[hamish]

@crazy4cats

But the big 3 have grain free SKUs with the exact same ingredients everyone is worried about in them. Purina has no less than 14 SKUs loaded with legumes and potatoes in place of grains. Even some of their prescription vet formulated kibble does and they’re still being sold. This is before you branch out to the other brands they own outside of the Purina name. A lot of good the years of canine nutrition and PHD veterinarian nutritionists did. By your logic the fact that Purina puts out those products should be a green light for everyone to purchase grain free dog food. The truth is no company saw this coming or even knows what the exact problem is.

You’re also not considering any other factors. Here’s one. Grain free foods, especially of the boutique variety, cost a hell of a lot more than a bag of kibbles and bits. Who’s more likely to have pet insurance for their dog? Who’s more likely to spare no expense going down the rabbit hole of their dogs illness when the pup is on death’s door. Who’s more likely to say do whatever you need to do to save my dogs life? Who’s more likely to take their dog to a specialist when a problem arises instead of the town vet? Who’s more likely to say keep going than putting their dog down when the vet says what the problem is and the costs are? Who’s more likely to do each of those things between a person who spends $20 on a 50 pound bag of Kibbles n Bits or someone who spends $130 on a bag of Orijen Tundra half the size.

We just don’t know yet. Years ago no one had autism now 1 in 60 kids in the USA is on the spectrum. You know why? Not vaccines. It’s because we test for it now and are much more sophisticated in our awareness of it. This could be peas. This could be potatoes. Or it could be that people that buy boutique foods are more likely to have more disposable income resulting in them more likely to have pet insurance or more likely to spend any amount necessary to save their dog. Which would result in bringing the dog to a place that’s going to go down the rabbit hole and ultimately report the issue. How many dogs do you think die of DCM but we don’t know because the owner takes them to the vet, vet has a listen, and says, “I know it’s heart failure but if you wanna find out exactly what’s wrong it’s gonna cost a lot of money. Best to just put the dog down.”

This is all before we look at who the owner’s got the dog from. Did they get it from a responsible breeder or did they get it from a puppy mill breeder that put on a good show and is pumping out dogs whose parents showed signs of heart failure or was over-breeding dogs from the same line? What else do these people feed their dogs? Are the dogs exercised and taken care of? That’s why this is going to take so long to figure out. There are so many other factors to isolate before we get to the food.

We just don’t know.

• This reply was modified 5 years, 11 months ago by hamish.