I’m new to this great website/forum and I must admit I have only skimmed all the posts related to DCM as there are a lot of them. So rather than jump in and make a fool out of myself, I am going to give mine and my dog’s experience with this rather complex issue.
Pepper is my almost 14-year-old, female Miniature Schnauzer, who was diagnosed with DCM this summer on a trip to California on a Saturday night, of course. We took her to an ER Vet for a problem with back leg weakness. They took radiographs of her hips and found the cardiomegaly and hepatomegaly. A heart murmur was also found. She did not have one a year before. Nothing was learned about her back legs, but we suddenly had a sick dog on our hands who needs lifelong medication. No cause was given and other than meds no solution was either. Her back legs got better after we got her some booties when we realized she was slipping on the smooth floor of the rental house.
About 2 weeks later I read about the low grain diet controversy on an animal wellness website. Yes, Pepper was on a low grain diet. The article made the point that the problem wasn’t the low grain, but what it was replaced with, such as legumes(peas, beans, chickpeas) and nightshade plants (potatoes). It might have sounded like just another diet controversy, but I knew all about this from my own health issues. I had developed a heart issue and had been following Dr Steven Gundry’s Anti-Lectin diet. Lectins are plant proteins that protect the plant progeny from predators. Some of the more famous ones are gluten(grains)and ricin(castor beans). Legumes and nightshades have high levels of lectins. These lectins cause the body to attack its own tissues and organs. I had never seen anything about this in dogs, but it explained the etiology of Pepper’s problems. I got her off the low grain food and on to a 99% animal protein sourced one. It was really had to find and I have yet to find a dry dog food for her. She has stopped panting, has more energy, plays with the cat and loves her walks again. I also started to give her a taurine supplement and a vitamin supplement for dogs, which is designed to replace nutrients cooked out of dog food. I hope this sheds some light on this issue and urge you to investigate dietary lectins.
