companion animals, affecting 10-15% of all dogs and cats, with even higher rates in Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, Doberman Pinschers, and Boxer dogs. ![]() And today, now 5 months later, Peanut’s heart is nearly normal! Peanut required several medications to treat his heart failure but the owner also changed his diet. The veterinary cardiologist seeing him asked what he was eating and found that his owner, in a desire to do the best thing for Peanut, was feeding a boutique, grainfree diet containing kangaroo and chickpeas. Peanut had been lethargic, not eating well, and occasionally coughing. A broken heart: Risk of heart disease in boutique or grainfree diets and exotic ingredientsĬlick here to view/download PDF version of this article.Įarlier this year, Peanut, a 4-year-old male Beagle/Lab mix was diagnosed with a lifethreatening heart disease at our hospital. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |