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Dcm

2K views 13 replies 5 participants last post by  Lindar51 
#1 ·
I dunno if you guys heard of this issue? The food thing is getting annoying. I’m thinking about going to royal canin, has anyone feed their boxers this for their whole life? Or what
 
#2 ·
Oh interesting, of the top of my head ... I had no idea what "DCM" was but it turns out I do! It's related to "cardio" issues and comes back to if some dogs can't reproduce "Taurine " on there own??

In the old days it was not that big an issue?? Although it may have been with Boxers?? But these days everyone/most. Are on the "Grain Free" band wagon and with the incident of DCM, in other breeds DCM, seems to be on the rise???

Lindar51, on here was the first to make mention of it. And my first reply was ... well that's just silly, Cat Food has "Taurine" dog food does not need it, cuz because dogs can synthesize, Taurine on there own??

Well that is kind of right least ways, it was but, the popularity of "Grain Free Kibble" (mostly for allergies) has kinda messed that up???

But first, just so you know owners that feed a "proper" raw diet ... don't seem to have a lot of more common issues that "kibble feeders" struggle with??

So there is that. But moving on, for the most part "Royal Canine" is over priced prescription required crap!! Now that said ... if you have a pet, that has special dietary needs?? Then yeah they seem to have figured that out??

I had a cat that had UTI issues?? And the only "Kibble" that he could eat with out issues was Royal Canine S/O?? Every now and then because of the "hassle factory" I would try another brand of UTI, kibble?? And sure enough ... back to the Vet we go, for a full bladder! issue I gave up after a couple more attempts so he eat R/C S/O for some 20 years.

But back to dogs ... if you can find the list of ingredients for R/C ... DCM food?? I did not know they made that?? But if you can see the ingredients list. I'm pretty sure you'll find "Taurine" on the list of ingredients?? If it's there ... you don't need it! Just add a can of Sardines packed in water once a week and he'll get all the "Taurine he needs!"

I think I found that out here.

https://healthypets.mercola.com/sit...ween-dog-food-taurine-deficiency-and-dcm.aspx

Hope this helps???
 
#3 ·
Actually RC is a decent food and so is Purina Pro..Seems the big companies have gotten on board and have improved most of their foods. RC is just so over priced, otherwise I would use it. However some still have corn wheat which I prefer to avoid. I've been reading quite a lot about the dcm issue and its relation to grain free. Not all grain free is bad, the final report is not out yet but it leans toward dogs getting their protein from legumes, beans, peas, basically plant based. Dogs need to get their protein from meats & fish, poultry. So if you are feeding grain free you should check that 50% or more of the protein comes from animal not plant. I feed the Victor all life grain free but its protein does not come from plants.
 
#4 ·
I take your point and yeah it's the corn filler that ticked me off. That and the hassle factor
(prescription required) that ticked me off!!

So in addition of the hassle factor involved in finding it locally when we move they added another $50 bucks on top of the $35 for a 12 pound bag of cat food! As if anyone would buy that stuff if they had a choice, but I digress.

So the protein, in grain free, needs to be sourced from meat?? Victory's is a good food but it can be hard find locally?? In any case the Op needs to know about :
https://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/

In case they don't?? :)
 
#5 ·
Chip we a;ways got Victor at the local feed store but now Chewy.com has it so I just order it with everything else. The Frisco 30 lbs non scented cat litter is good too. We used tidy cat and its comparable in fact I find it tracks less, if t all. (not the lightweight though) so poor delivery guy.
 
#6 ·
LOL yeah Chewy does have it. But by God I've always bought dog in person and I see no need to change now?? Time and place kinda thing I suppose?? :)

Oh well now I gotta work on the Prius, both freaking headlights went out??? They were just changed less than a year by the shop!! I spent two hours trying to get one both out!!

I kinda like the weird little car but it a pain to work on and the changing bulbs is ridiculously bad!!???

Did you get my PM?? I sent it out the same day you replied?? Oh and in the OP still here???
 
#7 ·
Chip, I replied back today, its now working fine. I think I messed up my computer but IZ have that fixed now too. Yeah I always bought food in person too but I a really like Chewy, no traffic dlvd to my door. Quite convenient. LOL Especially with heavy cat litter. Now I need a cart to bring it in from the front door. How ever did I do that before? just from the store. My neighbor just sold his prius over 200,000 and he never changed anything on it, not brakes, nothing. LOL There are some really good u-tube videos. My daughter learned to change bulb other honda in like 3 minutes after the 1st one. Apparently there are some places that are telling you that you basically have to pull the bumper but in reality you do not and it should take about 5 minutes to change, Keep looking for the right video lol.
 
#12 ·
Yeah I see lot's of clips on how it's that bad?? Gen 2, 2004 to 2009 .. have to be the worst!! Ever to change light bulbs in???

You can get your hands on them .... barely! But they have a retaining clip, with a small screw, that you have to undue. And I am a big time car guy and as such lot's of tools! And I had "nothing" that would allow me to get to that screw!!!! Ticked me off! Getting to it is some kinda "trade secret??" And it's not mentioned on any You Tube clip I've seen???

The Hybrid Battery is the biggie however. And on a used one "if" the Hybrid Battery has not been replaced?? It's about $2000 expensive for a Dealer installed replacement! The OEM Battery pack is good for 10 years or 100,000 miles. Ours went out at about 145000?? And the original owner had it replaced when got it at 150,000 miles! So that was a win! :)

It's a weird little car. But I kinda like it! Now that said ... I am trapped in NV with it. The High Sierra's are between me and San Jose Ca, where my friends are. And the Prius ... is not to interested in many that climb!!

Now if you aren't to interested in breaking the speed limit and barely maintaining it ... is good enough?? And you know, your not in a hurry ... at all! Then it "could do it?? I suppose??

It would be slow and suck gas like a pig climbing! But hey "downhill" ...it's 99.5 miles per gallon all the way downhill! It's a weird little car but I kinda like it ... you just gotta know it's limitations. My 951 (Porsche 944 Turbo S ... modded) doesn't give a crap about hills or speed limits! That thing is a monster ... when it runs. LOL ... car stuff. :)

But back on point ... "Kudo's" to you! You were ahead of the curve with the ". Taurine " stuff!! It struck me as odd, cuz that "is" cat stuff! But it seems, it can be a problem these, with (some) grain free kibble??

Seems to be that one could also, just say screw it and add a cup or of well "Cat Food" to dog kibble a couple times a week and call it a day?? But I've not seen anyone recommend that ... so yeah.
 
#8 ·
I would just try to pick a good dog food and if you are worried you can always add sardines, make sure the only ingredient is water, I have seen them labeled "in water" but have salt and soy added, can also add eggs.

I do both, I add sardines and soft boiled eggs a couple times a week. Just adjust the kibble accordingly to balance out the extra food.
 
#10 ·
I'm no expert on foods and from what I've seen some of the grain free will have a lot of peas making them their major source of protein. I think you origin is a good food. If your concerned you can always add some sardines . I think just being somewhere in the middle and being sure our pups get a balanced meat based food we should be ok. Going too far either way probably isn't good. ?
 
#11 ·
Oh wow! Im catching up after being off for quite some time! The food struggles are REAL!!! Ive finally found something that works for Snow. Nutro salmon, sweet potato & brown rice. But now i feel like i should go back & read the ingredients!!

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk
 
#13 ·
Chip..My other neighbor is a porsche man...big time mechanic for them. Accompanies them to some of the racers to "tune" engines & stuff. Nice cars. I think with the dog food everything seems to be around peas/legumes being used as the main protein source. Dogs are carnivores not vegetarians as they are leaning heavily on this being a cause of the dcm. I'm actually learning too that a lot of the foods we were being told are garbage, well it isn't necessarily so..They all have nutritionists on staff who are investigating the claims and are making the best food for our dogs, RC for instance and Purina...Pro...alot of breeders have gone back to Purina. My cairn has developed some digestion issues and about 3 months ago I switched her to Purina sensitive..she is doing great on it. My friends with the doodles are also using Purina pro and their dogs are thriving . So now I'm going with my gut what works for theirs is what I buy no more necessarily high priced "in" foods. And that tractor supply 4health also is a good food. They are out there we just have to find the ones that are convenient to purchase and work well with whomever we are feeding.
 
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