Taste of the Wild linked to heart disease & Alphatrak issues

[MaggieLemons]

Hi Friends,

So our vet just shared this information with us today regarding dog food brands named in an FDA report that are thought to be linked to heart disease (link below). The common factor appears to be grain-free and/or excess peas/lentils/potatoes.

Does anyone have a dog with a chicken allergy that has found a dry dog food brand that is not grain-free? We currently feed our sugar pup Taste of the Wild Pacific Stream, which was named in this report. She cannot tolerate chicken/turkey.

https://www.fda.gov/animal-veterinar...cardiomyopathy

Also, totally different subject, has anyone had a problem with their Alphatrak II reporting BG levels too low? We have confirmed that our sample-taking and reading process is correct. We have tested with control solution and it read within the normal range. We also tested at a different time to gauge possible blood sugar drop. Essentially, we know that our girl is in the 400-500's, but the glucometer is reading in the 100's.

Thanks,
Maggie's Mom

[jesse girl]

Re: Taste of the Wild linked to heart disease & Alphatrak issues

Well I have fed my jesse a homemade diet for her 9 years being diabetic

My thought on food if you have good regulation I might continue what your are feeding because regulation is so difficult

The other factor if you have a dog that has allergy problems and have found a food that does not promote a reaction I might keep that food even if it maybe a problem .

For our diabetic and additionally challenged dogs its all about balancing out the pros and cons and sometimes that picking the lesser of 2 evils

I have only used human meters on jesse so I cant directly comment on your meter but I know if we do not get enough blood on some meters we have used they dont error but give a false low

Have you checked out your meter with the vet and compare ? Do they use the same one ?

[Raysaint]

Re: Taste of the Wild linked to heart disease & Alphatrak issues

I've had experience with market research in my job, and the process. My understanding of this whole FDA thing, the lack of grain in a food is not the problem. They decided to hypothesize that diet may be the cause of DCM. So when they start to log food brands that a dog with DCM is eating, the brands just happen to be grain free, because so many are these days.

And similarly, many brands use peas, lentils, etc. I bet if you read labels of foods not on their list, you'd see many of the same ingredients.

In the early stages of research, you list similarities of the products you theorize may be the cause. Doesn't mean those similar things are the cause. It's a starting point for their study. Lots more study needs to be done to prove something.

The way they write this early report leaves people to interpret it negatively. They should be more concise and tell people not to draw conclusions at this point. Not good reporting in my opinion.

[Jamongi2018]

Re: Taste of the Wild linked to heart disease & Alphatrak issues

Hi Maggie Mom’s!
I am getting soo frustrated with the Alpha Trak2. I have bought two. It seems after 6 months. They just start giving me whacked out readings. I’m about to pull my hair out. I make sure I do the control and it comes out good. Sometimes I get readings that are 100 difference. I don’t know if I’m comfortable using a human meter. So I don’t know what to do either. I look at the reviews on other pet meters and they get a bad rap.

[Raysaint]

Re: Taste of the Wild linked to heart disease & Alphatrak issues

Make sure the meter gets a good blood drop. I've done tests that seemed too low or high, and I suspected didn't have enough blood, even tho it beeped and gave a reading. I tested again with more blood and got a different reading, one I believed.

They say it only requires a speck of blood, but I'm not convinced.

[LizE]

Re: Taste of the Wild linked to heart disease & Alphatrak issues

Hi Friends,

Does anyone have a dog with a chicken allergy that has found a dry dog food brand that is not grain-free? We currently feed our sugar pup Taste of the Wild Pacific Stream, which was named in this report. She cannot tolerate chicken/turkey.

https://www.fda.gov/animal-veterinar...cardiomyopathy

Thanks,
Maggie's Mom

My vet is also taking a conservative approach and encouraging clients to avoid grain free food until more is known on the subject. I am trying American Natural Premium Puppy food for my new dog. They have a fairly large selection of adult foods including some without chicken. I don't know how it will hold up in the long run but right now my puppy likes it, it is reasonably priced and I can buy it locally so I'm pretty happy with it.

https://americannaturalpremium.com/dog-food/

[Lchow022]

Re: Taste of the Wild linked to heart disease & Alphatrak issues

Mochi has been on the rayne clinical kangaroo grain free low fat diet for over a year now and I've been searching for a different low fat food that has no corn starch, corn, barley, soy, tomato, duck and turkey..Mochi is super allergic to all those ingredients and I have yet to find something that doesn't contain a single one of these ingredients.

Even though my vet said the rayne clinical is safer since it is a veterinarian diet i still want to get him off of that food. If you guys know any food without those ingredients and it is low fat please let me know!
I might be left with needing to do home made meals but my vet is against it since a lot of nutrients get left out.

[Raysaint]

Re: Taste of the Wild linked to heart disease & Alphatrak issues

I think there's lots of foods without those ingredients. It's a matter of what you consider low fat.

[jesse girl]

Re: Taste of the Wild linked to heart disease & Alphatrak issues

Mochi has been on the rayne clinical kangaroo grain free low fat diet for over a year now and I've been searching for a different low fat food that has no corn starch, corn, barley, soy, tomato, duck and turkey..Mochi is super allergic to all those ingredients and I have yet to find something that doesn't contain a single one of these ingredients.

Even though my vet said the rayne clinical is safer since it is a veterinarian diet i still want to get him off of that food. If you guys know any food without those ingredients and it is low fat please let me know!
I might be left with needing to do home made meals but my vet is against it since a lot of nutrients get left out.

I here this about homemade food for dogs but I dont get it . Humans dont go out and get some specially formulated processed food for balance like dogs . Jesse is at 15 years of life and over 9.5 years diabetic with a homemade diet for that time . Its funny we complain about processed foods for humans about being unhealthy but processed dog food for dogs is the best

[Lchow022]

Re: Taste of the Wild linked to heart disease & Alphatrak issues

My vet somehow says the same thing about how so many dogs have issues when put on raw and home made diets and noticed that a lot more dogs that are just on kibbles have better blood work results.

I've been searching and calling a bunch of stores asking if they have anything and they said no.. the closest thing I can find is the royal canin low fat gastrointestinal but it has barley in it..i tried switching it and in a matter of 2 weeks mochi started chewing on his paws.. I was told mochi needs something very low in fat because his triglycerides were very high.

Do you know if kibbles are higher in fat or canned food?

[Raysaint]

Re: Taste of the Wild linked to heart disease & Alphatrak issues

It depends on the ingredients. Use a dry matter conversion to compare foods.

There are natural derived vitamin/mineral supplements you could give with a homemade diet. That way you could use fewer food ingredients in the homemade if you're concerned about allergies.

Peter Dobias is a vet with a holistic approach to food and health. Check his site for some ideas.

[Judi]

Re: Taste of the Wild linked to heart disease & Alphatrak issues

Mochi has been on the rayne clinical kangaroo grain free low fat diet for over a year now and I've been searching for a different low fat food that has no corn starch, corn, barley, soy, tomato, duck and turkey..Mochi is super allergic to all those ingredients and I have yet to find something that doesn't contain a single one of these ingredients.

Even though my vet said the rayne clinical is safer since it is a veterinarian diet i still want to get him off of that food. If you guys know any food without those ingredients and it is low fat please let me know!
I might be left with needing to do home made meals but my vet is against it since a lot of nutrients get left out.

I originally searched and searched for a "better" food when my Jenny was first diagnosed and my vet asked why I was searching so hard when what he was recommending worked. I took a step back and eventually fed her the diabetic dog food for as long as she'd eat it. it worked

[Lchow022]

Re: Taste of the Wild linked to heart disease & Alphatrak issues

Hi Judi!

I just keep hearing that grain free food is causing heart disease and it's not good to keep them on it for long term..I'm just really worried because of that.

I want to start making home made meals for mochi but I have no idea what to make for him because majority of the home made dog food consists if barley. Hes been having a lot of hiccups with his blood sugar lately and I'm not sure why..but I think something needs to change with his diet too.