Recent studies have found that grain free food has been linked to a very serious type of heart disease in dogs. Fortunately, this seems to happen rarely. Unfortunately, we do not know why there is this correlation. Is it that grain free food is missing something dogs need? Or is it caused by the unusual ingredients sometimes found in grain free food? For now, there are many theories, but nobody knows for sure.
Because of this we do NOT recommend feeding your dog grain free food unless it is medically necessary due to an allergy. For those dogs with food allergies we would like to point out that a limited ingredient diet does not have to be grain fee. If your dog has a food allergy, he or she is not necessarily allergic to the grain component of the food. Try to find a food he or she can tolerate with grain in it.
We also recommend finding a limited ingredient diet that does not contain ingredients such as chick peas, lentils or peas. If this is not possible, find a food with these ingredients as low on the list as possible. If you need a recommendation as to what to feed your dog, please contact our office for some options.
Thank you,
The Doctors of Northwest Corner Veterinary Hospital, LLC
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