05/01/19, Wednesday

Hey all,

I took Fergus to the vet yesterday as he's been making these gagging throat clearing sounds a few times a day. I thought maybe he had a respiratory infection maybe? The vet listened to his heart an asked if we had talked about his heart murmur. I said I didn't know he had one. He looked through his chart and indeed it is new. They did an xray and found he has a very enlarged heart, so heart disease, which leads to the gagging sound as the heart pushes on the trachea. He also was very concerned to see a lot of spots on his lungs. He sent it to a radiologist to read and they were not convinced it was cancer and suggested it could be bronchitis. So we have antibiotics, but he's most concerned about the heart. He will see a cardiologist tomorrow for an ekg and to get more information and a treatment plan. I know he's 11 and a half, so nothing extreme is appropriate, but if they can make him comfortable and stabilize his heart function with medication then we'll do that. Pets are wonderful, but the late in life stage is pretty painful. I love him so much! He's my baby. I worry that I brought this on by feeding him grain free food as the FDA is now warning there is a connection, but they aren't exactly sure what it is (taurine, legumes?). The vet suggested I switch his food. I got a non-grain free version of what he currently eats, but it wasn't easy. So much of what is available right now is all grain free and the way they market it, it makes you feel like you're choosing lesser foods by not going for "wilderness", "wellness", "natural" food that "wolves" would eat. I fell for it. What wolves eat peas?

Liz, I'm so sorry to hear about your SIL. Your family has more than your fair share of pain to bear.

Off to the trainer, Pilates later, need to be much better about what I eat today.

Give Fergus a hug for me !

The grain free foods lack taurine which is necessary for heart health. In addition to being in grains taurine is found in beef and other "red" meats. Beef heart is a great food for taurine.

Here's a helpful hint from he who studies dry dog food and has to feed a PACK: Costco Chicken and Rice is a well balanced and easily tolerated food. Stool is a little softer and there is a bit more volume at the initial switch over, but as the gut acclimates, it returns to a lesser volume.

There are so many foods on the market. Many of the higher cost foods are really no different from the lower cost foods. They simply have more glamorous labels. Good example is that Costco's Nature's Domain and Taste of the Wild are identical foods made by the same manufacturer. One costs $29 for a 35 pound sack. The other costs $55 per 35 pound sack. Buyer beware. The only food I would really stay away from that is major brand and widely available is Purina. Purina uses unspecified animal fat in their foods. Unless the the animal of the fat is specified it can be fat extracted from vermin, mixed rendered fats of various animals, or rendered fat from road kill. (I'm not kidding about the road kill!) If your dog has allergies, to chicken - no worries. Chicken allergies are related directly protein, not fats.

PS - Hugs to you and Fergus. Be happy! Fergus has no clue that there is anything wrong other than he gets tired a bit more easily and every so often he coughs. BTW - Jackson had a heart murmur that was found fairly early on. He was 8. He was 11 when we put him on heart meds. His heart was still going strong with the meds when he died of splenic cancer just after he turned 13. All this to say, enlarged hearts and heart murmurs are far less scary than they sound.

Thank you, Devon! That's very reassuring. He seems happy and plays with his toys, eats with gusto, like his walks, so I know it's not "time", but it still makes me sad for him and mad at myself for buying into the hype. My vet said the FDA warning really focused on exotic replacements like rabbit, kangaroo, etc. Ferg's was chicken. And in looking at the label they add taurine, but I'm not sure if that is a recent addition in response to the concerns? I emailed them to ask how long they've been adding it out of curiosity. I'll see if I can find beef heart treats. Sounds like something he'd like!

Feed the heart either raw or lightly desired in butter.

Both my last two dogs had heart murmurs in their last years and coughed sometimes but both lived to fairly old ages by dog standards (15 for beagle - 17 for chihuahua). Just keep giving Ferg lots of love!

Okay, how did auto correct turn sautéed into desired? .... sautéed in butter....

PS - Blue Buffalo answered and said they have always added taurine to the food Ferg has eaten many for years. One thing I read said one possibility is the excessive legumes might interfere with the absorption of taurine? I think about how many dogs eat these foods and hope all their vets are advising them...

I stopped feeding my dogs anything with peas or pea protein in the first 10 ingredients several years ago. Peas are a phytoestrogen and wreak havoc on both male and female hormone levels - specifically fertility rates. Pregnancy rates, sperm counts, litter size are all lower in dogs who eat diets heavy in phytoestrogens. Those phytoestrogens are not limited to peas. Chickpeas (garbanzo beans), flaxseed, black beans, soy, soy protein, soy isolate, legume protein isolates, just to name a few can all be found in grain free foods. The food companies make these products seem healthy and sexy. Problem is they just aren't!