FDA Finds No Link Between DCM and Grain-Free Pet Diets

As a leader in pet nutrition, Healthy Spot will always provide the latest updates along with our thoughts on important topics to help you make the healthiest lifestyle choices for your pet.

With everything going on in the world, it may have been easy to miss the good news surrounding the benefits of raw diets for pets. In case you missed it, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued an update on the investigation of whether grain-free pet diets and dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) shared a link. The verdict? The two are not connected.

Dr. Solomon, Director of the FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine, stated that the FDA has not branded any specific pet food products unsafe or definitively linked to DCM.

Dr. Steven Solomon also explained that “Emerging science appears to indicate that non-hereditary DCM is a complex medical condition that may be affected by the interplay of multiple factors such as genetics, underlying medical conditions, and diet.”

For your own pet education, we urge you to read this brief update which you can find here.

We hope that pet parents feeding grain-free, raw diets are resting a little easier with this new information. If you have any questions about your pet’s current diet or the options we carry, we’re here to help! Speak to a nutrition expert at your local Spot or reach out to help@healthyspot.com, and we’d be happy to lend some guidance!

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Originally published July 2, 2020

It has been hypothesized by the FDA that grain-free pet diets may lead to dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) in dogs, but new research is suggesting otherwise. DCM is the second most common form of heart disease, where the pet’s heart fails to pump effectively. According to the authors of an article published in the Journal of Animal Science on June 15, 2020, there is no definitive link between DCM and grain-free, legume-rich pet food diets. 

The research was completed by BSM partners, a pet care research and consulting company. According to an article published in Pet Product News, “The research group included veterinarians, veterinary cardiologists and animal nutritionists...who analyzed more than 150 studies for the peer-reviewed article.”

Within the research, they found that DCM is primarily an inherited disease and has no connection to a dog’s diet. Further studies may be conducted in the future to learn more about the connection between DCM and dogs.

This is good news for those dedicated to feeding their pets grain-free diets, such as frozen raw or grain-free kibbles. Feeding your cat or dog raw, which is grain-free, can have many positive effects on your pets health such as weight control, improved digestion, increased energy, softer coat and healthier skin. While Healthy Spot offers foods that are both grain-free and contain wholesome grain, we believe that the quality of the ingredients is the most important element in determining if a food is healthy for your pet. We encourage you to speak with a team member the next time you are in one of our stores to discuss what food might work best for your cat or dog. You can also browse our selection of foods that we sell online here.